[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by OldGold360

I’m hoping you all can help me once again. I am running a 1940 steering box on my ‘36 pickup but I still want to run the horn rod/light switch as it came in ‘36. Can I use my existing 1940 box or do I need to find an earlier box that came factory with the light switch on the box?

Thanks for the help

The internals of early ford steering boxes from '37 to '48 are all basically the same, but the steering shaft, column tube, mounting location for column drop, and mounting provision for a light switch at bottom of box will be different in some of those years from '37 to '48.
In your case, you could use the '40 box by interchanging the '40 steering shaft with the original shaft from your '36 steering column. You would need to press the '36 worm gear off that shaft, and press the '40 worm on to the '36 shaft. This usually requires access to a hydraulic press, proper fixturing, and correct alignment of shaft and worm gear as you press these parts together. There have been some good posts in the past on how this is all done by a Fordbarn member known as.... "Neal in Ca" and I also did a similar post using some of Neals pictures. Those posts are in the archives.
You would also need to find the parts from a '37 to '39 box that are necessary to mount the '36 light switch ball on the bottom of the '40 box.

The major improvement in the '37 to '48 boxes was the addition of a rolling sector gear as opposed to a fixed sector gear on '36 and earlier Ford steering boxes.

Once you switch steering shafts and use your '36 column tube, everything basically bolts back together and looks as it did originally.

*Note: Another, and possibly easier option would be to find a complete steering column originally used in a '37 to '39 Ford PU.