[JayJay]

Well, the steering is fixed, the votes are in, and first place for "distance diagnosis" goes to (drum roll...) Kurt in NJ, who suggested filling the box with gear oil. That turned out to be the ticket.

I mentioned earlier that the steering box had a grease fitting in place of the normal plug. My expectation was that I'd remove that fitting and find the box filled with grease. Well, when I removed the fitting I was staring at pure, unadulterated brass worm gear. Hmm, that's odd. I felt around and wiped, and found no evidence of any gear oil seepage (I didn't pull the light switch housing, though). So I started filling. And filled. And filled some more. The capacity of the 2-tooth steering box is nominally 4 oz (1/2 cup), and I put every bit of that into it before it finally filled. I figured that even if that wasn't the issue with the binding then at least I'd do other adjustments with a full load of lube.

So I took it for a test drive to the store. Initially it was better, and the more I drove it (and kept intentionally turning left) the better it got. Got back to the shop, checked the level and added a couple more squirts to bring the level to the top. Took it on another drive and it's just fine now.

I'm going to call it quits for now. In thinking about it. I wonder how long that box has been dry. It was restored in late 70's and sold to the folks I just bought it from in 1984. So conceivably it could have been dry since its restoration - 40 years??!!. With that possibility, I'm going to pull the column and box sometime this winter, tear it down and check the worm and drive gears for wear. I'll also do a full steering box setup (including checking for middle-of-the-gear) then.

I noticed something else. My car is an early '31 (slant windshield Town Sedan, '30 firewall, engine number dates from February 1931). But the steering box in it was used April 1929 to mid-1930 according to the Restoration Guidelines and Judging Standards. Which leads me to question even more the rigor of the restoration. Not a huge deal, this car is my driver while I do a rigorous restoration on my '30 Town Sedan.

If I find anything significant when I tear down the steering box I'll update this thread.

But thanks again everyone for your help.


JayJay