Nothing Seems to Fit!

[Ed in Maine]

I am in the final stages of assembling my 31 Slant Windshield Cabriolet. I have been working on this car since 2015. Today it was time to put on the pittman arm on the steering box output shaft. The steering box was modified with the o-ring seal on the output shaft. It should be an easy project. However, after an hour and a half I was unable to get the retaining bolt in the arm's hole. I could see that bolt was tight up against upper side of the exit hole and was not going to be able to tapped into place. Putting the finishing touches on a restored car is so frustrating.

It is difficult enough to get the arm properly located on the output shaft because you can't see where the notch is located for the bolt. In this case, I finally got the arm properly located on the shaft only to find that the notch was not cut deep enough. The bolt would not pass through the notch and stay aligned correctly with the exit hole in the arm. It appears that I will have to use a round file in the notch to avoid having the bolt interfere with the upper portion of the exit hole.

Has anyone had this problem and how did you solve the problem? Ed

[Bob C]

Do you have another sector shaft that you can try the pitman arm
on to see which part is the problem?

[Bruce_MO]

I think I just ran a drill bit that was approximately the same diameter as the bolt through the hole to “ream” things to fit. I would only do that sort of thing if the misfit was minor. I agree with you… seems that every task that they did on the assembly line in 30-60 seconds takes me an hour!

[Big hammer]

Go lightly with a file, I used a tapered punch to align the holes, the bolt needs to be very tight or you will have a sloppy steering

[1crosscut]

Use a paint marker pen and paint the bolt in the area you think the bind is. Insert and remove it to see where the paint is scuffed to give you a better idea as the where the problem lies.

[Y-Blockhead]

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Originally Posted by Bruce_MO

I agree with you… seems that every task that they did on the assembly line in 30-60 seconds takes me an hour!

They weren't dealing with offshore repro parts on the assembly line either...

[Ed in Maine]

This problem with installing the pittman arm retaining bolt was solved by re-installing the original bolt. The new bolt supposedly for this application was slightly oversized. Thank you for your comments. Ed

[nkaminar]

Ed - Securely tighten the nut on the bolt. Use a breaker bar. Test the pitman arm to make sure that there is absolutely no movement relative to the sector shaft.

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

Glad you figured it out.

[FRANK PKNY]

I would repeat what was said regarding a tight fit. I have used bearing liquid binding solution to ensure the fit has absolutely no play also use Loctite on the nut. PS don't overtighten the bolt this could cause it to break under an adverse situation. tighten snug and use Loctite.

[FRANK PKNY]

I would repeat what was said regarding a tight fit. I have used bearing liquid binding solution to ensure the fit has absolutely no play also use Loctite on the nut.

[gdmn852]

I too am glad you figured it out, been restoring a 1931 , and its rare to have repro parts just fit on without work .