Steering problem & converting Radius Ball mount back to original style

[Houdini]

I was having problems with my steering on my 31 slant windshield Fordor. The main symptom was the car seemed to wander, when going slow on our local roads, as they are not very smooth and have some slope (crown) here and there and groves, bumps, holes etc. Not real bad roads, but the car seemed to wander when these little imperfections were encountered.

There are other factors to consider, after reading these forums, but recently I read that the radius ball mount could cause this kind of symptom if it was worn or the mounting socket and ball were loose.

I found my car was converted to the rubber ball "fix" from the previous owner. The advice was to convert it back to the original style and use a shaped washer to take up the slack from the wear.

The net of this, is that I did change it back and the steering has improved. I think the rubber ball had deteriorated from age.

My questions are:

1. I bought the pre-shaped bent washer from Brattons along with the kit to change the mount back to original. I placed the washer on the bottom of the ball, as it was recommended by Les Andrews book. That made sense, in that my caster was too much and this seems to have brought it back closer to specs. But I found the washer would not stay parallel to the ground as I put this all back together. Because of the shank the steel ball is attached to, the washer looks like it has to move rearward in order to snug things up. The question is - is this ok and is this what others experienced. I don't want to radius ball popping out.

2. When I was doing this work, I was not able to remove the felt pad from the bell housing. I called Brattons and was told that the steel rod that holds the bolts from turning, goes through the felt pad. Brattons indicated that normally this is installed with the bell housing exposed, when the engine is removed, or the rear end is off. From what I've read, it appears that this conversion can be done with the engine and rear end installed. So how does one get the old felt pad out and how do you get a new felt pad in.

I've read the suggestions about putting a fishing line through the cotter holes in the bolts so you don't loose them in the housing etc. In my case, I decided to leave well enough alone and left the old felt pad and bolts in. After tightening everything up, I found the old bolts were a bit too long and and tightened beyond the cotter holes. Does anyone know if the original style bolts are a bit shorter.

After I tightened it all up, I have about a 3/16 gap between the upper and lower plate, which from what I read is about right. Bratton's suggested putting some flat washers on the end of the bolts to take up the extra length. I did that today and placed cotter pins in..

So for now, I plan to leave it as is, but if this is not advised, please let me know. And for future reference, how do you get the felt pad out and then get the new on in, since the housing hole is round and the pad is rectangular. And then do you run the steel rod throught the felt pad and how do you manage that and keep it in place?

Frank