2 Tooth Box ID (for Rebuild)

[dlshady]

Originally Posted by Steve Schmauch

Bob--The steering gear in your 1931 coupe was changed prior to you owning it. Your two tooth steering gear with the different angles was only produced from Feb through May 1929. The Ford Service Bulletins (August 1930) show that a replacement bearing for the old obsoleted and the present shaft and worm assembly, which means the newer design had been used for some time prior to this reporting. Common sense also supports this time period change by looking at how few of these early examples exist, compared to the second design and later housing versions.

The first two housings shown in the Judging Standards, Area 8 p. 3 show the front and back sides of these special housings clearly. I am betting that your housing was of the second type, not the first type with the bold-raised casting information. It was during the production of the second type housing that the angle changed from 25 to 20 degrees (see FSB p.517, fig. 1039).

What is not common knowledge is how to identify the early vs. later housings externally. The housings are identified by looking at the width of the lubricator hole and the size of the various filler plugs used during production (1/8" versus later 1/4" ones). The Judging Standards did not make this important identifying feature known in the current revision--hopefully it will be in Revision 5. This has always been a point of confusion with some restorers. I hope this helps!

Steve, have you done any articles on the identification of the various casting revisions similar to your carburetor articles? I finally managed to track down copies of the different issues of The Restorer containing your carburetor articles (thanks eBay!) and have thoroughly enjoyed studying them. If you've done any articles on the 2 tooth box variations, I'd sure like to add them to my library.