72 Mercury Comet GT in Germany

I had to clearance firewall plate to clear coupler bolts. My Hedman shortie headers clears the steer box by 12-13mm. I probably need to re-install cooler, but had no issues the several years it's been that way.

 

My firewall plate will need to clearanced roughly in the same area.
I will try to move the steering box a little, even thought about slotting the mounting holes a little - just to see if I can center it a little more in the opening.

The kit from Modern Driveline arrived today, more parts arriving tomorrow.
So next weekend should get me a few more steps forward!

 

Funny enough - I went through my old pictures. I installed the ill-fitting Hooker Headers in June 2011. Only took me a mere 10 years to get it right!

 

So here's one step forward, the pulleys are all in place and lining up good:


The downside: The Borgeson pressure hose is stuck right between the shock tower and the header. Tried to heat it up and bend it, didn't work too well. We'll see how this will go.


While I had the gas bottle out, I also heated up the header and massaged it a little:


I used a whole rattle can of ceramic header paint, that'll be dry tomorrow and ready to put in:


The last time I put my steering box in, I noticed that the frame was pretty weak, and was starting to give while torquing the bots to spec. Cut a plate today to go on the outside of the framerail. With a little cardboard aided design I fabbed up something that fits rather well. Put the pitman arm on the steering box, that is going in tomorrow together with the header!

 

Everything is back together on the driver side!
Removed the valve cover for installation, and replaced the seal while I was at it:


Clearance is good, here's some pictures:





Pitman arm clears the tubes, no problem at all:


Steering box is not an issue anymore:



But - header is touching one bolt on the bellhousing, the one holding the block plate in place on the driver side:



I'll cut that off with a sawzall, because I wouldn't have a chance to remove the bellhousing any other way.

Tried to fit the borgeson hoses. Working now, with the fitting at the pump bent a little!




Passenger side header is painted, too. That'll go in next week, together with the radiator. Still need to fab some spacers for the PS pump, but I have a lathe in my shop, so that should be no problem. Then it's off to the Modern Driveline hydraulic clutch kit. Will need fabrication of brackets on the external slave cylinder.
After that, I'll get to the inside, firewall insulation and steering column. The rag joint is still on the way, I don't know if it'll be here before next weekend.

 

I wound up having a new pressure hose made 6 inches longer, didn't like how close the hose was to header.
1. ) Are you planning on installing a steering oil cooler?
2.) You say, "rag joint on the way". You not using joint I see in the pic attached to steering box?
3.) Interested in seeing what you do modding column floor plate!

 

Everett, the joint attached to the box is the wrong spline size. Came with the box, and was obviously mislabeled.
As the deal for the oil cooler on eBay fell trough, I will need to look for something I can fit in there.
The hoses are fairly long, I ordered the 6 cylinder hoses from Borgeson that are supposedly longer - roughly the 6" you mention, IIRC.

 

Looking at how close your header pipe is to steering box, might be good idea for cooler. I have stock type CI heads, header has about 13mm. clearance w/o denting header pipe. My car was OE power steering, I have the still cooler but, not had a need for it in several years along w/ several road trips. lf I did to use a cooler, I would probably get a new unit for fear of contaminating system w/ something flushed from OE unit.

 

I'm reconsidering how to connect the steering box to the column.
As mentioned above, the coupler is sitting inside the cab and will be touching the column mounting plate. the bottom edge of the coupler is also touching the opening in the firewall.

Disassembled the column. The upper part of the steering shaft ends in a 3/4" DD shape:



So I'm thinking of getting a 1" DD tube and a 1"DD to 11/16-36 u-joint to connect everything. As my car is floor shift, it should be possible to cut the inner tube shorter than the outer, so the u-joint is actually running (partially) inside the column. There should be plenty of room.



I ordered some parts, let's see how this goes!

 

Here's how the coupler sits, I think this will fit inside the (outer) tube:






And why didn't anyone tell me that I have the Borgeson hoses on backwards on the steering box? Will swap them tomorrow...

 

A few more odds and ends done today:

• Swapped the Borgeson hoses around.

• Made a stiffening plate for the firewall around the brake and clutch master. Discovered that the studs for my brake master are actually too short, previous owner cut them to make the Lincoln Versailles master fit. From my parts car from way back then I seem to have saved only one? Put a wanted ad in the classifieds.

• Drilled the clutch fork for the slave cylinder. Made a paper template to mount the other end, will need to get some thicker material to actually fab it.

• Rebuilt the brake distribution block. Did that 10 years ago, but it was leaking again through the switch opening - there should be no fluid, so it's leaking around the seals. Had a rebuild kit lying around which I didn't use for my Bronco rebuild - the block there is slightly different.

It's slowly getting somewhere!

 

Here's another pic for your consideration. Put in the column without the steering shaft. This is how it sits in relation to the steering box, with the column adjusted all the way to the driver:



I can adjust it so that it sits roughly centered toward the steering box.
If I either cut the inner tube or leave it out all together, there is a chance I can keep the length of the outer tube.
The Borgeson U-joints have an outer diameter of 1 5/8", the column should have a 2 1/8" inner diameter.
Plenty of room, even if the U-joint sits at an ever so slight angle. The only thing would be that I can't keep the set screws of the u-joint on the upper end, but I could weld the 1" DD tube to the joint. Nothing pulling on it, just the rotation. I could also fit a bearing inside the tube, to keep the steering shaft centered even better.
I would then even be able to keep the firewall seal, and not cut anything at all.

So what's your opinion?
Remove or cut the inner tube?
Car was a floor shift car, so it's just for the security feature where you can't get the key out if it's not in position.
Any danger of the upper collar accidently moving? Any other way to secure it?
It's been a while since I had my column apart...

 

I'm confused! Why is the shaft so far off-center from box spline? I was able to use firewall plate by making a few small mod's in the plate and adding 1/4" foam for clearance of coupler pins. In the 7 or so years have no exhaust fumes.

 

column not bolted down at the firewall clamp. i can adjust it there so it sits centered towards the box.
also, the box is tilted all the way up, so there's also some adjustement.

 

I got it! I should have seen it's swinging free at firewall!