Steering box worm and wheel swap?

[Mark McKibbin]

I have the steering box of my '27 chummy apart and would like the move the wheel around to less worn teeth but at some time water has been in it making some of the teeth on the wheel rusty so unusable. Can I use the wheel out of another steering box?

[David Stepney]

I can't see any reason why not. Woodrow suggests that, if moving the gear round to a less worn part, lapping the worm and wheel together with fine grinding paste is the way to go. i can't see why such a technique wouldn't work for a replacement wheel.

It is superfluous of me to mention that, once the worm and wheel have been lapped it is imperative to make sure that the parts are scrupulously clean before reassembling, adjusting and filling with oil. Don't do what I appear to have done and overfill the box!

[AustinWood]

I recently changed the wheel and drop arm assembly on my 1929 car for one I bought at the Prescott Hillclimb autojumble.
It went straight on with no problem and just needed the mesh adjusting. Simpler than changing the worn bush and much improved steering.

[Hugh Barnes]

For the lapping compound, you might like to consider 'Timesaver' as recommended by Hedd Jones of this Parish (IIRC) and sold by Adam Brown (also of this Parish) through Craftmaster Paints. The advantage of this medium is it doesn't hang around and continue to abrade but slowly disintegrates on use. I have used it successfully in doing exactly the same job as you suggest when overcoming a tight Riley 9 steering box..

https://steamsupplies.com/collections/ti...g-compound

hth...

["Slack Alice" Simon]

One thing you MUST NOT do is hit the threaded end of the arm whilst trying to get the gear off.

It is very tempting to do so :  " I'll just give it a bit of a tap to see if it will shift ......."

The metal is soft and you will have a threaded mushroom which is a real pain to rectify.

And the gear is still attached.

I had to make a crude but solid puller to do the job, and still had to grind the mesh in afterwards.

[Tony Press]

From my experience the worm wheel is next to impossible to remove. I would think another gear , cover and drop arm would be good .

[spannerman]

Use a ball joint splitter to remove the arm perfect for
The job most of them fit perfectly ,

[Ruairidh Dunford]

For the lapping compound, you might like to consider 'Timesaver' as recommended by Hedd Jones of this Parish (IIRC) and sold by Adam Brown (also of this Parish) through Craftmaster Paints. The advantage of this medium is it doesn't hang around and continue to abrade but slowly disintegrates on use. I have used it successfully in doing exactly the same job as you suggest when overcoming a tight Riley 9 steering box..

https://steamsupplies.com/collections/ti...g-compound

hth...

This is excellent stuff for this job, I second Hugh’s recommendation.

The gear will come off but you will likely require heat, a strong reinforced box section jig to hold the gear and a press.

[Duncan Grimmond]

I've been noticing that my steering seems to be developing a fair amount of play in the box. This thread is most appropriate as I am planning to investigate as son as I get a moment. I was looking through Woodrow and not finding the help I wanted.
Thanks