Steering shaft universal joint rubber boot

[cass3958]

I did not have a problem with either of the above. I released the Auto change link, Undid the two bolts holding the upper column to the underside of the dash and then released the four bolts that hold the foot of the upper column to the floor under the brake pedal. The column will then move up and down freely with enough movement to disconnect the U/J joints on the lower column.

[awiedie]

Noted for next time, Rob

[Treetrimmer]

Rob, thank you for the tips and advice, but my 1965 car has the Burma's second type steering box, and I don't think it has the visible alignment mark. Everything was aligned when I took it apart, so it should (!) go back together correctly.
Glyn, thank you for pointing out the reason for the "plunging joint"; I should have figured that out myself.
Regards to all, Richard

[John Quilter]

cass3958 » Sat Jul 18, 2020 3:23 pm: You are correct if you are moving the whole column, both inner and outer but my comments were assuming only the inner column was being moved back to disconnect at the splined joint at the engine bay side of the firewall.

[cass3958]

cass3958 » Sat Jul 18, 2020 3:23 pm: You are correct if you are moving the whole column, both inner and outer but my comments were assuming only the inner column was being moved back to disconnect at the splined joint at the engine bay side of the firewall.

I never even thought about just moving the inner column John. I just undid the nuts and bolts as described and pulled the whole upper column up about three inches. This way I did not have to disconnect any of the wiring or remove the cowling which is a pain to remove and always a fear you might damage it. As I said before though doing it my way does involve using two people to re assemble as you need someone to push the upper column down through the hole in the floor whilst someone is under the car lining the splines up.

[awiedie]

Well, mission accomplished. The new boot is in. I decided to not remove the lower UJ from the steering box and just replace the boot with the lower shaft in the car. I marked the split in the CV hub on the steering column shaft, removed the pinch bolt and spacer, removed the thrust bearing, and pulled the column straight up into the car until it just came out of the CV hub. I removed both nylon rollers which were fine and cleaned up the shaft and cross rod which at this point was facing more or less up and down. After lubricating the new boot and the end of the shaft assembly liberally with Ru-Glyde, which is super slippery stuff, I placed the small lead end of the boot over the downward pointing rod and stretched it up and over the upward pointing rod end with help from one of those pointed plastic windshield installers tools to lever the boot because my fingers were not small enough or have the strength to pull the boot over the end of the rod. The boot stretches an amazing amount.

I reinstalled the nylon rollers and lubricated them well. It took a couple of tries to find the right splines on the hub to hit my mark on the steering column shaft but then it was a matter of installing the thrust bearing and collar, inserting the pinch bolt and spacer, adjusting the hub position and tightening the nut on the bolt. I packed the hub with grease and pulled the boot into position. I was fortunate in being able to reuse the two aluminum clamp rings. The horn still works as do the turn signals, so either I got lucky or these are of no concern when withdrawing the column.

I'm not sure you could do this job in situ on a right-hand drive car because of the carbs, but on my car I removed the air cleaner and dipstick and there was ample room.

[cass3958]

Nice work Alan and good description. I think you are right that it cannot be done in situ on a RHD car as there is just no room with the carbs in place.

[Glyn Ruck]

Great news Alan.