The Texas 300

[Jeff Norwell]

Jeff, I almost 99% sure that isn't a 58 box from what I can tell from the pictures. But the sector shaft and pitman arm do, so I'm confused. Does the steering shaft have a hole down the middle or is it solid?

Dang Jim.Your right!....I grabbed the wrong column from the pile....which means I don't have luck and i do need a 58 Pitman arm....hahahahha.

[hiball3985]

I hate to use my memory but I think the 58 pitman arm and shaft have 4 keys. Sorry it's been a few years back since I did mine.

[Jeff Norwell]

Well that's interesting..because the Pitman has 4 keys and so does the sector on the box....Now I am confused..and that's not hard...I am gonna dig out the other column......

[Jeff Norwell]

Jim.. by "Keys"... are we talking about the same thing here?.....I image a 58 is different Spline-key count?

[hiball3985]

Yes, thats what confused me, maybe I have it backwards and the 57 had 4 and the 58 had 2 ?
A 58 box will have an adjusting nut and lock nut for the steering shaft/worm gear preload adjustment as opposed to a cover and four bolts on the 57.
Generic photo but similar

[Jeff Norwell]

Your are correct Jim.. just did a quick look at the 58 box in my other car..and the box in the pic I posted is indeed a 57...I will dig out the 58 unit later today..so the spline-Key on a 58 must be a 2...I would imagine.

[hiball3985]

Sorry my memory isn't better as to the splines, but they are different 57 vs 58. I just wanted to catch you before you sent out the wrong box for rebuilding or just installing as is 

[Ecode70D]

    Quote Jeff Norwell  "Well that's interesting..because the Pitman has 4 keys and so does the sector on the box....Now I am confused..and that's not hard...I am gonna dig out the other column"

Jeff you DO NOT NEED A 1958 PITMAN ARM.
     The 59 pitman on the right fits the  57 steering box on the left as is.   The only difference between the arms is the four 1957 slots on the pitman arm are raised (convex).   The four  58 -59 pitman arm slots are indented (concave).   All you have to do is spend a few minutes filing down 4 slots on the 57 pitman arm and it will fit your 58 Ford sector shaft.  Now you can time it to your preference.
       The 57 58 and 59 sector shaft nuts and lock washers interchange. 
       Jay   

[Ecode70D]

A 58 box will have an adjusting nut and lock nut for the steering shaft/worm gear preload adjustment as opposed to a cover and four bolts on the 57.
Generic photo but similar

     X2 what Jim stated about the adjusting nut and locking nut on the 58 steering column shaft as opposed to a cover and 4 bolts.

     Because of other commitments, I could not  respond to all of this until I could find the time to actually compare the 57 and 59 boxes that I have.   

[hiball3985]

Thats interesting information Jay. I always thought the difference was the number of key ways, but my memory is like Swiss Cheese at times . When I put in my 58 box in I didn't take the pitman arm off the 57 box to compare because something in the back of my mind knew they were different for some reason. Now I know but I may forget by tomorrow 

[Ecode70D]

Jim
    For years now I have been hearing that the 57  do not fit the 58 -59 so I took it for granted and never investigated further.   Since  our friend Jeff brought this up and since I had both units with finger tight nuts just lightly holding the pitman arms on, I figured that I would investigate for myself.  The first thing I did was to put my 59 one onto the 57 and it slipped right into place.   That was a big surprise.  Then I tried to put the 57 onto the 59 and it would not go.  Investigation revealed the 4 slots on each pitman arm were just the opposite.

    Keep in mind that this is the same problem when switching 58 - 59 steering wheels onto a 57 Ford.   So now the  mystery is solved and everyone on our site knows how to deal with it in the future.

     I wish all of our friends a very happy Independence day. Thank our veterans for their service and enjoy your families and be safe
.   Jay  Arrow

       

[Jeff Norwell]

Well. the Texas 57 has been languishing in the corner for a while now.... and since it looked lonely..I took what spare time I had(very little) and decided to get some work done.
I ordered new McVeigh springs(6 leaf),new insulators,new north American Rubber,HD Shocks and other small bits needed.The rear end is not a 57, but a 58 or 59.... through out its life.. someone really abused this car.....but... thats all good..... I'm gonna save her.
After pulling the rear..I replaced the bearings and changed the seals.... I had a rebuilt 3rd member posi chunk(28 spline) with a 3:50 gear R&P set which i replaced.Axles were in excellent shape and I rebuilt the rear brakes as well.
I then took upon the HORRIBLE task of stripping the underside of all scale,rust and undercoating.Worst,dirtiest job ever.
So the complete underside from the the b pillar back under the car is now completely cleaned and painted.Next in line is to do the same to the front end and rebuild it.I am lucky to have a very talented machinist who has a shop 4 doors down from our home.Terry is a very talented guy who is an asset.He took my rear drums and turned them for 30 bucks.

[Jeff Norwell]

That old 9 was pretty dirty!

[Jeff Norwell]

But she cleaned up pretty good.

[Jeff Norwell]

The rear underside was a work out but cleaned up very nice.
Install was easy and its all ready.