Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
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wbaker01
pila
Joe73
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Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
Curious to know if anyone has restored/rebuilt their intermediate steering shaft and you did? At a minimum mine needs a good cleaning but not sure that I want to tear it apart because I've never touched one of these before..
wbaker01- G3GM Member
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Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
Bill, I havent done it. I plan on blasting it, shoot some epoxy and put on a new rag joint.
Joe73- Donating Member
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Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
I did mine when I put my Elco back together. Special bolts on the clamped splines..don't loose'em !
pila- Donating Member
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Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
Be careful with the seal. I tore the seal on mine & had to take apart. Could not find a seal anywhere. Had to adapt a jeep seal. The grease inside was nasty & hard, 40 some years old. I did some research and as near as I can tell the shaft is a non-serviceable unit. Replace the whole thing if something goes wrong. Probably has something to do with safety. The seals found on-line are to small in diameter. I have a 73. Maybe it was an odd-ball year for the seal?
73ss- G3GM Enthusiast
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Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
I'm thinking of just cleaning up mine very carefully, shooting some color on it and calling it good..
wbaker01- G3GM Member
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Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
Looks like I have some play in my intermediate shaft. Also looks like they are not available anywhere (shocking). Thinking about going with a Borgeson Universal setup. Anyone have any thoughts on that?
74Malibu383- Donating Member
- Street Cred : 26
Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
74Malibu383 wrote:Looks like I have some play in my intermediate shaft. Also looks like they are not available anywhere (shocking). Thinking about going with a Borgeson Universal setup. Anyone have any thoughts on that?
This may work, But I can tell you it won't fit a '73, too small. It should tighten it back up for you. Under $20 your not out much if it doesn't work. GM changed the shaft at some point after 73.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/cwa-8132676k
A co-worker replaced the shaft on his dodge truck with the borgeson u joints and "D" shaft from summit. made it himself, works fine. His truck has a Saginaw box on it like our cars. It won't collapse in an accident if that's a concern.
73ss- G3GM Enthusiast
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Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
Thanks. I don't plan on getting in an accident, but I drive it enough on the roads that I think I'd want a collapsible shaft. Pretty sure borgeson makes one. I'll have to verify.
74Malibu383- Donating Member
- Street Cred : 26
Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
74Malibu383 ,
Keep us informed of your findings.
Keep us informed of your findings.
impalamonte- G3GM Enthusiast
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Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
Might be good to make a "Sticky" out of this info....
Here's the response from Borgeson Sales. It's not cheap, but if these shafts get play in them and can't be rebuilt, this is definitely an option. He said I don't have to, but it's a good idea to go with the vibration reducer.
Quote: "It does do the same thing as the rag joint but it’s smaller and can operate at an angle. I think it’s a good idea to have some kind of damper in the system."
014352 column joint $79.71
014931 steering box u-joint $79.71
(034931 if you want to incorporate a vibration reducer in the lower joint $116.03)
450024 24” telescoping shaft $78.92
The telescoping shaft telescopes from 21” to 27” and can be cut down if necessary.
And of course you can save a little money by going to Summit or Jegs....
Here's the response from Borgeson Sales. It's not cheap, but if these shafts get play in them and can't be rebuilt, this is definitely an option. He said I don't have to, but it's a good idea to go with the vibration reducer.
Quote: "It does do the same thing as the rag joint but it’s smaller and can operate at an angle. I think it’s a good idea to have some kind of damper in the system."
014352 column joint $79.71
014931 steering box u-joint $79.71
(034931 if you want to incorporate a vibration reducer in the lower joint $116.03)
450024 24” telescoping shaft $78.92
The telescoping shaft telescopes from 21” to 27” and can be cut down if necessary.
And of course you can save a little money by going to Summit or Jegs....
74Malibu383- Donating Member
- Street Cred : 26
Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
Don't take this wrong but, Are you feeling some slop in the lower column bearing? Is the shaft still hooked up? When I had mine apart the shaft and joint had zero play in it. The GM manual refers to it as a "pot joint" I had to replace the seal. The heat did it in after 40 some years. I do have some slop in the lower column that I am going to have to address one of these days.
73ss- G3GM Enthusiast
- Street Cred : 11
Re: Restore/rebuild intermediate steering shaft?
It's definitely in that shaft, but I appreciate the info. With it apart, there is a lot of play in that joint.
74Malibu383- Donating Member
- Street Cred : 26
Resurrecting — this may be a helpful solution
I had the same issue regarding the boot when I needed to rebuild the intermediate steering shaft coupling joint; the boot/seal had literally disintegrated over the past 48 years. Before getting into my solution, please permit me to address some of the issues mentioned earlier in this thread.
I found it odd that the 1974 Chevrolet service manual had detailed instructions on how to disassemble and reassemble the coupling joint yet the parts manuals didn't have a part number for the boot on anything later than 1972. I further discovered that by 1977, Chevrolet had removed the instructions from their service manual implying it wasn't serviceable and that it had to be replaced as an assembly. Like you, I bought a reproduction boot and discovered its diameter was too small. This video was my solution:
For proper disassembly (and to do the show car quality restoration), I suggest you check out this guy:
To do this right, you really need a press. One guy on YouTube simply stretched the boot over the pressed in rod/pin using a screwdriver; made me cringe just watching that as I expected it to tear at any moment. Another guy hammered the rod/pin out; I stopped watching when he started hammering so I don't know how or if he got it back in.
Anyway, hope this helps.
I found it odd that the 1974 Chevrolet service manual had detailed instructions on how to disassemble and reassemble the coupling joint yet the parts manuals didn't have a part number for the boot on anything later than 1972. I further discovered that by 1977, Chevrolet had removed the instructions from their service manual implying it wasn't serviceable and that it had to be replaced as an assembly. Like you, I bought a reproduction boot and discovered its diameter was too small. This video was my solution:
For proper disassembly (and to do the show car quality restoration), I suggest you check out this guy:
To do this right, you really need a press. One guy on YouTube simply stretched the boot over the pressed in rod/pin using a screwdriver; made me cringe just watching that as I expected it to tear at any moment. Another guy hammered the rod/pin out; I stopped watching when he started hammering so I don't know how or if he got it back in.
Anyway, hope this helps.
Last edited by zucchi on Thu Jan 19, 2023 1:59 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Revised video)
zucchi- G3GM Member
- Street Cred : 4
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