I have a new-to-me 1927 tourer. The steering is sloppy, and I'd like to check/lubricate/replace the gears. There seems to be no obvious way to access the gears even though I have removed the steering wheel. My service manual says "remove the setscrew," but there is no obvious setscrew. Has anyone taken the late 5:1 steering gear apart? Advice?
See this thread: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/255233.html
Usually the set screw is placed at 12 o clock on the cover. But maybe you have some accessory steering wheel lock? Then you may have to find and drill out some pin(s)?
Also check the quadrant rivets, lots of times they will be loose and cause a lot of play. KGB
Just curious, why do quadrant rivets have any impact on the steering?
The gear case must remain fixed for the steering gear to work without play. Looseness anywhere = wiggle wobble steering.
Just removed a gear case from column that had one loose rivet. When the case came out part of the column steel broke away too from a tiny crack that I noticed but didn't think was a problem. Sure was. All the fulcrum of steering leverage is at the top of the column. More modern steering gears are at the frame but nit the T. You must check the column and case on schedule for safety.k
Ok, the gear case is held in place by the quadrant rivets. Makes sense now.
There is torque between the gear teeth in the steering gear case and the fastening bolts in the steering column to the dash panel. Thus if the rivets holding the gear case to the steering column has worked loose, you'll get a loose steering. Sometimes a piece of a hack saw blade works as a shim between the gear case and the column, other times you'll have to take it apart, repair the sheet metal and rerivet it together again.
I've seen steering gear covers chewed up by pipe wrenches or other inappropriate removal tools. Best use a filter wrench or other non-chewing type of tool to unscrew the cover.
Some steering gear cases fit so tightly that not having the rivets in place, causes no looseness or sloppy steering at all. When my Dad and I restored my Grandfather's 27 coupe in the late sixties, We removed the rivets with the intention of having the gear case, plated. We didn't think about driving it out with a pipe inserted from the bottom. Instead we tried a slide hammer under the case from the top. It wouldn't budge, and we were afraid we would dent or break the case and really be up the creek. We finally gave up and drove the car over twenty years before storing it. I am restoring it again, now, and I haven't tried driving the old one out with a pipe, but that is my plan. If I ruin the old gear case, at least I have two freshly plated ones to replace it with.
This car does have a column lock. Is this an accessory item? The lock appears to be free, but the car didn't come with a key for it (fortunately, the column is not locked)I spent a considerable amount of time today inspecting the setup, and there are no accessible fasteners that hold the cast lock/cover assembly in place. Someone put the damn thing together - there's gotta be a way to take it apart.
Hey John, if you will take some pictures and load them here I'm sure someone will recognize it and know how it works or how to get it off. (Probably Jay, he's probably got one), also, older stuff like that has relatively simple key requirements. If you get it off take it by an old locksmith and they'll be able to open it up and then make you a key(s) for it if you want to keep it and use it.
I have taken photos. There is a brass plate on the side of the unit that Reads: Decker steering lock, Richard M Decker Co. I assume that it is an accessory. I attempted to post the photos, but got a message that said they were too large to post.
Make copies of the photos and resize the copies to 194 KB or less (but not much less).
http://www.mtfca.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=topics
Here is post on how to remove that accessory locking gear case
Sorry. Here is correct link
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/273922.html?1331539317
Using wife's iPad today!
Here's a picture from Jay's collection that shows the pins. After the pins are removed, the cap can be unscrewed. The link is to the thread with the patent info.
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/261292.html?1333758940
Unfortunately, none of the photos look like mine. The brass plate is on the left side of the casting that extends down the side of the column. The serial number of mine is #99125