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TR2/3/3A Installing wiring harness in steering column

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Randall,

I've got the tube, wires, new gland nut and sleeve in place. I'm getting ready to lock down the Control head, and have a question. Book says "With the flasher control lever at 12 0/clock, ensure that the vertical lever of the stator tube plate is at the 6 o'clock position" ??? What does this mean? I apparently don't have it right, although the steering wheel moves back and forth fine, I hear a single clack noise when turning the wheel to the right, and the turn lever does not return to it's middle position?

Dick
 
Hmm, seems I missed taking a good photo of that part. The round plate on the back of the control head, the piece that gets clamped to the steering wheel by the 3 "grub" screws, has a finger that sticks up and engages with a slot in the canceling ring around the control head. You can see the finger near the lower right in this photo, and the slot it engages near the center (but of course your head will be assembled at this point)
AWvCkxR.jpg

The plate must be turned so the "finger" is exactly opposite where the lever is in the neutral (no turn) position. You also need to have the steering in the straight-ahead position. Then engage the control head with the tube, and turn the tube so the turn lever is pointing straight up (still in the "no-turn" position) which should have the "finger" straight down. Push the head into place and without turning the wheel, lock down the 3 grub screws.
 
You did have a key way cut in the stator tube for the control head to slip into?

My other concern would be the ball bearing do not sit on the races correctly and have slipped onto the worm gear **** eye when you hear this click as you turn the wheel, but I hope I am wrong about that.
 
I think the bearings are fine as the clack is coming from the inside of the Control Head. I did take the other 3 screws out that parts the two pieces, as shown in your pic's. With that tab on the bottom fitting into the slot on the front piece don't think I could have re-installed that wrong.
I did slip the control head into the keyway.
Will try again; with the finger pointing downward.

Thanks again Randall if you ever come South /East I'll have a case of beer waiting for you.

Dick
 
The click in the control head is normal, tho I usually don't notice with the engine running. Its the sound of the spring loaded peg snapping back when the canceling mechanism is cocked.
Takes a pretty substantial turn of the wheel to {set} it, around 1/4 revolution or so. Then once its cocked, you have to turn the wheel back almost to center to actually cancel.
Assuming of course that everything works, is aligned and so on.

Strange that "cocked" is OK, but not the present tense :smile:

Don't know if I'll make it to Florida this year or not. I'd like to, though. My late wife's mother lives near St Pete and she's not getting any younger.
 
Shop frig full of 10 different types of beer! Bring that manual, you are going to complete.

Thanks to your help, the steering project is complete!! The turn indicators work and the tube does not leak.

Dick
 
Last edited:
Randall,

I spoke to soon, should have never touched that steering column. After I lowered the jack I could not even turn the wheel, locked up tight.

I jacked it back up and took the front and top plate off the steering box. I don't know what i did wrong but, the front bearing is in pieces. I am afraid that I now will have to remove the whole column.

Any hints of where to start?

Dick
 
If you read my last sob story, I will now have to remove the steering box. I am sure it is something I did but everything seem to be working fine until I lowered the jack with the wheels on the floor, then the steering wheel was locked tight.
I removed the back and top plate and found the front bearing in pieces!
Any hints on how to remove the box as the car is half way through a restoration and not easy to move.

Dick
 
The next step is to free the steering rod from the pitman arm and lift the whole steering shaft out. There could be a couple of small brackets on the bottom and top depending on what you have removed. Rebuild the box is not difficult, but I would not move steering wheel any more than you absolutely needed until you get the box out and the pitman arm off the steering peg shaft. I would not try removing the pitman until you have the box out.

You do have the apron off?
They make a tie rod separator, but I use a pickle bar, but again if I had separator I would try it.

Macy’s garage rebuilds them if you want to that route. They also parts and a stator tube with wiring harness that are user friendly.

Many years ago I busted up a steering box and my machinist buddy (now gone) had me gut out the box clean it with solvent then clean it with hot soapy water under the sink then blow dry with an air gun. The box is still in my driver and working fine—after the rebuild. I guess you pack some rags in the box and put the top back on to protect the worm gear.
steve
 
That sucks!

I have managed to get a "split column" box out (and back in) without pulling the apron. But honestly, I think it was more work to do it that way. Had to remove the cross tube and take both motor mounts loose, then jack the engine up as high as it would go and push it over to the right. Seems like I removed the left horn and radiator brace as well. Had to loosen the bolts that lock the box into its bracket, as well as remove the bolts through the frame.

With a solid column there is no choice, the apron has to come off.
 
FWIW, I've never had much luck with the "pickle fork" type separators on a TR3. Used on the "Silentbloc" joints between the Pitman (aka drop) arm and the center link, it usually just destroys the joint without removing the center pin from the center link. This type of tool works much better for me, and will also do tie rod ends, rear shock links and so on, without damage. Mine doesn't have the pivot adjustment like the one in the photo, though, so sometimes I need to add a spacer between the curved jaw and the stud.
5672160.jpg


For the Pitman arm, I strongly suggest buying a purpose-made Pitman arm puller, and modifying it if necessary to fit the TR Pitman arm. I bought a cheap one at HF, and opened up the jaws to just fit.
https://www.harborfreight.com/Tie-Rod-and-Pitman-Arm-Puller-63684.html
 
I have access to the whole front end as I just got the chassis back from my body man. No apron,fenders, engine, tranny or hood, so I have alot of room to work in.
 
Should I pull the Control Head with stator tube out to start with? Whole front end is accessible as i just got the chassis back from the body man. No apron, fenders, engine, trans, etc.
 
Yeah, start by removing the control head and stator tube. If it's a solid column, remove the steering wheel as well. For a split column (sorry, I don't recall which you are working with), you have to remove (not just loosen) one of the pinch bolts from the coupling. Been a long time (my current TR3 has a solid column), but ISTR removing the lower one, and gently tapping the coupling towards the steering wheel with a brass hammer to free the lower shaft. If necessary, you can drive a screwdriver into the split to loosen the joint. Don't get too carried away with the hammer, as the force is being transmitted to the ball bearings in the steering box, and you might be able to reuse the worm and races if they don't get too badly damaged.

Loosen or remove the column clamps (only lower half for a split column). Disconnect the Silentbloc between the Pitman arm and the center link, remove the two big bolts that hold the steering box bracket to the frame. Working from the front, lever the box up until you can pull it out the front with the Pitman arm still attached. You may have to turn the steering shaft a bit to line the arm up with the opening in the frame.
 
How can you tell if it has a split or a soild column, looks solid to me? I think I created this situation in these steps.

1.I should have never removed that stator rod in an attempt to pull the wires.
2.When I tried to replace the rod it jammed the lantern springs up in the box.
3. When I removed the bottom cover to get the springs parts out, I think the upper bearing got misalighned and when I put the cover back on it was obvious that something was amiss as oil kept leaking out the tightened cover.
4. The wheel moved back and forth fine until I lowered the car to the ground. Then when I tried to turned the locked wheel I began loosening the cover bolts until it turned.
5. That's when the box monster chewed up the mis-alighned upper bearings!!

How about I send you a plane ticket and you can help me correct the problem???

Dick
 
Well, I'm sorry you've had so much trouble, Dick. I've had that stupid tube in and out many times, but I guess I've been lucky, the lantern springs have always come out with the tube. I really do think it will go better once you've got the box out where you can work on it properly; but of course you're still going to have to deal with the current damage.

But I really can't come to FL just now. Perhaps in a few months.

Also sorry I forgot what you were working on. I find it difficult to remember such things, and difficult to read back through a long thread on my phone. (You might consider adding that information to your signature, for goofs like me that can't remember what we had for breakfast.)

I see now you said it was a long door TR2, which means it will have the solid column. There wasn't a clean change point AFAIK, but they didn't start showing up until well into TR3A production.

That makes it easier in some ways, but you will have to remove the steering wheel. After you get the control head and stator tube out of the way, remove the big nut that holds the wheel. Usually, the wheel itself will come off with a sharp tug, but it's possible you may need to use a puller.

Then there are just two clamps to undo, one under the dash, and one above the steering box. Come to think of it, your car may not have the one near the steering box, Piggott says it wasn't introduced until after the doors were shortened. The rest is as I wrote above.

The damage inside may not be too bad, but at this point I think there is no other choice but to pull the box, and disassemble it for inspection. If it hasn't already been done, I would plan on also replacing the bushing and seal while you're in there. I believe wear in that bushing is one of the primary reasons TR2 and TR3 have such a bad reputation for hard steering, and it's not hard to change once the box is out and apart. You'll also need a new tab washer for the Pitman arm (or drop arm as the parts book calls it).

PS, not sure which manual you are referring to; but I keep (mostly) the latest versions available for download at
https://drive.google.com/drive/fold...yMy00ZDhkLTliOWEtOWU1OWRhNDZhYmRl?usp=sharing

I uploaded a new version of the TR3 Spare Parts Catalogue (which of course also covers TR2) and workshop manual, but the changes were mostly re-doing the searchable text. I discovered there was a bug in the version of Adobe Acrobat I had been using, causing much of the text to not show up in a search. As usual, please let me know if you find a problem.
 
Hey Dick those steering boxes can real be pain until you get apart and see. I wanted to suggest the worm gear in those boxes can be repaired without putting a new gear on the shaft. For example, if the worm gear is mauled in the last ÂĽ inch of the gear on either stroke, you can take a high speed dermal stone on a die grinder and gently smooth out the mauling, or if the mauling is small elsewhere. Of course, this all depends on the amount of damage. In the long run, the box probably needed rebuilding.
steve
 
Thanks Steve,

It did have a few rough edges on the upper portion, where the bearing let loose. I did smooth it out with my grinder, passage groove is good.

Dick
 
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