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Steering Box, BJ7

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Ok, I give up. The oil seal on the bottom of the rocker shaft of the steering box has got me beat. I've read some of the historical post about getting this thing out, but. If I make a [censored] small enough to get it under the seal it is not strong enough to move the seal. It just bends. What am I missing? Has any one just left the old seal in there and put a new one on top of it and have that work? I'd be very grateful for your ideas. Dave.
 
Oops, I didn't meam to use a word that would fit the definition of something to be censored. It certainly wasn't on my mine that way. I meant a sharply pointed tool.
 
I took a long, skinny, flat screwdriver and bent the very end of the tip over to make a puller. Then, I dug it in and wrestled the old seal out, working side-to-side. I took a couple of 1/4" steel rods and ground the ends flat--like really long-bladed flat screwdrivers--and used them as drifts to tap the new seal in, bracing one side of the seal as best I could as I tapped the opposing side in, working back-and-forth.

Note that most of the replacement seals are about half as deep as the originals, and some people stack two of them in there. I don't know if there's enough room to stack one of these on your old seal if it's the original type.
 
Thanks Bob, I was using something equivalent to a welding rod. I kept straightening the tip with out getting the seal to move at all. Most screwdrivers are pretty brittle and I didn't think I would get one to bend to a 90, without braking. I could try it again tomorrow, maybe heat the screwdriver. But about the new seal. It is very thin. And looking at the shaft that is sticking out past the existing seal there is about 1/8" of smooth surface of the shaft showing before it is splined. I think the new seal will ride on that part and maybe do the job. While I was trying to get the old seal out, I became very concerned that I did not gouge the surface of the shaft while I was working at it. I believe I will just put the new seal on top of the old one. If it doesn't work, it isn't that difficult in getting the column out again. I don't want to take the box apart because it has been a very smooth box and the car steers beautifully. Or at least it did, before I took it apart. :smile: Dave.
 
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