Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

jim larson · 2K+ Club

How do I make sure the ps gear is centered, when doing the JGC conversion?

John D · 2K+ Club

You've got about a 1 in 32 chance of getting the bolt straight up... due to the splines on the box shaft.

I didn't know (or really care) what was "correct", but I installed my coupler on the box pointing to where I could get a wrench on it to tighten the bolt! Then went through centering the throw of the pitman arm as precisely as possible (counting turns lock-to-lock and stopping in the middle, then strapping the steering wheel regardless of position with a bungee). Then adjusted the tie rod alignment for center and toe. Then after verifiying steering & tracking with a test drive, moved the steering wheel.

Derek69SS · Founding Member

On mine, there was only one way everything could go together. The pitman arm had a double-spline at one spot so it could only go on one way. The rag-joint has a flat on one side so that can only go one way. The steering shaft has a small hole and a big hole, so that could only go one way... same story all the way up the column.

Early cars may be different though.

jim larson · 2K+ Club

Derek69SS wrote:
On mine, there was only one way everything could go together. The pitman arm had a double-spline at one spot so it could only go on one way. The rag-joint has a flat on one side so that can only go one way. The steering shaft has a small hole and a big hole, so that could only go one way... same story all the way up the column.

Early cars may be different though.

Thanks guys. I thought that even though everthing is together and goes down the road, that the gear might not necessarily be centered when going straight down the road.

The flat on the input shaft is suppose to be straight up and that puts to head of the bolt pointing straight up. I found something in a service manual; but it is in the manual section and not the PS section.

It says to drive the car a little to and make sure it is goint straight ahead. Then turn the tie-rod adjusters sleeves in opposite directions, until the bolt points straight up, re-adjust toe in if necessary, and then to remove and adjust steering wheel if it is not in the right position.

I wonder if it is the same for PS?

Chris R · 2K+ Club

I didnt have any trouble getting things lined up on my 66 when I did it.

jim larson · 2K+ Club

Derek69SS wrote:
On the rag-joint, if I remember correctly, the "only goes one way" thing means it only goes the wrong way 180deg off. but I think the Chevy truck ragjoint has the big & small bolts on opposite sides of the stock A-body ragjoint.

Rag joint only goes on one way on the input shaft. When connecting to to the steering flange you can be off by multiple of 180deg. I replaced the big bolt on the rag joint with the smaller 5/16" bolt from my 66 rag joint, so t he rag joint would fit the steering column flange without having to drill out the hole on the steering flange.

Thinking that the steering wheel was off at one time and put back on off center by about the 22deg; thus the gear was off center by about 22deg, then the car was alignied; because the allignment guy used the steering wheel as a starting point insead of the position of the gear input shaft. Previous owner did not notice the mistake and neither did I when I put new tires on and had the car aligned.

When winter leaves us, I will turn the tie-rod adjusters an equal amount of turns in opposite direction the tie-rods until the gear is centered. Then remove and re-center the steering wheel. If if feels good, then maybe I will be done or I might have the car re-aligned at Centerline or somewhere else.

-- Edited by jim larson on Saturday 23rd of February 2013 02:29:00 PM

-- Edited by jim larson on Saturday 23rd of February 2013 02:30:54 PM

jim larson · 2K+ Club

I think the shop that did my last alignment did the job by centering the steering wheel and then going from that point forward. As a result the car went straight down the road with the steering wheel centered. But the gear was not on centered, it was off by about 22 degrees. Lesson learned, center the gear, then align the steering, then center the steering wheel. Probably not a problem with new cars as the steering wheel may not have been removed in the past or maybe it goes on in only one position. But on the 66 you can clock the steering wheel anywhere where when re-installing. Does this make sense?

Derek69SS · Founding Member

On the rag-joint, if I remember correctly, the "only goes one way" thing means it only goes the wrong way 180deg off. I no longer have the parts to compare, but I think the Chevy truck ragjoint has the big & small bolts on opposite sides of the stock A-body ragjoint.

It's been 6 years since I messed with it though, so I can't remember all the little details.

Lost in the 60s · President

jim larson wrote:
I think the shop that did my last alignment did the job by centering the steering wheel and then going from that point forward. As a result the car went straight down the road with the steering wheel centered. But the gear was not on centered, it was off by about 22 degrees. Lesson learned, center the gear, then align the steering, then center the steering wheel. Probably not a problem with new cars as the steering wheel may not have been removed in the past or maybe it goes on in only one position. But on the 66 you can clock the steering wheel anywhere where when re-installing. Does this make sense?

On cars that haven't had the wheel removed, centering it and aligning from there is fine. Your precess of centering the pitman arm first and working back to the wheel should get it much closer than the 22° off you had. At that point, aligning the steering from the wheel down should get the steering gear very close to centered. The alignment guy at Centerline is meticulous about getting these settings correct, but it's a long way to go for you.

He aligned my HHR a few weeks back and commented the wheel wasn't perfectly straight. I hadn't really noticed but when he was done, it is perfect and the car does steer different.

jim larson · 2K+ Club

Lost in the 60s wrote:

The alignment guy at Centerline is meticulous about getting these settings correct

Where is Centerline located? Do you remember to cost? thanks.

Lost in the 60s · President

jim larson wrote:
Lost in the 60s wrote:
The alignment guy at Centerline is meticulous about getting these settings correct

Where is Centerline located? Do you remember to cost? thanks.

Centerline Truck & Auto

1480 Buerkle Road

Vadnais Heights, MN

651-487-9492

I work there 3 days a week. They are the shop with the '65 Mustang. Greg is the manager and may allow a slight discount for mentioning me and the Chevelle Club. I believe a full alignment on our older cars is $120-150. If you just want the toe set, it would be slightly less, but they still have the full rack set-up either way. You can get the toe close enough to drive by counting turns of the sleeves but there's no way it will be exact without measuring equipment. He can add more shims to the rear bolt of the upper arms and get a little more camber and caster for better handling with radial tires too.

67ss · 1K+ Club

Small world that is the old K&K exhaust and transmission building, I know Kurt the old owner. I used to work just down the road at Precision Auto which is now Buerkle's wash and detail shop.

Lost in the 60s · President

67ss wrote:
Small world that is the old K&K exhaust and transmission building, I know Kurt the old owner. I used to work just down the road at Precision Auto which is now Buerkle's wash and detail shop.

We still have business cards for Kurt on the counter but I believe he works part-time out of his house in WI. Precision closed the doors last summer ??