Anyone know the correct color of the power steering box????

[resq302]

I am trying to get my steering system back to the correct color.  I know the column  that went through the firewall was semi flat black with the actual shaft being a natural steel color.  The question I have is that I have seen the power steering box casing painted a semi flat black and also have seen it as natural cast iron color.  Which one of these is correct?  Also, is there any detailing on the area where the hoses connect into?  Should the housing be alluminum color or some other different detailing color?

Thanks for the help.

Brian

[71charger_fan]

Every one I've ever had has been a mixture of rust and seeping PS fluid. I always assumed they were unpainted.

[resq302]

Couldn't the power steering fluid remove the paint over time?  I know that on an old dirty, oily motor, the paint lifted off from the oil being absorbed through the paint.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

I have seen them both ways.

My first rebuilt box I painted cast iron.....took it out because it leaked like a sieve...
I have an NOS new style box (different pitman arm shaft diameter) that is gloss black with a white paint drip /streak coming from the jam nut on the top for the adjuster running down the side of the box.
I left it this way.

Here is a pic of Jet's Hemi car......

[Paul 500]

I painted mine cast iron grey (flash made it look silver in photo)

[Nacho-RT74]

I think semigloss black same as K member, A/C compressor, Radiator and all black stuff underhood

[Kern Dog]

The manual steering box was natural Aluminum. The cast iron power box was never painted either. The tie rod ends, sleeves, center link, Idler and Pitman arms were natural steel. The strut rods were natural forged steel. The upper control arms were sometimes painted low gloss black. The lowers were also black, but sometimes they had a gold tone to them. Torsion bars were dip-painted low gloss black.

[maxwellwedge]

P/Steering boxes were always painted black.....the paint just didn't last on there on many cars.

Use a 12-15% flattened black......semigloss.

Only ever seen black LCA's on two cars.....probably NOS accident replacements.....heard that it was more prevalent on 67 and earlier cars. Slight cosmoline over bare metal on uppers, cosmoline (thicker) on lowers.....dipped in both circumstances.

Torsion bars were dipped in pure gloss black.

I have seen tie rod sleeves in natural and zinc phos plated......agree on the other stuff being natural.

[mauve66]

mines naturally greasy............................

[Kern Dog]

P/Steering boxes were always painted black.....the paint just didn't last

I have never seen an original steering box that was painted. Rick Ehrenberg feels the same way.
I make plenty of mistakes, but HE is rarely ever wrong.

[maxwellwedge]

P/Steering boxes were always painted black.....the paint just didn't last

I have never seen an original steering box that was painted. Rick Ehrenberg feels the same way.
I make plenty of mistakes, but HE is rarely ever wrong.

Looks like he is wrong now.

I have plenty of low mile original cars that the power steering box is painted black on. I have research pics of 100's of low mile survivor cars that show black. People like Frank Badalson 100% agree that p/s boxes were black.....and even did an article on it I believe.

Remember - That cheap, crappy paint never really stuck so well to the unit - and it was in a dirty, greasy, hot area. On more weathered cars it does appear that they were never painted.....but usually you can find a tiny area where the paint has stuck.

[Kern Dog]

Interesting. I have only the boring vanilla type Mopars to use as a reference... The A body cars, the Aspen/Volares, the various Police cars, etc. They surely didn't prime the parts before painting, right? Certainly NO metal etching primers...
Why then did the paint stick to engine blocks and not the steering chuck? What gets hotter or more oily than an engine block?

[resq302]

I would imagine that the blocks and engines were given some kind of a degreaser type of bath prior to assembly to ensure that the gaskets and such would seal properly.  But again, I didn't work at the engine assembly plant so it is only a best guess.

[HeavyFuel]

Black.   

I've got better pics somewhere....but this is the first one I came across.

[bill440rt]

P/Steering boxes were always painted black.....the paint just didn't last

I have never seen an original steering box that was painted. Rick Ehrenberg feels the same way.
I make plenty of mistakes, but HE is rarely ever wrong.

Looks like he is wrong now.

I have plenty of low mile original cars that the power steering box is painted black on. I have research pics of 100's of low mile survivor cars that show black. People like Frank Badalson 100% agree that p/s boxes were black.....and even did an article on it I believe.

Remember - That cheap, crappy paint never really stuck so well to the unit - and it was in a dirty, greasy, hot area. On more weathered cars it does appear that they were never painted.....but usually you can find a tiny area where the paint has stuck.

Ding! Ding! Ding!
Yes, the P/S box should be semi-gloss black, with that white paint marking/drip.
Frank Badalson did a recent article on this in MCG. Paint didn't last long in most cases.
Tie rod ends, ball joints, steering knuckles, etc should be a natural dark cast color (the dark color was from heat treating). I read years ago in some magazine article that Gibson replicated this by a quick dip in blackening solution just to darken in slightly.
Sleeves, clamps, & hardware were phosphate plated, but I have purchased NOS replacements in the past that were natural.

[maxwellwedge]

Interesting. I have only the boring vanilla type Mopars to use as a reference... The A body cars, the Aspen/Volares, the various Police cars, etc. They surely didn't prime the parts before painting, right? Certainly NO metal etching primers...
Why then did the paint stick to engine blocks and not the steering chuck? What gets hotter or more oily than an engine block?

I love A-Bodies!! - My first car was a 69 Swinger 340

[maxwellwedge]

P/Steering boxes were always painted black.....the paint just didn't last

I have never seen an original steering box that was painted. Rick Ehrenberg feels the same way.
I make plenty of mistakes, but HE is rarely ever wrong.

Looks like he is wrong now.

I have plenty of low mile original cars that the power steering box is painted black on. I have research pics of 100's of low mile survivor cars that show black. People like Frank Badalson 100% agree that p/s boxes were black.....and even did an article on it I believe.

Remember - That cheap, crappy paint never really stuck so well to the unit - and it was in a dirty, greasy, hot area. On more weathered cars it does appear that they were never painted.....but usually you can find a tiny area where the paint has stuck.

Ding! Ding! Ding!
Yes, the P/S box should be semi-gloss black, with that white paint marking/drip.
Frank Badalson did a recent article on this in MCG. Paint didn't last long in most cases.
Tie rod ends, ball joints, steering knuckles, etc should be a natural dark cast color (the dark color was from heat treating). I read years ago in some magazine article that Gibson replicated this by a quick dip in blackening solution just to darken in slightly.
Sleeves, clamps, & hardware were phosphate plated, but I have purchased NOS replacements in the past that were natural.

Yes - He calls it quick-black. I grabbed some off of him years ago. Makes a bead blasted original part look natural again......then throw on some MP50 and it stays like that. Haven't tried RPM yet but I hear it looks good as well.

[bill440rt]

P/Steering boxes were always painted black.....the paint just didn't last

I have never seen an original steering box that was painted. Rick Ehrenberg feels the same way.
I make plenty of mistakes, but HE is rarely ever wrong.

Looks like he is wrong now.

I have plenty of low mile original cars that the power steering box is painted black on. I have research pics of 100's of low mile survivor cars that show black. People like Frank Badalson 100% agree that p/s boxes were black.....and even did an article on it I believe.

Remember - That cheap, crappy paint never really stuck so well to the unit - and it was in a dirty, greasy, hot area. On more weathered cars it does appear that they were never painted.....but usually you can find a tiny area where the paint has stuck.

Ding! Ding! Ding!
Yes, the P/S box should be semi-gloss black, with that white paint marking/drip.
Frank Badalson did a recent article on this in MCG. Paint didn't last long in most cases.
Tie rod ends, ball joints, steering knuckles, etc should be a natural dark cast color (the dark color was from heat treating). I read years ago in some magazine article that Gibson replicated this by a quick dip in blackening solution just to darken in slightly.
Sleeves, clamps, & hardware were phosphate plated, but I have purchased NOS replacements in the past that were natural.

Yes - He calls it quick-black. I grabbed some off of him years ago. Makes a bead blasted original part look natural again......then throw on some MP50 and it stays like that. Haven't tried RPM yet but I hear it looks good as well.

Eastwood also sells the blackening solution, same stuff. 
I used this method on the cast suspension parts on my '70, but I cleared them instead of the MP50. That's been at least 14 years ago, and they still look great.