Steering gear rebuild?

[lloyd3]

The upside of having your car worked over by a fastidious engineering type is that he looks closely at things you might (out of bad-habits) overlook. The steering gear on my car is, evidently, leaking fluid. I had suspected the power steering pump but, alas...that evidently isn't the issue.  Looking now for either a rebuilding kit or a replacement.  Since I'm this far into everything else, I guess I'm going to do a number of niggling little things that I've been mostly able to ignore until now.  Even a well-restored car is going to need the usual care & feeding stuff after you've driven it for a while. At 130K miles now (40k post engine rebuild, probably 10k post last significant restoration) it's starting to become just another old car again.  Lots of leaks and grime in the engine bay again, lots of bugs in the radiator grill. The carb has needed bushed and rebuilt for several years now, etc, etc, etc.  The older I get, the less appealing all this is to me. I used to consider this the "fun" part, what happened?

[b5blue]

  I'm with ya! I was accused of doing "10 year fixes" on my car 25 years ago. Now they know why I did back then. My kids want to inherit the Charger so I've left plenty of work for them to worry over! I just want to drive!

[lloyd3]

My buddy is immensely talented and he can literally do just about everything. His shop is a sight to behold and I trust him implicitly but... he's the "lead, follow or get outta the way" type and I'm fearing a little mission-creep will start to take-over here.  Maybe that's a good thing?

[moparchris]

In many cases the leak is at the Sector shaft seal.  The seal is a 2 dollar part.  Not a big deal just a little time consuming to repair.  If your buddy is an anal-retentive sort ( like me) he will have it figured out pretty quickly.  I know what you mean about the niggling issues being less fun than they used to be.  Best thing about having cars you don't have to rely on to get to work is they can sit until you can get to them. 

[Mopar Nut]

If you're looking into a replacement, look at the Borgeson Power Steering box. 

[b5blue]

This reminds me I'm due for a system flush with fluid change. (Something I do every 25 years.) It may be time to add a filter also.   

[lloyd3]

These are Saginaw gear boxes, right? The rebuild videos on you-tube make it look manageable.  A rebuilt replacement isn't cheap and I like the idea of keeping the original equipment on the car if possible.

[b5blue]

You can drop the pitman arm and replace the seal by picking it off the box while still on the car. (I've seen it done.)

[lloyd3]

Super, we'll try that.