power steering leak/fix in car

[69 OUR/TEA]

Figured I'd make a thread if anyones going to be going thru this.So I basically restored this car,and figured since the steering box was fine,don't mess with something that is'nt broken.As I sat in the eng bay installing everything,kept looking at that power steering box and thinking,am I doing the right thing by leaving it alone.Of course not !!!!!!!!I got the car up and running a week ago ,everything went great,no eng/tranny/fuel/coolant leaks.But geuss what did!!!!! It came back to bight me in the ass!!!The freaking pwr steering box shaft seal .
So,out with the steering column,and coupling it went.The seal is avail from Rock Auto,Gates 35062,or Carquest also 35062 ,about $8.00-$10.00.Once you have the coupling off,make sure you have a pan under,cause its gonna leak a good amount.Spin off the retainer ring,then lock onto the hub with visegrips,it will be stuck in there pretty good.Wiggle it up and down,and as others said be carefull not to turn it.Pull it straight off,and this is where being carefull comes in.
Under that seal is a bunch of needle bearings like in a u-joint cap.Try and pull it straight off and gently,as a few of mine fell apart.Pay attention that none fall into the steering box,as you will most likely not get them back.Once out remove the seal and the large O ring seal,clean it up real good,use grease to hold the needle bearings back in,if they fell out,if not pack some grease right over them to hold them in place.When setting the new seal in with a socket to keep it going in straight,all of mine fell out!!!What a chore putting them all back in.
The fluid will keep filling up in the area you have removed the hub from and be leaking out,so keep the pan under it,and stuff rags above the pitman arm link to help.Before you go trying to re-install the hub,double check the razor thin washer that is in there and the ring inside it is centered and not slid down under,see one of my pics.
Lube large O-ring with grease as well as the steering box where the seal slides down into to not rip the new O-ring and make it go in easier,and the shaft.BE CAREFULL you are putting it on straight because of the needle bearings!!!!!
You can feel it drop into place nice and smoothly,and while trying to push it down,make sure you feel that little fitting with small O-ring falling into place.
Once you can see it has dropped back where it should be,grease the threads on the spin ring ,spin it back to tight and you're done,well except for re-installing the steeering column.If you can borrrow a lift,do so,will make life alot easier,although some have done this on their backs.Having a lift now has made the assembly and working on this car alot easier and is/was worth every penny.
So,my advice to those doing the same type of resto or build on one of these cars,if you have had the car sitting around for some time,change these seals before you put the box let alone engine/tranny in,and fill up the steering pump with fluid.Easy cheap insurance.

[69 OUR/TEA]

pics...

[69 OUR/TEA]

last one...

[69 OUR/TEA]

Also,as you see a blue sharpe mark,put two match marks to reinstall the coupling exactly where you removed it from.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Nice write up! 

PS--the car looks spectacular! 

[bill440rt]

Looks frikkin' awesome, Paul! Top-notch!! 

[bobs66440]

Excellent write-up. Thanks!