Steering box removal

For now, I lumped all the pre-war cars together, I would LOVE for there to be enough demand to split it into groups (hint...hint, post here about your pre-war Singer)
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mothy
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Steering box removal

Post by mothy »

Happy New year to you all.

Seeing as how this has not been the most garrulous of forums in recent months, let me bring some activity in.

The large amount of free play at the steering wheel, around 4" has never bother me overmuch (or MOT testers either for some reason). But I do admit that it does seem excessive and on a recent outing to the VSCC New Years Day meeting at Much Marcle in Herefordshire, when I had one of my friends drive the Singer while I took my 1928 Austin 7 Fabric Saloon, he commented on the unease he felt with the steering. As you can see from some of the pictures we found some wetness. I checked it out after the event and it felt OK to me. I do drive with two concepts. One is of the brakes being very optional to use and if one does have to use them, then assume they will only work once. Naturally they do work well, but there is no point in pushing ones luck if one does need to do so, especially with the Austin 7 and its uncoupled brakes. The other concept is that steering an older car is merely giving the machine guidance as to the general direction in which one wishes to proceed. So steering is not an issue to me either.

However running two old cars does mean that there are occasions when people other than myself will use one or the other and it would not hurt to make the cars as usable as possible. So its time to remove the steering box and send it off for overhaul to Steering Services who have moved from Wimbledon to Dorking. They will make a new nut and peg and replace bushes and fit a functional oil seal rather than the piece of blotting paper that the leather seal pretends to me.

With the weather being a bit chilly at the minute, the more I know what I am doing before I pick up spanners, hammer and elastoplats, the better. So are there any gochas in removing the steering box and column and how long should I expect to take? I would have thought that the last time it was all apart was in 1971.

It looks to me as though the procedure is ( I have no controls going through the centre of the column):-
remove steering wheel
detach column from dashboard
disconnect drag link
disconnect electric junction box
remove large long nut and bolt

Is that it, and will I be able to remove the steering box without taking the radiator out?

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Thanks

Roly
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Used to own a 1934 Singer Le Mans

Beer: So much more than just a breakfast drink.
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Peter McKercher
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Re: Steering box removal

Post by Peter McKercher »

No, not a garrulous lot over here I'm afraid. Are you planning to pull the column out from below the car or remove the firewall and take it out through the cockpit?
Peter McKercher
Vice President - NASOC
Pre war Singer Specialist and Collector
Automotive Historian
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mothy
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Re: Steering box removal

Post by mothy »

Peter McKercher wrote:No, not a garrulous lot over here I'm afraid. Are you planning to pull the column out from below the car or remove the firewall and take it out through the cockpit?
Below or forward. That's the sort of thing I was hoping to discover.

Snowed in today so gives me time to have a look see.

Roly
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Used to own a 1934 Singer Le Mans

Beer: So much more than just a breakfast drink.
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Peter McKercher
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Re: Steering box removal

Post by Peter McKercher »

Roly
Based on my experience with the Nine Sports (the process will be the same with the Le Mans) you will need to remove the gas pedal bracket, take out the carpets and remove the two firewall boards. Then you should be able to pull the assembly through the cockpit.
Peter McKercher
Vice President - NASOC
Pre war Singer Specialist and Collector
Automotive Historian
Author of "Racing Roadsters"

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mothy
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Re: Steering box removal

Post by mothy »

Steering box is out and packed ready for collection.

I reckon that if one knows what one was doing it could be taken out in an hour. I took three! But I am arthritic and that strong these days, so solutions to shifting tight unforgiving objects had to found along the way. The worst was disconnecting the drag link ball joint from the drop arm, but once I found my ball joint removing wedge that dropped apart.

To extract from car only needed the right hand horn removing and it slotted easily forward between the radiator shell and the wing and under the headlamp.

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And while there is access, here is what my right hand engine mount looks like for the A series engine. A while back the front engine plate broke off and this what was done to get round that. Its a bit Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but the solution has kept the engine where it should be. I should paint it now that I can see it.

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Roly
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Used to own a 1934 Singer Le Mans

Beer: So much more than just a breakfast drink.
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mikeyr
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Re: Steering box removal

Post by mikeyr »

super interesting mount for the engine, I did my mounts for the A-series motor last summer and test fitted over the holidays but I did mine without welding to the Singer chassis at all following instructions/drawings I got from someone in the UK. Finished welding up the motor front plate a week ago. I would not have thought that oil filter housing and its bolt would be strong enough, since it works I agreee, throw some paint on it and no one will not know its not original :)

As to the steering, glad you got it out without too much work, I could not answer that for you since when I pulled mine the body and motor were already out of the car.
Mike Rambour. Site Administrator
1953 Singer 4ADT (sold), 1934 Singer 9 Le Mans, 1934 Singer 1 1/2 4-Seater Sports (sold), 2009 BMW K1300GT
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mothy
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Re: Steering box removal

Post by mothy »

Thanks for that. The install is not elegant, but there was not a lot left of the engine plate left after the last mount snapped it off. I did not want to have to pull the engine and replace the plate, because I am naturally lazy! So I let a local engineer loose on the car to see if he could effect a way of keeping the engine under control. It seems that the chassis rail has not complained about the extra load on the steering box mount - yet....

Oil filter mount is more of a steady, then a load taker.

Roly
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Used to own a 1934 Singer Le Mans

Beer: So much more than just a breakfast drink.
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mothy
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Re: Steering box removal

Post by mothy »

Steering box refurbed and re-installed a week ago, but weather has precluded road test until today. Play at steering wheel is now a little over one inch. So that's an improvement. Steering was a little tight initially but has eased off now. Handling does feel tighter and more controlled while going round bends.

Very pleased!

Roly
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Used to own a 1934 Singer Le Mans

Beer: So much more than just a breakfast drink.
jalye
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Re: Steering box removal

Post by jalye »

Hi Roly,

Having done all this hard work, do you know the serial numbers or specifications for the steering nut used in that awful Burman Douglas Singer 9
steering box. There is a bunch of these for sale on trade me.co.nz but the seller has no idea what they are from.
I am in desperate need of better steering for my 9 sports special but can't dismantle the steering at this time so any info
would be greatly appreciated....

Thanks,
John Lye
SOC New Zealand
miodek1987
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Re: Steering box removal

Post by miodek1987 »

Congrats on your hard work with the car and good luck.
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mothy
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Re: Steering box removal

Post by mothy »

thank you.
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Used to own a 1934 Singer Le Mans

Beer: So much more than just a breakfast drink.
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