MONTE CARLO Power Steering Box Q.

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CopperNick

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So have actually managed to get to the point where I can re-assemble the power steering. Was able to locate the correct fitting for the return side of the steering box and harvested it from another unit but then noticed that there is supposed to be some kind of a shouldered insert in the port hole. There was one in the donor box but the one on the chassis does not seem to have it. Not certain but suspect it may have gone awol over the years. Did try to extract the insert from another box but had no luck and did not want to damage it in case they are made of unobtanium. is this a part I can score from GM or aftermarket? Would a hydraulic supply shop carry them??

Nick
 

565bbchevy

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I think he is talking about these
1589072351086.png
 
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565bbchevy

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Aug 8, 2011
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500/600

Royal Smart Person
Nov 17, 2018
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Makes sense but if the box required an o-ring style fitting why not just run that it will probably seal better.
Dunno. I think the brass pop right out
 

CopperNick

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WELL!! So, okay, to take this in order, first of all, Thank You for both the comments and the direction. What I already have for the return line fitting looks like the first picture with the 90 degree ell and fitting but it has no O-ring or groove for one, it just looks like an inverted flare nut that would mate up with a beveled or chamfered shoulder, and that is exactly what is installed in the port on the donor steering box. Problem is that that insert is in there tightly enough that it doesn't want to come out easily and I could damage it beyond usefulness if I try to persuade it. Which brings me to picture two, of the set of three brass inserts, which look exactly like want I need and which should work perfectly. Now to find a dealer in the land of the frozen chosen that carries them...…….

Thanks again.

Nick
 

CopperNick

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Update. Well, Old Zymurgy was right, the only way you can deal with a can of worms once the tin has been opened is to get a bigger can! That Ell shaped fitting might as well be made of unobtanium/ ACDelco has no listing for it. Found one at Scoggin-Dickey, ordered it, and they cancelled my order due to no stock and no backorder on it!! Finally visited Summit not once but twice, ordered it, but they are out of stock TOO!!! and say it might come in sometime in June, in which case they will then ship it.

Amazon claims to have them in stock but wants me to become a member before they will even think about letting me order the part. Edelmann makes them but every version they offer comes back as "Not for vehicle in question". Some outfit called Sunsong keeps popping up with listings but have never heard of them and supect they may be C****se. Almost at the point of filling the hole with J-B weld and walking away from the whole project for a very long while. Have my yard looking for a fitting among the corpses out in the back sheds but they dispose of surplus and obsolete inventory every so often and this is a 35 year old steering box here. F*****g Covid means I can't get out into the suppliers and do some digging. I am so right there with Bryan Adams about bat eating...…………………………………………………………..

Nick
 
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CopperNick

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565, I can probably take a mike and thread pitch gauge to what I have and post the measurements here. Those brass inserts may be removable but on my donor box they are pressed in tight. I would prefer the shouldered version of the ell that comes with the O-ring for better sealing but at this point I will take what I can get and move on.

Thanks.

Nick
 

565bbchevy

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565, I can probably take a mike and thread pitch gauge to what I have and post the measurements here.
Do you know what year/vehicle your donor steering gearbox is from ?
 

CopperNick

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Delays, delays. Okay, to your question above, the donor box is probably from either a 78 Monte Carlo or a 78 Cutlass, The brass inserts in that box that allow for the use of a tube with an invert flare fitting are pressed in or otherwise installed and do not want to come out easily. Left them as is-did not want to damage them jic.
DSCN2542.JPG


This shows what I have versus what I would need if I was able to go with an O-ring elbow. The one on the left is what I was working with. This elbow and fitting have one bad issue; the fitting does not spin so the elbow cannot be clocked to get it into an optimum location. Did try to free it up by letting it soak in Deep Creep for about a week but no joy. I can introduce it to a vise and a flare nut wrench but risk tearing the tube so that is a non-starter. On the right is what would work, if I could lay my hands on one. Problem here is that this sample end is attached to a pressure side hose. By measurement, the nut can be either 5/8ths or 11/16ths hex and has 16 pitch threads. Under the hex head the amount of thread length is .404". From the shoulder to the end of the tube is .192". The pipe itself is 3/8ths tube. Dimensionally it has a long leg that is 3.075", and a short leg that is 2.00" To me the hex fitting reads like it is whatever thread would be found on a standard invert fitting.

DSCN2525.JPG


This is a second comparison shot of the default elbow and fitting versus one that I found hiding in a box of carb parts. The found one is a hydraulic fitting that has an invert flare end and matching hex nut that has thread and pitch that matches the on the right. It will thread into the return port on the steering box, but without a matching shoulder in the port it will not tighten up.

DSCN2547.JPG


And here is what I suspect the return line should probably look like. This is a factory line, provenance and application unknown, with a nut that turns and the double shoulders at the hose end. I have had to reshape it slightly due to it being abused at some point in its life but, in a test fit, it sat in position beside the pressure hose and looked fairly factory, (for values of that term). Again, the missing link is the shoulder in the port hole on the return side. This is probably the one that I would use as it seems to match the existing architecture the most completely.

565BB, when I did the research on the AC Delco fitting that was mentioned above, I found that physically it seemed to meet all the requirements I had, BUT.... whether P/N 19146526, or supercession number 36350210, it was just not available. I actually did order it under its factory number from Scoggin-Dickey and they took the order, accepted it, and then came back to me and said the part was not available and refunded my payment. Summit says they will take an order but that they will only be able to ship sometime in middle to late June.

Why do I think that, no matter who the supplier or brand name is, the source for this part is a manufacturer in CHINA and, due to Covid-19 and all the international trade restrictions that are in play right now, the bat eaters won't either make it or have them made but won't ship it because their panties are in a wad about something???

Needless to say, but gonna say it anyway, I am frustrated. The fast cure seems to be scoring a replacement brass shoulder insert for the return side of the steering box. They come as a kit and I do have one on order. As of right now it is somewhere between there and here, and when it will get here is a fat ??. It is SO BAD, that I spent four hours on Sunday doing shop cleaning just to get to the Goat Locker, the metal storage shed that holds all my POL inventory, just because there was a length of expanded mesh beside it that I will need to make a screen for dirt to get the rocks out!! The good news was that I found I had enough Prestone to fill the motor and rad. The bad news Is that I am down on the quarts of Royal Purple for my pending oil changes and there were no filters on the shelf. And I am still in rotation for work so getting to the Speed Shop is not easy. A measure of How Bad it is, is that I actually unboxed my new Miller 215, assembled it's stand, and set one on the other. Still have to do the assembly on the welder and get a bottle for it: more screwing around to get to the gas supplier and get a contract set up but this is all sidebar to my main problem.

Anyway, hope things are going better for you. Stay safe.

Nick
 
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