[TR] TR2-3 steering worm installation (Now young and dumb)

[Tom Householder]

> Any comments about the procedure or results would be appreciated.
> 
> Randall
> _______________________________________________
> trhouse at greenapple.com

Never tried replacing the worm. However will share some early experiences
with steering gears.
My first car was bought from a salvage yard. It had been hit in the front
left.... hard. At 17 years old armed with pipe wrench, vice grips, hammer,
and a few wrenches it came to life again. 50 bucks straightened the frame .
However, still bailing wired together, within a month I got really secure
with running through the gears .... Hard and fast....  one day a quick left
turn to the bowling alley offered up a three block run to a slollom into the
parking lot and up to the parking space in front of the place. Exhillarated
from the power rush I attempted to  Lemans exit the car (door closed) still
clutching the steering wheel. Imagine the feeling in your pants when the
steering wheel turned infinitely with out any resistance. It was a bit
warmer than the bonnet bailing wire comming loose the week before, allowing
the Bonnet to trash the new hinges and  windshield and fly over the car
behind me.
The shaft had fatigue broke at the worm. I learned early to pay attention to
critical alignment when rebuilding steering boxes. The guy who towed me back
with rope behind his Rambler  still tells the story of me walking 4 miles
beside the TR, with the ebrake on, kicking the tires to steer it back to the
house. 

A couple of years later I lent a RHD car I was driving to a friend who ran
it into a Mustang and totaled it. In an overnight attempt to take two cars
and make one to have transportation, I swapped out the bent steering shaft
with the shaft from the LHD. What a hoot..... when I backed out of the
garage and experienced the Keystone Cops modification. When you steered
right the car went left. Made for an interesting day at the wheel....

I always kept these early learning experiences in mind when I worked on
steering Boxes

FYI

tom