Steering column seal manual vs power steering

[Chasbod]

Is there any real difference in the column seals between manual and power steering? I read where the P/S units are a bit higher at the firewall and they are shorter but can I use the existing manual seal and trim the excess?

[cdherman]

Yes, with some hill billy engineering, you can modify the manual steering column seal and the outer firewall support so that they sit higher on the firewall.

You could drill new holes to move the outer bracket up, and new holes in the inner one as well. You may end up with a little gap at the bottom that you will need to cover with some rubber, foam etc.

Keep in mind that the design of the steering column from 65-72 was to have the column bolted to the rag joint and to the underneath side of dash. This determines where the tube goes through the firewall. The outer bracket or flange has large holes and the bolts have large cupped retainers that have barbs on them to dig into the bracket. This allows for some repositioning of the bracket so there is no lateral/vertical torque on the steering tube (which would cause premature wear of the bearings and/or rag joint).

Now, here is another possibility for you: I recently harvested the column from a 73-78. Ford re-designed things, and did away with the outer bracket. Now there is just one single injection molded inner flange. I am nearly certain that you can use the 73-78 inner flange on a 65-72 as well. Finding these is MUCH easier -- I saw at least 3 in the Pick and Pull just yesterday......

What also complicates matters is that the rubber boot for the PS seal is NOT reproduced. Only the manual is reporduced. So you have to use the manual one if your PS one is shot. I have some pics but no pic account here. If you are desparate, I'll get myself signed up and upload them.

[cdherman]

Yes, with some hill billy engineering, you can modify the manual steering column seal and the outer firewall support so that they sit higher on the firewall.

You could drill new holes to move the outer bracket up, and new holes in the inner one as well. You may end up with a little gap at the bottom that you will need to cover with some rubber, foam etc.

Keep in mind that the design of the steering column from 65-79 was to have the column bolted to the rag joint and to the underneath side of dash. This determines where the tube goes through the firewall. From 65-72, the outer bracket or flange has large holes and the bolts have large cupped retainers that have barbs on them to dig into the bracket. This allows for some repositioning of the bracket so there is no lateral/vertical torque on the steering tube (which would cause premature wear of the bearings and/or rag joint).

Now, here is another possibility for you: I recently harvested the column from a 73-78. Ford re-designed things, and did away with the outer bracket. Now there is just one single injection molded inner flange/seal. I am nearly certain that you can use the 73-78 inner flange on a 65-72 as well. Wit the 73-78 inner seal/fange, you don't need the outer bracket anymore. Finding these is MUCH easier -- I saw at least 3 in the Pick and Pull just yesterday......

What also complicates matters is that the rubber boot for the 69-72 PS inner seal is NOT reproduced. Only the manual is reproduced AFAIK. So you have to use the manual one if your PS one is shot. I have some pics but no pic account here. If you are desparate, I'll get myself signed up and upload them.

[willowbilly3]

On my first conversion, many moons ago, I slotted out the holes in the firewall bracket from the manual steering and also reused the rubber. It functioned perfectly fine. I wish FORDification would have been around in 1986, would have made that job sooo much easier.
I've done a few since and know ahead of time what I need now. Sort of. I still like to use my original mast so having the right length of steering shaft ahead of time is still a crap shoot. When I did the cc I had all 4 steering columns I owned apart before I was done.

[Chasbod]

Thanks. At least I know now why the P/S Columns on ebay w/ P/S seals are so expensive.