New info: PS vs. MS steering column seal retainer plate

[FORDification]

While at the shop today I was assembling some parts to ship, one of which was the firewall bracket for a power steering column, which as most of you know is different from the manual steering version, due to the slightly different angle of the column as it goes through the firewall. I was asked in another thread if the inner plate, which is the column's seal retainer, was the same, and I replied it was.

However, I was wrong. I took the following comparison shot and decided to make an overall announcement here, just so everyone is aware:



I will be adding this new picture and info to the power steering tutorial later this evening.

[cdherman]

So there is some sort of gasket/seal which is held in place by those plates. Assuming that seal is shot, anyone know where to get a new seal for a PS firewall? Just make one out of an innertube? I'd rather do it right..... if possible.

[bwc302]

hmmm... Keith, is this also the case with the Tilt columns? Is there an additional in cab mount needed?

Thanks,

Bobby

[72hiboy4x4]

the rubber seal is in the dennis carpenter catalog, i believe

[fordman]

no there aren't any additional cab mounts needed for the different brackets.

[rjewkes]

theres two? I'm Confused. Iknow of the end of the column one. but one outside on the firewall?

or are we talking about the bracket that bolts on the outside that has the saddle bolt that goses over it? And is a seperate beastie?

[FORDification]

Since the inner rubber seal slides over the end of the column for installation, and since it won't slide over the shifter arm at the base of the column, you basically have to disassemble the steering column to replace it. Therefore, it would be wise to replace the seal with the proper one while everything's apart, since it would be a shame to disassemble the steering column to slide a home-made seal on, button everything back up and reinstall, only to find that it wasn't working and you had to re-disassemble everything to replace the seal anyway.

The rubber seal in the DC catalog specifies just for manual steering...they don't show one for PS:



Here's a photo of the MS seal:



The seal that was on the PS plate above was 99% gone, so I couldn't compare it to the MS version, and now that I know the plates are different, I guess at this point I'm not willing to say that the MS seal will work with the PS plate.

The '78-'79 tilt columns do not use the outer mounting bracket, only the inner one, which doubles as the seal retainer and mounting bracket. Since I believe the tilt columns are a different diameter than the earlier non-tilt versions, they'll take a completely different seal. I'll take a look my tilt column and report back.

No, you don't have to enlarge the hole in the firewall when going from MS to PS. It's a bolt-on procedure providing you have the correct brackets. There was not a MS and/or PS firewall, only one firewall was used for all applications.

Robert: Yes, there are two brackets. Well, actually, the one on the outer firewall is the only mounting bracket. That's the one which holds the lower end of the steering column with a clamp. The inner seal retaining plate is just there to hold the rubber seal....the rubber is the only thing touching the column, so it can't really be considered a bracket. This is the outer bracket:



The one on the left is the manual steering bracket, the one on the right is for power steering.

[rjewkes]

Whew thought my truck was missing something here. Thanks Keith.

[oldhalftons]

So there is some sort of gasket/seal which is held in place by those plates. Assuming that seal is shot, anyone know where to get a new seal for a PS firewall? Just make one out of an innertube? I'd rather do it right..... if possible.

I like to use a piece of selfsealing rubber roofing to make that gasket.
Its not how ford did it, but it seals better. Plus its got an adhesive on
one side , so its really easy to work with and it stays where you put it.

[bwc302]

So are we saying that a P/S column (tilt in this case) should bolt up to a M/S hole and mount with no additional modifications needed?

Tilt column to replace M/S column.

Thanks,

Bobby

[DuckRyder]

The PS seal and the MS seal are mirror images. The PS sticks into the engine compartment side, the MS seal goes toward the interior.

You can make the MS one work on PS but it doesn't look very correct.

[bwc302]

The one I have on the 78 Tilt Wheel is in good shape and would prefer to use that if I do not need to change anything else out for it to look and work correctly.

Thanks,

Bobby

[FORDification]

The tilt column will go right into the firewall hole without enlarging it, from what I understand. However, I do believe you'll have to drill new holes for the column's mounting bracket. You won't need the outer bracket at all, you can toss that.

I'll have to verify this the next time I'm at the shop, by doing a quick mockup of my tilt column in my '67.

[flyboy2610]

Interesting. I just looked at the inner plate that was on my PS equipped truck and it is the MS plate. It worked just fine when in the truck so that's what's going back in.

[bwc302]

From the pictures above it appears the bolt pattern and spacing are the same. On the PS mount it just appears the hole is longer, but the mounting looks the same.

Thanks,

Bobby