Gordie! Have you tried your local automotive supply store for the bushings?I got mine through Napa.After reading all the info posted I still think someone has used a 56 parts car for the driveline and steering box.Motor was only used up to 56 in the USA.

  

Wow! Those designers never sat still.

Yes, Mark you are correct. My car was built in Dallas, US car.

The guy I bought the box and shaft from tried to fit it into his 59 Fairlane, it was too low, the wheel rubbed on the seat. He had a 57 Fairlane as well and it was different than that as well.



I will post next week when we get the results from my 57 box being rebuilt. I just also discovered that the lower back control arm bushings are pooched. All the others have been replaced but not the bottom two. Why would someone do that?

We have having a bit of a hard time finding bushings..Macs has them in their catalogue but I don't want to wait that long. Is there a bushing listing for a newer model that also fits; and NAPA or parts dealers would have?



Spring will come some day.

Thanks to all for the informative and interesting posts.



Gt

Gordie T           Long Point, Ontario

LARRY D,

   Great description with all the varied differences and you,re right, gather what you,ve got, lay it all out, mixnmatch what will get the job done, and feel sure he will come up with satisfactory result. regards bill.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Hi All,

One of the greatest challenges we face in the love of these cars is that they made several changes over the '54 to '62 era.  Another that compounds the problems is that different parts and assemblies went into the Canadian built and export models.  In the Fab 50's Ford Club we have lots of these cars both U.S. and Canadian built and often finding two alike is a challenge.  Part of it is the age of the cars and what may have been installed in them by prior owners.

What we've found works is to lay out what you've got and compare it to the other parts or parts you want to install.  You can't always do that so that's what makes this community so important when you're seeking answers.

In Canada we used the '53 chassis under our '54 Fords with the Flathead for power so I can't tell you that a '54 box is ok for a '55.

For the '56 Ford, most we're 3-tooth sector shaft to fit the dish wheel.  Early '56 got the 2-tooth sector but with the correct length shaft for the dished wheel.

'57 & early '58 worm & sector 3-tooth same as late '56.

'58 was recirculating ball as was '59, but '59 box was noticeably thinner or flatter to allow increased manifold clearance for FE 332-352 and you should always use the '59 pitman arm on the '59 box.

'55 through early '58 route the horn wire through the hollow steering shaft. '58 & '59 use a solid shaft and route it along side the column in an encased tube.

I have put the '59 box into a '56 along with the 352 V8, but it was with an afermarket wheel with the horn button under the dash and a Fenton 300 floor shift controlling the transmission.

To do it today, I'd swap the column cover and the box over as an asembly. The wiring for the horn and signals will be a bit different but nothing that difficult to figure out.

Additional info. steering box shaft on a '56 Merc is longer than a Ford it may be longer on the later Merc and Edsels as well.

Larry D

Winnipeg, MB Canada Eh!


'57 Fairlane 500 Club Victoria

'58 Custom 300 Tudor

'56 Crown Victoria

'61 Starliner Z Code

'51 Ford Victoria

Gordie,  this is only my view from afar but i,ve watched this post and can see you have the 56 customline style steering box, as you say the 57-59 upward recirculating worm and ball steering box is bigger, different etc. yes if changing from early to late will raise height of column as it goes through firewall and the shift levers will be closer in also. i dont believe its a big deal as i,ve fitted many of these 57-59 boxes into 56 customlines, fairlanes  etc and obviously theres some fiddling but worth the change as steering is much lighter etc. I have just cut the hole in the 2 firewall column plates higher and bent or  repositioned the shift lever to clear everthing or modified what ever the problem is, its not much. you need to alter height of steering column tube to sit nice under bottom of steering wheel area. Usually the early s/box had hollow column with horn wire through and low fitting indicator switch, compared to solid 57-59 column with raised indicator/horn ring switch with deeper lower steering wheel base , there may be a bit of mixnmatching with whatever columns in the car, but certainly doable, best regards bill.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia

Hello Larry! Thats interesting info about the Canadian built 58's.( I dont have a Canadian parts book for 58,using the American version).I could be mistaken but I think Gordie at some point said his was a US built car.The pic that Gordie posted is in the car now and fits with the column in the car(thats a 56-57 style).55-56-57 boxes look the same-internals are different for the 55 box.When I described the 58 box with the large locknut on the box where the steering shaft comes out Gordie said that was what he got as a rebuilt 58 box.Thats the recuirculating box.Too long shaft for his existing column.Parts catalogue lists the parts for the 56-57 box as being the same.As far as the 55 box I have that one in my 56 being a November built car using up the 55 steering boxes( 2 tooth sector shaft) and aircooled Fordomatics and has the deep dish steering wheel.I do have a question for you .You stated that you swapped a recuirculating 58 box into a 56.Does that work with the stock steering column or does that need to be changed to a 58 column as well?

  

Larry

Thanks for the good info. As you can tell I am confused too. Was the 55 box bigger than my 57 box. The box I put in 58? is about half heavier again and is way beefier than the picture I showed earlier. I am still waiting for the shop to tell me if they can fix my 57 .





Cheers



GT

Gordie T           Long Point, Ontario

Hi Gordie,

Many early Canadian produced '58s built at the Oakville plant had the '57 steering box. There are different ratio boxes between those cars equipped with power and non-power steering, but I remember swapping several '58/'59 boxes into the '56/'57 Fords.  The '58/'59 box has a recirculating ball as opposed to the early worm & sector boxes and steers much easier.

From the description of your problem I suspect the box you purchased is from a '55 Ford.  The '55 had a flat steering wheel with a shaft 2-inches longer than the '56 and later models that came with the 2-inch dished steering wheel.  I'd return the box and replace it with one that you know is is a recirculating ball unit from a '58.

Also, all Canadian-built '58 Fords/Meteors equipped with Y-Block power used the 272. 

Larry D

Winnipeg, MB Canada Eh!


'57 Fairlane 500 Club Victoria

'58 Custom 300 Tudor

'56 Crown Victoria

'61 Starliner Z Code

'51 Ford Victoria

Hello Paul! When I had a look at my parts catalogue it lists the box shown as being used in 56 and 57.The box style changed in 58 and used the same basic box in 59 with the adjuster being changed to accomodate a rubber vibration damper between the mast and the box.Gordies car has a 272 motor in it which should not be in a 58.I wonder if someone used a 56 parts car and swapped the motor,transmission and steering column into the 58?The basic column style is the same from 56-59 with some variance in style but same basic length +- a couple of inches.Hard to know why that style box is in it.

  

Wow! I posted previously on this subject, but am totally confused now. I don't have my 57 box now to look at, but as I recall it didn't look like the one in the photo. My 57 has been converted to a 58 box. (the box only and this is not the way to go!) There was an adjustment of about an inch or so in the length of the shaft housing or mast, (shorter) but not to the extent Gordie describes. Is the pictured one a 56 box? After my mast was trimmed it went together, albeit with automatic linkage, without any problem mechanically. Then there was the Horn issue, but to avoid further confusion, I won't get into that problem here.

Paul