[Staowners] actually driving a '54 Alpine - HELP!

[CotaLymepond at aol.com]

Hi Guys ... There is a general trend in the hobby to excuse evil  handling as 
just something you have to accept in an old car.  But while  every car does 
indeed handle differently, none should be Bad.
 If you think about it, if a car handled that poorly when it was  new they 
would never have been able to sell them.
Now not everyone want's to spend the effort to make his car "As new" but we  
should be able to get them close. Play in the steering wheel is most likely  
looseness in the steering box or linkages and Pete gave a good primer on how to 
 check for that  Now if you've inspected all the tie rods, and steering  
knuckles and center pivot and they're all tight, and then taken all the slop out  
of the steering box with the adjuster bolt, and there is still play in the  
wheel, the problem is most likely end play in the box. The steering boxes on  
these cars are reversible. To switch from right to wrong hand drive you pull the 
 shaft and worm gear out of the box spin the box around the other way and  
reassemble it, Now the box faces the other direction and will bolt to the  
opposite frame rail. The worm gear and shaft are held centered in the box by the  
end caps and there are shims provided under the lower end cap to adjust the  
end-play of the worm gear. The shop manual explains in detail how to make this  
adjustment, but basically you just need to remove shims until the play is 
gone,  being careful not to remove too many as that will cause binding in the 
steering  and damage to the bearings. Now this procedure is best carried out with 
the box  removed from the car. The bearings and races that support the worm 
gear should  be inspected for wear and rust pitting. if these bearings are worn, 
just  tightening them up will not solve the problem, they need to be 
replaced. Now  granted these cars will never handle like a Lamborgini, But with all 
the  pertinent components checked and or refurbished they should be just as good 
as  their peers were back when they were new and winning races.
<> Steve Cota <>



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