Good day all,
I finally had some time to replace the bushings in the steering coupling. The car had at least 1 inch of play in the steering wheel which resulted in me having to make continuous small corrections while driving. Very irritating. A few different causes posted on these forums but the bushings in the steering coupling seem to be a common issue. After taking the cover off it was fairly obvious that the bushings had completely disintegrated leaving huge gaps and play in the coupling.
I followed the advice on these forums on the procedure to change the bushings. Just some of my own general observations:
I found it an absolute pain as you spend a large amount of time upside down with your head twisted at an unnatural angle while removing/reinstalling the cotter pins and generally doing all the other stuff in the footwell. If you were a gymnast or contortionist in a previous life this might help. One of the cotter pins broke off while being removed ......lots of swearing on that one! For me the biggest issue was getting the power steering box reattached to the body. The 3 bolts would not line up no matter what I did, including turning the steering wheel x1 as suggested on these forums. After hours of frustration I eventually had to get under the car and wiggle it until my friend could get a Phillips screwdriver into one of the holes.
The difference in the steering afterwards is incredible. No play and the steering feels solid and direct as it should be. I would suggest anyone with steering play to take the cover off and check the bushes in the coupling. These bushings were not designed to last 50+ years.
Attached are some pictures of the old bushings or more like dried out gel!
