guys, what colour should the steering shaft be from the rag joint back to the firewall ? or was it even painted ? tkx
Hey Guys, My understanding is that they came unpainted. I think Duane is the one that told me this. Maybe he will drop in. Bill
I just painted mine semi-gloss. It appeared basically unpainted when I took it out, but when I studied it closely I believe I could see the remnants of black paint in a few spots. I assume the heat from the manifold took care of most of the paint that was on there.
Here's a video grabbed image. Hopefully the quality is ok. It looks like paint around the bottom by the collar. This was the main clue. The rest of it was pretty much paint free, except for the few spots I mentioned in my previous post.
Ken The pinch bolt depicted is of the type that should be cast gold. Pull it out and clean it with a brush and you will see what I mean. The bolts on the top of the steering box are the same color.
Jim- I was checking out the below pic you posted in another thread and I'm not sure what you mean about the pinch bolts. Did you recolor the pinch bolts? Also, I detailed my steering box last weekend and ended up black oxiding the steering box cover bolts. I did this because I pulled them out and after cleaning the shanks and threads definitely looked to be a black oxide finish. I just assumed the heads were faded.
Ken those 4 bolts were cleaned with with a brush and clear coated. That is their natural color-- no coloring added. Same for the pinch bolt on the left. Same with the the al cover, set screw and set nut. Only the case and pitman arm were painted. I have some spare bolts and all are the same color of gold plate.
Jim- Just curious what the cover bolt shanks and threads look like on yours. Perhaps there is a difference year to year? Can you pull one out? Or are they pretty much clear coated in place? Thanks!
I don't know, every steering shaft I have seen was bare metal....no remnants of black anywhere....might be a plant thing?? All the bolts I have seen on steering boxes are black oxide (all 71/72 cars though)...however, I did use gold cad bolts on my rebuild just because it looks good and adds some flash to the engine compartment (yeah, i know, me bad). Later Tim