Looking For 1968 Power Steering Pitman Arm

[Cool Beans]

My new to me 1968 C-code coupe has lose steering. During the test drive, I figured it was just typical worn parts, which would be replaced anyways. Long story short, after going over everything, it all looks pretty new. Box, rag joint, power valve, joints, etc. It looks like the a PO was chasing down the lose steering as well? Turns out the end of the pit man arm is wallowed out something fierce! And it also seems to be the one part I can't find for sale anywhere. . .manual steering, yes. . .power assist steering, nada. . .

Where do you get another one of these? Can mine be repaired?

Thanks!

~Steve

Sorry, I just wanted to make this quick, I plan to make a nice welcome post when I'm not at work at 10pm on a Saturday

 

[horse sence]

I may have one ,i have a couple of manual and should have a couple of power . The pitman arm is the same 67 -70 ,except early 67 . I will look .

 

[flstang65]

www.npdlink.com among other places.

 

[Cool Beans]

Thanks for the help. If you find one, please let me know.

I checked npdlink and they only had manual arms and 64-66 power steering arms. . .which is weird? These things are rarer then hens teeth it looks like. . .called/emailed every lead I could find via google images and nobody has and junkyard parts in stock, lol.

Oh well, next round of parts are on order from CJpony. . .I did find one for sale at a local junk yard, might swing by there friday. He wont separate it from the gear box though, have to buy the whole set-up :/

 

[Cool Beans]

Horse Sense, thanks for the hook-up! Eagerly awaiting for it to arrive in the mail, I want to go drivin' again!

And I may be mistaken on it being horribly wallowed out. The hole looked too round at the top, so I scrapped off the part number to make sure it was the right part. . .

D3DA-3590-BB

Not having any luck tracking that down. . .any clue what it came out of?

 

[horse sence]

Well the D3 usually means 73 but i am not sure a 73 pitman arm will fit a 68 ,but if it is a 73 pitman that may be the problem. I do not have a 73 to check.

 

[horse sence]

I checked on ford decoders and it shows the pitman as , third digit- D as Maverick

 

[Cool Beans]

DEATH TO ALL PREVIOUS OWNERS!!!!!!!

Horse Sense, I received the pitman arm today, you are the man! I dry fit the arm, and it looked "off". I spun the wheel lock to lock and it hits the frame on a right turn?

Ok, only 3 bolts holding it to the frame. . .turns out only 2 bolts. . .one of them a carriage bolt with a nut on the other side. . .and I figured out you can't remove the box without removing the exhaust according to Chiltons. . .

I did manage to get the part number off it though in the car. . .

C6OR-3550-A, tag is SMA B 9608C

I found a decoding site, and the box is from a 1966 Fairlane/Torino?

WTF is going on? I can't imagine what else has been bastardized by a PO. . .turns out I might end up buying that steering box.pitman arm set up anyways! Lol. . .damn. . .

 

[horse sence]

I think a Fairlane and a Torino have a different bolt pattern where it bolts to the frame ,are there more than three holes in the rail? It never surprises me at what people did to these cars .
I have the 68 box if you need it ,i should have just sent it any way.
If it is the box with the rag joint it should be able to be removed easily.

 

[flstang65]

Try Pete at Orlando Mustang. I know him personally and he is a great guy to deal with.

 

[Cool Beans]

Nickname for my car is going to be "Franken-Car". . .like my own series of "Franken-Trucks". . .a menagerie of mismatched parts and PO "Better Ideas"


I have already bought the box with pitman arm from Johnsons Mustang. Only charged me 50 bucks and it came out easily (engine was already removed). It had some moisture in it though, needs a rebuild.

The Fairlane box used 1 stock bolt in the upper front hole. The rear hole was offset a bit, and had an undersized carriage bolt going thru the threaded boss in the steering box and had a nut on it. the other hole was unused.

It did have a rag joint, going to get a rebuild kit for it to use on the rebuilt box. . .

I will add "Orlando Mustang" to my rolodex


Something I'm noticing now that I didn't during my initial going over at the guys house is that all the new tie rod ends have nuts that are way below the cotter pins. . .while reinstalling the tie rod end into the spindle, I noticed it doesn't torque down. . .it just spins The nuts take up all the threads before the taper grabs. But it is damn close. As does the other side which I haven't touched. . .as do the tapered ends into the center link. . .

Where do I need to start to figure out WTF is going on with my front end? How do I figure out what disc brake conversion is on the car? I guess I will start a new thread tomorrow with pictures. . .I'm tired and sore, long day wrenching, lol.

 

[horse sence]

Probably Granada spindles but could be -Hyundai ,Volkswagen ,or what ever he could find in the ditch at the side of the road Now mine had a Chrysler rear end that was 2 inches wider than the ford 8 inch with square U bolts holding it in place ....It's possible they were worked on by the same guy

 

[Cool Beans]

Ha! The Guy I bought it from had purchased it from a guy in the navy who was "restoring it" while stationed in Cali, so maybe. . .it is a small world after all. . .

So, I did read up on the Kits that have new spindle that use "Granada Spec" tie rod ends. . .I also seen some kits that use the 1970+ spindles. . .according to the kit literature, the spindle can be used down to 64 models, but requires a 70 tie rod end which a few thousandths bigger in diameter?

 

[horse sence]

Could very well be 70 spindles ,spindles have a part number on them
all you have to do is craaaaawl under it ...again.

 

[Cool Beans]

MBM 1521R is the part number. . .which lead me to the manufacturer:

http://www.mbmbrakeboosters.com/ind...category_id=18&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=6

Spindles for a 68-69. . .now I'm going to pull a tie rod end and see what numbers I can find. . .

 

[Cool Beans]

So, Oreilly's was the only parts store in the city that had ONE 1970 mustang outer tie rod end. . .and I bought it. . .and it fits like it is supposed too! SO I'm having them get me the other side. . .the inner tie rods were loose because the original center link holes look like they have been drilled out to 5/8" diameter. . .not sure how or for what reason, but I need a new one of those. . .as well as an idler arm because the rubber disintegrated on me. . .

So it looks like, to get back on the road, I need:

Rebuild/reman Steering Box
New Center Link
New Idler Arm
Rebuild Rag Joint

Not what I wanted to be spending my time and money on right now. . .but, with everything else that has been done already, I will have basically a new front end when all said and done.

 

[Cool Beans]

dbl post

 

[horse sence]

I think i would check everything over before driving,no telling what else has been monkeyfide .
In high school a buddy with a 56 Ford truck just got it running and took it for a test drive ,he decided to lock up the brakes to see how it would stop .It stopped great but he forgot to bolt the motor mounts down ,it spit the motor out like chewing
tobacco He said he could see the fan turning as it bounced down the road

 

[Cool Beans]

Ok!!!

Whoever worked on this before me was a Fookin' Moran! New sway bar end links were installed incorrectly, new shocks were installed incorrectly. . .but, after 3 weekends and $520 I now have basically the car I THOUGHT I had bought a month ago

But it was worth it. Basically the entire front end of the car is now new. . .combination of what the PO's did that was salvageable and the new stuff I installed (had to) the car handles fantastically! And now that everything is installed correctly and tightened down, the front end is so quiet. . .I have a crappy driveway alignment now, need to get it properly aligned by a shop. . .and it is harder to turn left than right. . . there's nothing binding under there that I can see. . .I think I need to tweak the spool valves left/right bias?

Thanks! Now I can move on to the fixes/resto that I wanted to do