Bendix power steering

[coyote]

This weekend I'm planning to rebuild my Bendix power steering control valve and power ram cylinder off my 1960 Hawk. I've read the shop manual, and it looks pretty straight forward. Anyone here done this before? Any tips, tricks, or other advise?
Thanks !

[CHAMP]

Welcome to the Forum Coyote! The Shop Manual should cover what you need to know. The only I would say is clean everything good and inspect for rust and pitting.

GARY H 2DR.SEDAN 48 STUDEBAKER CHAMPION NORTHEAST MD.

[kamzack]

Hey Cotote,
The finished rebuild will only be as good as the the condition of the hydralic ram. Look very closely for scores and pits. These are places oil can escapepe. Be sure the spool and female end is wet with oil going back together. While it's out it's the best time to replace hoses.Look for excessive wear where the pitman arm connects to the control valve.
Thanks for letting me share,
Kim

[John Kirchhoff]

Worked on both of those on my '60 Hawk also. I had a seal kit from a Stude vendor for the cylinder and there was a yellow plastic spacer/washer that was too thick. I had to use the old one but since it was outside of the seal itself, that didn't cause any problem. As kamzak said, make sure the parts are well oiled because you don't want to cut a new seal getting it over a square shoulder. On the control valve, when you remove the old seals, throw them as far as you can. They look a lot like the new ones and you don't want to get them mixed up. You'll probably need a pitman arm puller to get the arm off the steering box. Before you remove it, dab some paint where the arm and shaft meet so you can get it replaced correctly because you'll likely have to turn the wheels back and forth to get things off and back on. One thing, there's very little room to work anywhere. To remove the big nut holding the pitman arm on, I luckily had a very old L shaped wrench that fit perfectly. A regular open end-box end didn't give me enough room to loosen it. You may have to remove the starter to have enough room to work and even if you don't, having the starter off sure makes life easier. About the only way you can get the front tie rod joint of the control valve rod off is to use one of those little tie rod pushers that have the L shaped frame and the bolt that threads in from the end. I tried two different fork tools and that didn't work at all, no room to work. In short, replacing the seals isn't that hard but getting everything off with rusty old bolts and no room to work is going to be a royal pain. Oh, when you reassemble the control valve, make sure the little concave shaped fellows located on either side of the ball stud are seated correctly, if not you'll have plenty of movement one way but not the other. That happened to me and I had to take it back apart. As far as hoses go, most auto part places can make new ones using your old one as a pattern for less money than others. If they can't do it, check with the closest farm implement or caterpiller dealer.

[53k]

quote:Originally posted by coyote

This weekend I'm planning to rebuild my Bendix power steering control valve and power ram cylinder off my 1960 Hawk. I've read the shop manual, and it looks pretty straight forward. Anyone here done this before? Any tips, tricks, or other advise?
Thanks !

The shop manual says to remove the control valve from the car, but most Studebaker mechanics never bothered to. It can be rebuilt right on the car. I did it years ago.

[img=right]http://www.frontiernet.net/~thejohnsons/64%20Daytona%20Convertible/Copy%20of%20DaytonaConvert7-20-06.JPG[/img=right]

Paul Johnson
'53 Commander Starliner (since 1966)
'64 Daytona Wagonaire (original owner)
'64 Daytona Convertible (2006)
Museum R-4 engine