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Steering column bushing at firewall  Rating:  Rating
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 Posted: 01-10-2006 11:44 pm
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Bill W
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 After finally losing patience with the sloppy steering in my JH, I determined that the steering column bushing at the firewall has completely transformed itself into black shoe polish.  I've since received a new urethane bushing and firewall bracket from Delta.

Now that I have the parts in hand, I'm glad I also got the bracket because it has an integral rubber isolator that apparently is sandwiched between the stamped steel bracket (with the two threaded studs) and the firewall (from the inside of the car).  I'm quite sure the original isolator has also deteriorated.

What  concerns me is the fit between the bushing and firewall bracket/isolator.  It has about 0.11" clearance....not exactly a press fit.  So maybe I'm unclear about how this whole assembly works and the assembly drawing in the manual is not much help.

The way I'm seeing this is that the bracket installs from the inside of the car.  The two nuts secure it from the engine side of the firewall.  The bushing in installed from the engine bay and placed inside the bracket/isolator and over the steering column journal.  But that can't be.....there is way too much play and no means to keep the bushing in place.   So what am I missing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Bill

 

 

 

 

 

 
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 Posted: 01-11-2006 03:56 pm
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Brett Gibson JH5 20497
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 Bill, the new bushing should have two little numbs on it that fit into holes close to the end of the column tube that the steering shaft runs thru, engine bay side, you just need to clean the old one out and push the new one in with those numbs lined up.

Personally I was not impressed with the new plastic rubbery one, so when I got mine I just duplicated it out of brass and installed that instead, hopefully it will now last the life of the car, something Jensen should have done in the first place.

Brett. 
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 Posted: 01-11-2006 10:22 pm
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Bill W
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 Brett,

Thanks for the reply......now that I've looked at the end of the steering column tube, it now makes sense.  Kink of hard to see all of that when everythings installed!  Was your brass bushing a press fit to the tube ID?

Bill
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 Posted: 01-13-2006 04:29 am
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Dan Collier
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 I just happen to be working on the same project. I had a small strip of leather inside the column acting as a bushing. I think it was from the factory as far as I know.

 Click on the picture for a closer view.


Dan Collier
JH74 14381 2.2L
Jensen-Healey Preservation Photo Gallery

 
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 Posted: 01-24-2006 12:54 am
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Bill Westerman
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 Well I finished the job and thought I would pass on some comments………. 

I started off intending to replace the steering shaft to column tube bushing but quickly identified other sources of play in the steering: 
  1. The steering shaft to column tube bushing was shot and required replacement.  This is not too bad of a job by itself and does not require removal of the steering column.
  2. The rubber isolator which supports the column tube at the firewall had deteriorated and needed replacement.  This was the step that necessitated the removal of the steering column assembly.
  3. The bearing at the top of the column was dry and “notchy”.  I simply flushed the bearing out and repacked it with grease.
  4. The shear tabs on the two piece shaft were damaged but still in one piece hanging toward the top of the shaft.  I epoxied the pieces back in place and later sanded a nice lead in to help when putting the two pieces back together.  I’m also quite sure that the two piece shaft had been telescoping during steering making the u-joint assembly feel notchy.
I put everything back together and I the results are far better than I had hoped….virtually no play in the steering.


Thanks for the help.

Bill
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 Posted: 01-24-2006 11:39 am
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Brett Gibson JH5 20497
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 Hey Bill, glad to hear everything worked out well for you, it sure does make the car feel better without a lot of slop getting in the way.

You asked if I had press fit the brass bushing in that I used instead of the rubber one, well no I did'nt, but in hind site that is not a bad idea, I ended up maching a bushing to fit and had to also machine a piece of nylon dowl to to go thru the brass bushing to act as the small nubs that hold it in place, sounds confusing but once I got the hang of it I knocked off three or four units, I think I have a spare some place in all my junk, plus I sent the rest off to "Chicago Joe Mazurk" he has more JH's than he knows what to do with, so I thought he might put them to good use.

Brett.
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