I have a 1968 Ford 5000. About a month ago, I was using the Boom Pole to move some fairly large logs around and suddenly I had a puddle forming under the front end. Sadly, it wasn't coolant, but rather Power Steering.
Since the steering cylinder is buried under the radiator and it only leaks when it's warm, you can't easily run it until it leaks and figure out what is going on. So, I decided it was time to pull the cylinder and hoses and just put new parts in. The cylinder can be rebuilt if it is in good shape. The hoses are mostly hard lines, but there are some flexible parts, and I was finding some cuts in the outer rubber, so I knew I needed to replace those.
Things started out really well. In the first day, I got the cowl off, radiator out, and while cleaning up the grease and dirt, replaced the water pump, Fuel lift pump, and the thermostat (all things that are cheap and easy to replace now because if I don't, you KNOW that one of these will fail in about a week after I get it all back together).
Then I began to remove the steering cylinder.
Three of the pins came out without much fuss. But the one where the cylinder attaches to the steering arm (red arrow) wasn't budging.
I tried everything in my bag of tricks. I even pulled out "The Bar". This is a 50+ lb 6' long breaker/pry bar that I only use when something MUST MOVE.
That bar is pivoting on some wood blocks with the end on the bottom of the pin.
I figure when my 240lb self is bouncing on that bar, I'm putting some 1000+ lbs onto that pin and it just sat there as if to say "that all you got?".
I tried other stuff, but nothing was moving this thing. I don't have a torch hot enough to do much good. The steering arm is such a huge casting it was sucking up as much heat as I could give.
I did manage to find a replacement, so I knew I could be destructive if need be. But I really wasn't thrilled with the $150 price tag to replace the pin and that cylinder is nearly impossible to replace.
Ultimately, I sprayed every known "make me loose" formula onto that thing. From Sea Foam Deep Creep and Kroil to a mixture of ATF and Acetone. Still would not budge. Running out of options, I ordered a heavy duty Crow Foot wrench to fit the flats on the top of the pin, attached an extension and an 18" breaker bar and then just for good measure I put a 4' fence pipe on the breaker bar and began to pull REALLY HARD.
And just when I was expecting something to break and me going butt over teakettle, it popped. And out came the pin and cylinder.
I began the disassembly and had most of the cleaning and parts replacement done on labor Day weekend. I just got the pin loose this afternoon when UPS dropped off the Crow Foot. That was some long 10 days of cussin' and fussin'.
I did have the hoses rebuilt:
Now I need to clean up the cylinder, replace all the seals, and then reassemble everything. I suspect getting some of the pins back in won't be easy, but nothing like getting this last one out.
Oh, speaking of pin, I do have some cleanup on that too. Seems that pry bar wasn't right for removal, but it sure did mess up the bottom threads:
I need to figure out how to restore that end so I can reinstall. Open to ideas.
Gotta love Old iron. Never a dull moment. Will post finished photos when complete.
Oh, about the yellow fan... So, I have 3 cans of the Ford Blue. All three of them decided to stop spraying while I was using them. I mean I was actively applying paint and the thing just stopped spraying. Plenty of paint in the cans. They just won't work. So, since my youngest likes yellow, he got a kick out of making the fan yellow. We'll see how it looks once it is all together.
Since the steering cylinder is buried under the radiator and it only leaks when it's warm, you can't easily run it until it leaks and figure out what is going on. So, I decided it was time to pull the cylinder and hoses and just put new parts in. The cylinder can be rebuilt if it is in good shape. The hoses are mostly hard lines, but there are some flexible parts, and I was finding some cuts in the outer rubber, so I knew I needed to replace those.
Things started out really well. In the first day, I got the cowl off, radiator out, and while cleaning up the grease and dirt, replaced the water pump, Fuel lift pump, and the thermostat (all things that are cheap and easy to replace now because if I don't, you KNOW that one of these will fail in about a week after I get it all back together).
Then I began to remove the steering cylinder.
Three of the pins came out without much fuss. But the one where the cylinder attaches to the steering arm (red arrow) wasn't budging.
I tried everything in my bag of tricks. I even pulled out "The Bar". This is a 50+ lb 6' long breaker/pry bar that I only use when something MUST MOVE.
That bar is pivoting on some wood blocks with the end on the bottom of the pin.
I figure when my 240lb self is bouncing on that bar, I'm putting some 1000+ lbs onto that pin and it just sat there as if to say "that all you got?".
I tried other stuff, but nothing was moving this thing. I don't have a torch hot enough to do much good. The steering arm is such a huge casting it was sucking up as much heat as I could give.
I did manage to find a replacement, so I knew I could be destructive if need be. But I really wasn't thrilled with the $150 price tag to replace the pin and that cylinder is nearly impossible to replace.
Ultimately, I sprayed every known "make me loose" formula onto that thing. From Sea Foam Deep Creep and Kroil to a mixture of ATF and Acetone. Still would not budge. Running out of options, I ordered a heavy duty Crow Foot wrench to fit the flats on the top of the pin, attached an extension and an 18" breaker bar and then just for good measure I put a 4' fence pipe on the breaker bar and began to pull REALLY HARD.
And just when I was expecting something to break and me going butt over teakettle, it popped. And out came the pin and cylinder.
I began the disassembly and had most of the cleaning and parts replacement done on labor Day weekend. I just got the pin loose this afternoon when UPS dropped off the Crow Foot. That was some long 10 days of cussin' and fussin'.
I did have the hoses rebuilt:
Now I need to clean up the cylinder, replace all the seals, and then reassemble everything. I suspect getting some of the pins back in won't be easy, but nothing like getting this last one out.
Oh, speaking of pin, I do have some cleanup on that too. Seems that pry bar wasn't right for removal, but it sure did mess up the bottom threads:
I need to figure out how to restore that end so I can reinstall. Open to ideas.
Gotta love Old iron. Never a dull moment. Will post finished photos when complete.
Oh, about the yellow fan... So, I have 3 cans of the Ford Blue. All three of them decided to stop spraying while I was using them. I mean I was actively applying paint and the thing just stopped spraying. Plenty of paint in the cans. They just won't work. So, since my youngest likes yellow, he got a kick out of making the fan yellow. We'll see how it looks once it is all together.