The next step is to hook up the steering. I have a steering column and the rack and pinion unit but at this point no way to connect the two. For that I’ll need a steel steering shaft and it will have to snake its way through the firewall, down past the left hand exhaust pipe and along side the frame rail. This is by no means a straight line so it will be necessary to add at least two universal joint type couplers to get the shaft to bend where necessary.

The shaft I’ll be using is a twenty four inch long, ¾-inch diameter DD shaft. What is DD shaft? The DD stands for “Double D” and that describes the cross sectional shape of the shaft This is a very common steel steering shaft used to make up steering links between the steering wheel and the steering gear box or rack and pinion unit.

The universal joints are specifically designed for this purpose and are best purchased from the same source of the DD shaft. Notice that the universal joints are the bolt on types and not weld on types. Weld on joints are fine but I prefer the bolt on units.

At the end of the shaft, where it bolts to the rack and pinion unit, I’ve added a vibration dampening coupling. This coupling separates the shaft from the rack and pinion unit to prevent road vibration from telegraphing up through the shaft to the steering wheel.

Once I have everything connected I need to center the steering wheel. This is by no means a way to align the front suspension, rather what I am doing is verifying that the suspension work already performe d h as been done correctly and that when I deliver the ’46 to the front end alignment shop for an alignment all will go well.

Centering the steering wheel requires raising the front of the car with a floor jack and placing jack stands at a point under the frame just behind the front wheels. I need the spindles to move free.

Now I turn the steering wheel full right. With the wheel turned full right I turn the wheel full left counting the revolutions until the steering wheel stops. That’s two and a half turns, divided in half equals one and three qu art ers turns. Now I turn the steering wheel back one and three qu art ers turns to center it.

Looking at the front brake rotor disks they should be pointed straight ahead. If not I use the tie rod end adjustments at the rack and pinion unit to adjust each spindle, one at a time, until the rotors are pointed straight ahead. I tighten the adjustment nuts to secure the tie rods. The steering wheel is centered as best can be without the aide of a pro.

The last concern here is to be sure the turn signal switch in the steering column operates correctly. To do that I flip the switch lever down, turn the steering wheel to the left a half turn then return the wheel to center. The switch lever should click and return to the off position. I repeat this procedure to the right. The switch lever should click and return to the off position.

What steering column did I use? This one is a Flaming River brand with the tilt feature.

Project provided by:

Larry Lyles, owner

LPL Body Works

Amarillo , TX 79109

www.lplbodyworks.com