AzPete
Well-Known Member
Since having this '66, I have had a bit of a clunk in the steering wheel when turned. It was loose between the steering wheel and the steering shaft. The first look indicated the nut was not on as far as it should be plus it showed red loctite in the threads. This meant possible thread problems.
In researching the problem, I found under the Grant wheel instructions that the large flat washer from the stock setup is not used with the Grant wheel that came with this car. This car had that large washer installed and that did not allow the nut to seat properly. The washer had to come out....
Tried the large ratchet and bracing the wheel expecting a problem with the red loctite. It actually came off pretty easy. We found out the red loctite had been added after the nut was tightened. It never really got into the threads. I ran a die over the steering shaft and was able to run it on by hand. Midlife heated the nut and got the red loctite removed plus some of his finger prints.
Put it all back together without the washer and all is good. No more clunk from the wheel being loose on the shaft, no more fear of the wheel coming free while driving, and no major work to fix it.
In researching the problem, I found under the Grant wheel instructions that the large flat washer from the stock setup is not used with the Grant wheel that came with this car. This car had that large washer installed and that did not allow the nut to seat properly. The washer had to come out....
Tried the large ratchet and bracing the wheel expecting a problem with the red loctite. It actually came off pretty easy. We found out the red loctite had been added after the nut was tightened. It never really got into the threads. I ran a die over the steering shaft and was able to run it on by hand. Midlife heated the nut and got the red loctite removed plus some of his finger prints.
Put it all back together without the washer and all is good. No more clunk from the wheel being loose on the shaft, no more fear of the wheel coming free while driving, and no major work to fix it.
