I saw those Borgeson too . I am not totally sure when it happened —irrespective of what I describe next—and would like Input, but a major change in steering box fastening to frame happens , possibly in 62 ? All my work has been 61 back ; 60 and 61 boxes fit to frame 59 too but are slightly different , possibly , —59 for sure as column length is about an inch different , I think cast neck on box toward column changes in length , so does the column too . So it all fits together but when you go to mount steering wheel it won’t sit far enough down on steering drive rod spline or other way around . Talk about aggravation caused by my mixing years . . Keep parts together , don’t assume same part . 58 dodge had this new “ 59” box, while 58 300 had the old 57 huge one .so a lot of moving column parts changed . Same with 58 300 suspension and brakes , I think 58 made both ways — , 57 like snd 59 like . Much confusion . 59 up is much better stuff larger . But point of this , I think 62? Box bolts to K frame somehow , before that , it bolted to frame side like a Ford . I got into this twice , TTI headers for 413 /440 will fit 62 and many later but not 61 back . And Borgeson upgrade also starts with 62 up ? Maybe someone who has worked on both 60-61 and 62 ( or 63 , 64?) can comment . The Borgeson box is tiny compared to mopar , May be worthy of a lot of scrutiny ? Was trying to get TTI headers into F , solve a million issues with F exhaust . I do get keep it stock , not the issue . More looking at 405 type clone without 160 lbs of very rare exhaust manifolds like J . Never got clarity on this— TTI does not know and not interested in 60 chrysler header . I am thinking buy a 62 header and try to make it fit . Maybe someone has done some of this . Borgeson May not help as explained due to 61 back , frame mount box. I was looking at their Ford box … might work
As far as feel , S and G slightly firmer has been fine . Feels like 70 mopar . Stick is pretty light , but ok too . Sent from my iPhone On Jan 12, 2023, at 11:44 AM, charlies@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
James,
I've got a FF stage 2 in my 62 - no issues in the parking department. As an aside, no matter how your steering box is rebuilt, it will ALWAYS have play in the neutral position - it's a design feature / flaw. I have a 64 Polara as well that had the same design box - same slop. I changed the PS box to a Borgeson box and the drivability change has been amazing. I now can DRIVE the car car instead of it having a mind of it's own.
Charlie in Ottawa
On 2023-01-12 11:07 am, 'James Douglas' via Chrysler 300 Club International wrote:
John,
Thank you very much for the qualitative assessment of the stage two FF box rebuild.
I am on the fence between stage one and stage two. Having driven the 1947 Desoto Suburban for the last 20 plus years, with parallel parking here in San Francisco anything would be an improvement.
I can see us using this car for the next couple of years as primary and as the road trip car. I suspect that once I rebuild the '47 Desoto, that the 300K will be used by Sondra the most and I will be using the '47 around town or the '49 Convertible in the summer. I have to shuttle cars with our place out of town with only two off street garages here in San Francisco.
I was leaning toward stage two, but with your comments I am thinking stage one may be a better fit.
Thank you again and I hope a few more people who have had S&G or FF boxes done to a level above stock chime in to better help me get a sense of the stage differences in real world driving.
Best, James
From: John W Sager <cleanthegarageout2@xxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2023 04:24 To: Chrysler 300 List Server (chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) <chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; James Douglas <jdd@xxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: {Chrysler 300} Steering Box Rebuild Service
I have a Firm Feel Stage 2 rebuilt steering box in my '70 300.
In some ways, it's really nice. On the highway there is more "road feel", if you want to call it that. It's actually more effort rather than feel, but it does make the car feel more connected to the road, especially on a twisting country road.
In a parking lot, I sometimes wonder if I would have been happier with the Stage 1. The days of spinning the steering wheel with the ball of your palm are gone.
It's taken a bit of getting used to... If you've driven a lot of these cars, the stage 2 will really feel different. It's a personal preference type thing if you like it that way.
If you are doing a lot of parallel parking, I think I would opt for the lighter feel (and effort) of the Stage 1, but that's only my opinion. The amount that I've parallel parked my Chrysler in the past 10 years could be counted on one hand with a few fingers to spare, so I might not be the best to judge. I've never driven anything with the Stage 1 box in it, but I understand the Stage 1 has a similar feel to a late 70's Mopar cop car.
With my Stage 2 box, it's nothing like a manual steering car, but it's not the effortless power steering older Mopars have either.
As far as everything else, Firm Feel was great to deal with and was within a few days of their estimated delivery time. I would use them again.
In the next week or so I will be sending out my steering box for a remanufacture. Basically, I have narrowed the list to Steer and Gear or Firm Feel. S&G has a two-week tour around time and FF is two months. Mainly because they both offer in house manufactured reaction rings to firm up the feel.
I am going to be asking, and willing to pay for, an extraordinary level of quality control on this. I plan on driving this car as my main car for a long time. I am even willing to go to the trouble of having parts hard chrome plated to bring them back to specification if a replacement part in not available. Basically, I am looking for perfection on this.
Assuming the spare steering box I put in this last weekend is good enough to get me around for a few months, I care much more about quality that a fast turnaround time.
I have secured the following NOS parts for this rebuild:
- A new piston assembly (worm)
- A new sector shaft (roller)
- All but one of the thrust bearings and races. The race MOPAR 1822-156 is nowhere to be found. I checked all the usual and some of the not so useable suspects. I also tried to find it using the actual Torrington number without luck.
If there are any parts that experience dictates that it would be good for me to hunt down, please do advise me on this.
Most everything else the rebuilders should have.
If anyone has had their steering boxes rebuilt and used one of the suppliers for a rebuild other than "stock" as to firmness and feel, I would appreciate your subjective feelings as to how that worked out. In my case the mission for the car is daily driving in San Francisco, think parallel parking, as well as being our cross-country car.
What I would also like to know if anyone has had any thought after using either of the above providers good or bad. You can email me directly at JDD@xxxxxxxxxx.
Thanks all, James
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