66 comet Gear box removal question

Dad started pulling the gear box and column on his 66 comet so he can have the gear box rebuilt. I'm wondering if there is a trick to getting the gear box and the shaft out of the engine bay? This is my first 60's ford that I've had to work on.

lift it REAL high......REAL HIGH...all one peice...

Doesn't it have a rag joint to unhook down by the box? My 64 wagon did. We replaced the steering box pretty easy when we changed it from power to manual.

all of my 60-65 Falcon's-Rancheros are all one peice, no rag joints....but that would easy if there was, unbolt the nuts, drop out the box.....the Mach 1 is like that.....

Street Performance.com shows a box w/o a shaft. They ONLY want about $600 for a remanufactured one. I guess that's an option. It dosen't say that it's some sort of kit deal to change to a different type of steering.

64

LARES Part # 8766 Return and Rebuild Service Only - By ordering this service you are agreeing to send your original part to the manufacturer to be rebuilt. Rebuild time is approximately 3-5 business days. You will be contacted with directions once the order is placed. For more information please contact Customer Service.
Manual Gear

$285.79
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http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=3026082

That's all and well but he has a 66. I do believe the "Mid Size" is a different animal.

Thanks for the info. This morning I pulled the driver side exhaust manifold and squeezed the gear box and shaft between the tower and engine. Barely did make it. Didn't have to remove the master cylinder. I called rode restoration a while back. I could either have a short shaft which is high dlloar and a long shaft. I have a long shaft. The short shafts give a lot of problems. $85 to rebuild it and a $25 machining fee. Plus the cost of shipping.

So it doesn't have a rag joint.

No joint. Just like the old 30's and 40's ford cars. Shaft is connected to the gear box. A real pain in the neck.

They must have just went to the joint in the big Fords.

Shipped the Gear box out Monday of last week. Got a call this morning that he has already rebuilt it and shipped it out the following friday. He said we got pretty lucky due to the worm gear not being wore out. It had the gm parts in the gear box. Very fast response time.

He told me at Columbus, 90% of the ones he gets back, ARE NOT, wore out, just not adjusted right, people tighten up that screw on the top, not knowing that there is a high spot, and how to do it.......

This one was worn out. The shaft that the pitman arm slides on to, was loose and wobbling around when you had the column out. While in the car it had 3/4 of a turn play before the pitman arm moved.

I had it shipped to my aunt's place due to ups going there 5 days a week. Got a call monday and was told that the column shipped on friday and to send a check. Got a call about a hour ago and my aunt said he shipped it cod and the ups man was wanting the money. She wanted to check with me before giving him the cash.