Chevrolet 1973 Overhaul Manual page 430

Fig. 12- Filling Ball Circuits-Corvette
a. Place the wormshaft flat on the bench and slip
the nut over the worm with the ball guide holes
up and the shallow end of the rack teeth to the
left from the steering wheel position. Align the
grooves in the worm and nut by sighting
through the ball guide holes.
b. Count 27 balls into a suitable container. This is
the proper number of balls for half the circuit.
Place these balls into one of the guide holes
while turning the worm gradually away from
that hole.
c. Lay one-half of the ball guide, groove up, on the
bench and place the remaining balls from the
count container in it.
d. Close this half of guide with the other half.
Hold the two halves together and plug each
open end with petroleum jelly so that balls will
not drop out while installing the guide.
e. Push the guide into the guide holes of the nut.
This completes one circuit of balls. If the guide
does not push all the way down easily, tap it
lightly into place with the wooden handle of a
screw driver.
f. Fill the second ball circuit in the same manner.
Continue until the ball circuit is full from the
bottom of one guide hole to the bottom of the
other or until stopped by reaching the end of the
worm.
NOTE: In cases where the balls are stopped
by the end of the worm, hold down those
balls already dropped into the nut with the
blunt end of a clean rod or punch (fig. 12)
and turn the worm in the reverse direction a
few turns. The filling of the circuit can then
be continued. It may be necessary to work the
worm back and forth, holding the balls down
first in one hole and then the other, to close
LOWER CIRCUIT
up the spaces between the balls and fill the
circuit completely and solidly.
6. Assemble the ball guide clamp to the ball nut and
tighten the screws to specified torque.
Check the assembly by rotating the nut on the worm to
see that it moves freely. Do not rotate the nut to the end
of the worm threads as this may damage the ball guides.
If there is any "stickiness" in the motion of the nut,
some slight damage to the ends of the ball guides or to
other gear components may have been overlooked.
Assembly (Fig. 14 and 15)
After a major service overhaul, steering gear lubricant
meeting GM Standard GM 4673M (or equivalent)
should be applied to the pitman shaft and bearings,
wormshaft and bearings and the ball nut teeth.
1. Place the steering gear housing in a vise with the
wormshaft bore horizontal and the side cover
opening up.
2. With the pitman shaft and wormshaft seals, pitman
shaft bushings and wormshaft bearing races
installed, and the ball nut installed on the
wormshaft, proceed to Step 3 or 4.
3.
All Except Corvette-
a. Slip the upper ball bearing over the wormshaft
b. Place a ball bearing in the adjuster race and
c. Install the adjuster and locknut into the lower
Fig. 1 3 -Filling Ball Guides-Corvette
and insert the wormshaft and nut assembly into
the housing, feeding the end of the shaft
through the upper ball bearing race and seal.
press the stamped retainer into place with a
suitable socket.
end of the housing (being careful to guide the
end of the wormshaft into the bearing) until
STEERING 9-5
OVERHAUL MANUAL