Brake and Clutch Pedals

I was not pleased with the excessive play nor the safety factors in the brake and clutch pedals so I enlisted the expertise of a machinist to help with the problems.

Josh W. of Kingsbury, NY owns a very impressive collection of industrial metal working machines including computer controlled lathes and milling machines. The photo below shows the current finished appearance of the two pedals but the real story about the improvements starts below.

The photo below shows the brake pedal shafts, old and new. The original shaft used a C-clip to hold the pedal assembly to the master cylinder. A brief discussion with Josh ensued and we decided that a threaded shaft with a lock nut would be a better idea.

The photo below shows the old shaft after it was removed from the pedal assembly. The removal was a matter of grinding the weld away and pressing the old shaft out. Jose took careful measurements and used a lathe to turn the new shaft. The shaft was threaded to accept a 5/8" fine thread nylon lock nut.

The photo below shows the newly welded shaft in place along with the locknut.

The old master cylinder pushrod bolt is on the left in this photo. Notice the extreme amount of erosion of the steel caused by rust. Josh fabricated a new bolt from hex stock and is identical to the factory-supplied bolt with the exception of depth of the hex head. It was decided that deeper is better.

The photo below shows the old sleeve on the bottom and the newly fabricated sleeve on the top. Notice the grooves cut into the old sleeve from many years of non-lubrication and the grinding actions of road debris.

These are new bushings for the clutch pedal. I purchased them from Mac's for a couple bucks.

This is how the new bushings look in the old clutch pedal. They are held in place with blue Locktite.

The photo below shows the new shaft and bushings in place inside the old clutch pedal assembly.

Let me conclude this entry by saying that the work that was performed by Josh exceeded my expectations. There is no more free-play in the pedals.

The fabrication of the three items cost approximately $160. Expensive? I don't think it was. It took time to measure, plan and machine these components. Now I have pedals that work like new and the brakes are probably safer than new.

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Enjoy the Ride!

The Steering Box Revisited

If you remember from a previous posting (Oct 14), I cleaned and reassembled a recently acquired steering box with synthetic lube and the addition of a new sector shaft seal. No other parts were replaced.

The steering box was installed in the truck with new bolts and they were torqued to the proper setting. The pitman arm and drag link were installed, torqued and the cotter pins were installed and then.....

A New Old Stock (NOS) steering shaft assembly was listed on eBay!

The above photo is from the eBay listing.

Always looking for ways to improve the truck prompted me to bid. I was the winning bidder using my sniping software and now it was time to remove the steering box, the one that was already installed! So out came the steering box and it was disassembled...again.

The new steering shaft arrived and the grease was so old that the worm would not turn. It was totally frozen. I submerged the assembly in mineral spirits for a couple days and eventually I got it apart.

There was still some dried grease that had to be removed so out came the Dremel with a brass brush to clean the gears and ball returns.

Some of the photos in this entry are in grayscale instead of color. I had the camera on the wrong white balance setting and no amount of color correction would work.

The photo below shows all of the components, steering shaft, ball nut, return guides, clamp, screws and balls cleaned and ready to go....


This is a job that anyone can do! I never went this deep into a steering box before but it really is quite simple and definitely not "brain surgery!"

After putting the ball nut on the steering shaft it is necessary to install the balls, all 62 of them. There are two circuits of 31 balls each so they have to be carefully counted and divided. 20 balls are dropped into one hole of the ball nut. The shaft is slowly turned as the balls are dropped into the hole until 20 balls are swallowed up.

There are two ball return guides that consist of two halves. Refer to the first photo which shows all of the components.

The remaining 11 balls for the first circuit are put into a return guide half section using grease to hold them in place.

The other half section of a ball return guide is placed over the balls in the grease-filled half. The assembled ball return guide is then placed into the guide holes of the ball nut.

The second circuit is filled using the same method as the first circuit. When all of the balls are installed, the second ball return guide is filled with the remaining balls and installed.


The ball return guide clamp is placed over the ball returns and the two screws are installed. Now that you see how easy the job is I am sure that anyone can do it. It just takes some patience.

If you ever attempt to go this deep into a steering box, I recommend that you have lots of paper towels and rags to clean the greasy mess. Make sure that you have a half sheet baking pan or something similar to catch all of the small parts. Don't lose any of the balls!


In the above photo you can see what a brand new gear looks like. There is no gauling on the teeth. Usually, gauling on these teeth indicate that the sector gear was over tightened to remove free play.

I reassembled the steering box using Green Grease and another new sector shaft seal. I installed the steering box (photo below) and reinstalled the pitman arm and drag link.

Wow! What a difference! There is no free play at all now. There are no tight spots going from full left to full right. This truck is going to drive like new!


Be sure to vote in the poll that relates to this Steering Box story.

As always, there are larger versions of these photos at my Flickr site in the "Steering Box" Set. Just make sure you use your browser's "Back" button to return to this page. I don't want you getting lost in cyberspace!

Parking Brake Assembly

The parking brake assembly was a quick and easy restoration. It was simply washed, blasted and painted.


Even with three coats of lacquer you can see how rusty it was. It now has three coats of black lacquer to protect it. The shaft and ratchet pieces were finished in clear from Eastwood.

As always, there are larger versions of these photos at my Flickr site in the "Econoline Brakes" Set. Just make sure you use your browser's "Back" button to return to this page. We don't want you to get lost in cyberspace!

Rear Brake Assembly

The rear brakes are now completely reassembled. I purchased new drums for all four corners and these are photos of the rear brakes.

I purchased Raybestos PG Plus brakes for two reasons. They are made in Canada and not China for one thing. The second reason is that the PG Plus (Professional Grade Plus) has a lifetime warranty vs. ninety days for the Chinese-made PG version.

I cleaned the drums with brake cleaner and media-blasted the drums with silicon carbide. The photo below is of the inside of one of the drums after cleaning and blasting.


I used Rust-Oleum High Heat Enamel on the drums. This product can withstand 1,200 degrees so it should be OK on the drums.

I have read that brake drums will radiate more heat when painted black than any other color and that black-painted drums will radiate more heat than those that are left unpainted or rusty.

Cooler brakes work better than hot brakes....no fade!

This photo shows the left rear brakes reassembled with all new Raybestos shoes and Dorman hardware. The new Monroe Gas-Magnum shock absorbers and painted parking brake cable are visible.

The painted axle, painted U-bolts, new brake tubing and refinished hydraulic brake "Y" connector are visible in addition to a close-up view of some of the new brake components.

The parking brake cable was degreased, media blasted and painted with three coats of lacquer. It was then lubed with white lithium grease from both ends and installed with refinished mounting components and parking brake components. The components at the far end of the cable are a bit out of focus due to the large iris opening of the camera which limits the depth of field.


As always, there are larger versions of these photos at my Flickr site in the "Econoline Brakes" Set. Just make sure you use your browser's "Back" button to return to this page. We don't want you to get lost in cyberspace!

Fuel Tank Restoration

The fuel tank in my truck appeared to be OK. There were no dents nor visible holes. Since I am undertaking a "ground up restoration" I figured that it would better to play it safe.

There are not too many options with the Econoline. New tanks are not available. From what I gather from reading posts, there is a way of using a Mustang(?) tank or a Falcon(?) tank and relocating the filler pipe.

I decided to go a much easier route. I chose to have my tank restored by Gas Tank Renu. The process involves a steam cleaning followed by shot-blasting. The inside of the tank is coated with a brown polymer and inspected with a light and mirror to assure full coverage. The tank is then baked in an oven to cure the coating. The brown coating is visible around the sender hole in the photo below.


When the tank is removed from the oven and cool to the touch, it is then hand brushed with the same material in black. Black is not used inside the tank because it would be too difficult to see the coverage. Warranty tags are applied and then the tank is baked again to cure the outside.


The result is a fuel tank with a lifetime nationwide warranty! The cost is approximately $350 for the service. I had the same shop make new mounting straps with a thicker than stock steel.


I took the fuel gauge sender apart and carefully blasted it with silicon carbide. I assembled and tested it to check for proper operation and it works as it should.


When I place my next order from Mac's, I will buy a new COAF-9276-A "O" ring for $1.95. The result will be a sediment-free, rust-proof and leak-proof fuel tank and sender.

As always, larger photos are available at my Flickr page. Just make sure that you return to this page using the "Back" button on your browser.

My New Ride

Have you ever wished that your creeper easily rolled over extension cords or concrete seams? Did you ever have a problem with the creeper rolling away when you tried to loosen or tighten a nut? The answer to both questions is probably "yes."

When the caster bearings on my $25 creeper started losing the steel balls and made it hard to maneuver, I knew that I had to find a solution. I knew that there was a creeper called "The Bone" with large caster wheels but the shape looked very confining to me. Some reviews of "The Bone" confirmed my suspicions about the confinement aspect but everyone raved about how easily it moved.

Further investigation revealed a creeper with large casters and a hand brake! It is the King Crawler by REL products and their products are made in Alabama. Here it is:

Notice the large casters which makes is very easy to move around under a vehicle:

Notice the hand brake which is within easy reach of the right hand:


The construction is very heavy duty and the frame is powder coated in silver. There is a headrest that is nothing more than a raised section of the foam padding. Unlike the $25 creeper that I previously owned, the headrest does not adjust but then again, I never adjusted it anyway.

The King Crawler is available at SJ Discount Tools for $96.75 plus shipping. It cost me $104.70 delivered via Fed Ex.