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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 537
 
Location: Upstate NY | I have an aluminum power steering unit out of a 57 Desoto Fireflite. I got a kit from Gary Nelson about 2 years ago and now that I have the unit apart I see I have all the small o rings and seals but no main piston rings. They are large thick rubber seals that are round on top and flat on the bottom. Does anybody who has tackled this job know where I can get new ones?
Thanks |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 594
Location: Melbourne, Australia | I'm thinking back maybe 8 years or so but when I rebuilt my co-axial box, I came to the conclusion that the "o" rings were once round and became "d" shaped from many years of confinement.... I put in regular o rings and box is fine to this day ! It was hard to track down the other seals, thrust bearings etc but o rings were standard.... IF I remember correctly..... If you find a parts book with exploded views, they can be cross referenced to a mopar part number and then searched for.... There was an ebay seller (Donnie - Nos Mopar 1 or similar) that was very helpful... he searched and contacted me months later with the correct parts. If I recall his exact details I will post them. To me, that steering box was the most difficult part of the whole car to source parts for....seals were a combination of metric/imperial within the same seal and not available over the counter at a regular bearing shop... Colin |
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Expert
Posts: 3887
  
Location: Northen Virginia | I was told that a regular O ring will work. When I was in Argentina I had no enough guts to take apart the PS unit, I know that they are many special parts in it.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 537
Location: Upstate NY | That unit looks great! I am fortunate that before Gary Nelson closed up shop I bought water pump rebuild kits, power steering kits, Kelsey Hayes power brake kits and transmission parts. he also used to rebuild torque converters. I'm not sure who does that now. Anyway, I am lucky to have all the seals and o rings except the main rings. I have checked o ring warehouse, Parker hannifan, etc. I will find a suitable replacement? The surprising part of disassembling a perfectly good working power steering unit is the discovery of mud that lays in the lower shaft down where the pitman arm seal is and also in the back of the main piston chamber!!!!! I am so glad I am in there cleaning it out. I would have sent it out for overhaul at Lares or one of the shops that does that repair well but I am the kind of person that needs to see if I can do it myself. So far it is totally apart and going really well. I did have to make a tool or two but I am at the point now of reassembly. Wow! What a rant! Anyway if anyone has a source for the main O rings let me know. They are square except the very to that contacts the housing which is round. Thanks |
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Expert
Posts: 1906
Location: Ontario, Canada | They are probably typical "piston rings" not O rings. I would try a hydraulic cylinder repair shop.
Greg |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 537
Location: Upstate NY | Thanks Greg I appreciate the advice and will check out hydraulic repair shops. they are very much like a rubber piston ring. The groove in the piston is square. I wasn't able to pull anything like what I needed by googling rubber piston ring.
Bob |
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57 Power Steering Parts
