Antique Tractor Restoration Tips
“ Steering Shaft Support Bracket Repair ”
As many of you Farmall Cub owners already know the steering shaft support arm bracket is a real weak point. If the tractor has had a lot of use in the past it is more than likely worn badly. I've seen replacements on the market that cost anywhere from $30 to $35 plus shipping. This can end up costing almost $40 to replace. With a little thought you can use the old part and restore it back to near perfect condition for almost zero cost. I did not take a before picture so I took a picture of the repair and blacked out the wear area.
A few ideas were tossed around before we came up with this and it works quite well. First we visited a friend of ours that owns the local auto transmission repair shop and he gave us some bushings out of his scrap pile that were a close fit for what we needed. Next the bushing was cut in half and spread to fit the steering shaft.
Now that we had a piece that fit the size of the steering shaft and the wear area it was set inside the support arm bracket. Then a socket that was slightly larger than the diameter of the steering shaft was inserted and it was all held in place by putting a screw into the grease fitting hole. Tighten the screw just tight enough to hold everything and not actually make an indent into the bushing. Now we are left with a void area that needs to be filled. We cleaned up some old wheel weights and buttered everything down with some soldering rosin and used a propane torch to melt the wheel weights (solder can also be used) into the opening until everything was filled. Once everything cooled off, the socket was removed and any excess lead was filed flush with the surface as was the screw head. NOTE: You might want to lube the socket with some vaseline or something similar as it was a bit of work removing it.
Once you have done that, take a small brake hone or something similar and hone the opening to the proper fit. Drill a new hole for the grease fitting. You just saved yourself almost $40 and it took less than an hours work!
If you do not have a small brake hone, you can take a small piece of wooden dowel and cut it partially to insert some emery cloth or sand paper. Attach to a drill and use as a hone. The bearing surface is more durable than the original cast aluminum and should last a very long time with proper lubrication.