Worm Gear ID???

 

I had the good fortune to pick up a new steering worm shaft this weekend from a guy that was selling one. It seems old, and had some surface rust on the shaft, and general muck and dirt all over... but it cleaned up pretty nicely with not much effort. It is clear that it is unused, because there is no sign of wear in any of the usual places, like on the bearing faces of the worm, the ball bearing races etc. In fact you can still see the machining marks on the worm gear.

 

It is 41.5" long, and has the hole at the bottom for the horn wire.

 

The curious thing is the colour of the worm gear. It is a deep rich copper or gold colour. I have never seen another like it (not that I am any kind of expert), and it is certainly different to the ones you see offered for sale from the various dealers these days.

 

Anyone have any idea on the strange colour of the worm gear? Is this possibly NOS?

 

Before being cleaned up....

 

 

 

 

 

After being cleaned up....

 

 

 

 

 

So I'm thinking along the following lines:

- the yellow metal is clearly only a coating over the steel underneath.

- There is evidence of the yellow metal coating existing on early (original) worm gears

- The intention must have been that the softer coating would wear fairly quickly to match the exact shape of the two studs on the sector shaft, allowing a much closer fit that if it was plain steel on steel.

- Over time it would wear away completely, only remaining where there is no contact at all. These are probably the areas remaining with the yellow metal on the used worm gear from 1955cj5 above.

 

That's my theory, unless anyone has any other ideas?

 

Strange that mine doesn't have the part number stamped into it. It would appear that it is NOS though!

 

Mike

 

Your shaft is 41.5", but you say that it is longer than the 2A shaft by 1"? As far as I have been able to tell from other posts on this site, the 2A's had two shaft lengths:

40.5" shaft was for the earlier 2A's with the horn wire out the side

41.5" shaft was for the later 2A's with the horn wire out the bottom.

Rocketeer is quoted on a few posts as confirming this.

So as far as I can tell, for my 1948 CJ2A #204853, the 41.5" shaft is correct.

 

I checked the worm with a magnet, and it does stick. So it seems that it is indeed a thick plating, with steel underneath!

Excellent!

 I didn't know that the late 2a's had the longer shaft......I guess by now I should realize that anything is possible with these old jeeps!

 

Yes, nothing beats good old fashioned measurement. In my case, I was not looking to buy the new worm gear and shaft, but was offered it on the spur of the moment while on a trip away from home. I measured it at 41.5" and something in the depths of my memory stuck out that it was the correct length for the later CJ2A with the horn wire out the bottom. I was also assured by the seller that it was correct! I took a chance and bought it and was mighty relieved later when a few posts on this site confirmed my memory.

 

Only the uncertainty raised by 1955cj5 and Terry made me dig deeper, and now we have uncovered the facts of the issue!  All CJ2A's had the 40.5" shaft, and this is regardless of where the horn wire comes out.

 

All is not lost, I will do as Terry did and cut 1" out of the middle section of the new shaft and weld it up again.

 

Thanks for your feedback and for clarifying what was becoming a confusing issue for me!

 

Mike