what is this steering gear case?

[EricMLexington]

Finally took a close look at my steering gear case and it is definitely not stock Ford. But is it an aftermarket? or a backyard fix? The steering wheel is bolted through the steering gear cover to a curved metal piece. That metal piece then fits into a curved slot in a metal plate that is in the additional mechanism that has been mounted on the stock gear box on the column. At either end of the slot is a metal pin which the curved metal piece pushes on and cases the metal plate to spin. The metal plate must then turn the steering gears.The car steers fine but I am curious to know what I have here. Thanks

[Les Schubert]

Eric
I’m wondering if there are any gears in there at all?
What is at the bottom of the steering column you have?

[EricMLexington]

I haven't taken the additional mechanism off yet. There is a screw through the casing at 12:00 and 6:00 (you can see them in the pictures) and it appears if I run them both out I can twist this off the steering gear case attached to the column. I was hoping to learn a little more about this from the Forum before I took it apart.

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

It's a one-way clutch. Prevents the wheel from jerking out of your hands on rough roads. In other words, you can steer the wheels, but the wheels cannot steer you. Sounds good on the face of it, but it also means that after a turn, YOU must return the wheels to a straight ahead position, instead of the steering geometry bringing it back on its own. I would NOT want it on my car. Anything that's made to essentially lock the steering, will ultimately do so when you don't expect it, and don't want it.

[John kuehn]

So is it a homemade steering box or an aftermarket as you say ‘clutch’ of some sort. If it’s an aftermarket item it’s a rare one I would think.

[Wayne Sheldon]

Yes it is an sfter-market device to aid in the steering. I had one for many years, but do not remember what it was called. I used mine on a speedster, mostly because it moved the steering wheel more than an inch closer to me, and I liked that. I do very much agree with what Jerry Van O says, however, I found I did like it in the car I had. The biggest problem with it was that when pushing the car in or out of parking or storage, you cannot steer it by pushing on the front wheels! I also suspect that as the unit wears a bit, it probably becomes less effective.

[EricMLexington]

Wayne, if I wanted to go back to a stock set-up, can I just remove the mechanism and reattach the steering wheel? Or have some of the stock parts been modified and need to be replaced?

[Wayne Sheldon]

If I recall correctly, there were two set screws, easy to get to on the outer area of the after-market case. They should come out easily. Mine was a bit difficult to turn, and I used a modern oil filter "strap wrench" to install it. The same should work to unscrew yours. No modifications were needed to any of the other original parts, but you will need a proper model T steering gear center (pinion) gear and stub for the steering wheel to mount to (the accessory replaces that original piece). And it will need to be the matching four or five to one ratio depending on what is inside your original case. I don't know whether those steering accessories were available in both ratios or not, or if only one, which? So you may need to get inside and look.

[EricMLexington]

Thanks for the info. I will not mess with this until winter.