I had a great Christmas surprise on a recent trip back home. I was
kicking around the flower beds of my brother's house (my old family
home) and discovered the old steering box for my BT7. Not sure how it
got there, but I always knew that it was on said property.
Surprisingly, it was in great shape. The steering column with gear
were located in a storage room and was covered in surface rust, but no
pitting.
I have always known that my car was delivered in Germany and that the
certificate said that the steering box was an adjustable column with
steering lock. I never suspected that it was the original box because
my car's steering has always been non-adjustable and I never saw a
steering lock on my car. I always have suspected that because the
front end was damaged, so too was the steering box and it must have
been replaced. A lot of folks with more Healey knowledge than I
suspected that it would be very rare for a non-adjustable steering
column car as late as mine, and thus I never expected that mine could
be original.
Sometime in the early 90s, I tried to replace the bearings in the box,
but I could never get the end plate to fit back like it was. I pulled
the box out to investigate what was causing the problems. I found
that the tube coming out of the box was slightly bent and causing the
column shaft to bind. I also noticed that the pitman arm was
distorted, damage that was obviously from the wreck. I never could
figure how it worked before, and resorted to buying another non-
adjustable steering box and arm in Atlanta and changed it out while I
was home from school. Never thought twice about the box since.
20 years later, a bit wiser, I studied the box a bit more closely to
see if it had any indications of a column lock. What I found was that
this box and column was indeed a lockable column, just did not have
the lock. The outer tube had the hole for the locking pin and
indications where the lock was mounted. The column shaft had the
tabs welded in place for the pin to lock into. 2 separate pieces and
both have proof of a lockable column. This is like the Holy Grail for
me, and as you would imagine, I was excited to uncover this bit of
historical significance for my car.
OK, so I now suspect that the certificate was partially wrong, should
have been "non"- adjustable steering. Because the date stamp on the
column was 7-61 and my car was built in 10-61, I believe the box was
probably never replaced as I thought it was after the wreck. Even if
it wasn't original, it still dates the non-adjustable column to 1961,
which I have never seen on another car.
I plan on restoring the box by cutting the old tube out and either
replacing the tube or straightening it and re-welding, but don't
expect any updates from me for a long time. I still need to find a
column lock.
Happy New Year All!
Olin Brimberry
61 3000 MKII
BT7 Sideshifter TriCarb
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