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Borgeson 800126 Install 1971 Charger

MoparGuy68

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I began the process of swapping out my PS Gearbox this past Saturday. I am making a thread in the Bergman section because I got all the components from him, except for the cooler. I got the cooler from Perma-Cool in CA.

Sun Feb 2nd:
Came up with a plan to custom mount the cooler to the radiator support. Bought the items needed to mount the cooler at Ace Hardware. Fabricated an upper bracket extension from a strip of aluminum. Mounted the cooler.

Sat Feb 8th:
1. Removed battery and tray
2. Completely drained the coolant from radiator. 1.5 gallons came out..
3. Loosened all 4 spark plugs
4. Loosened all 6 header flanger bolts (2 of them did NOT want to come out)
5. Loosened 3 header collector bolts and nuts
6. Lowered steering column so steering wheel rests on the seat
7. Detached steering column from the coupler (this was tough!!)
8. Pulled steering column out of coupler
9. Disconnected high pressure and return lines from gearbox and pump
10. Drained ATF fluid out of the pump reservoir
11. Removed the old pump from engine

First barrier was removing the middle two header flange bolts. They didn't want to budge. I had to heat them both with a torch multiple times, over and over and over.. The 6th and final bolt being the most difficult to break loose. And that one had a header pipe running directly in front of it, so no socket could be used, only my box end wrench.

Second barrier was getting the pin out of the coupler that prevents the column from being pulled out of the coupler. I read online that you should be able to pound it out with a punch and hammer. That did NOT work for me. The pin wouldn't budge. I had to drill it out with a 20V drill. The first drill bit I used got stuck inside the pin and coupler! It was too small in diameter, and went to deep. That one was supposed to be making a pilot hole. Had to remove it with pliers. No key chuck on these new drills, so the keyless chuck wouldn't grip it tight enough to back it out. Successive use of larger bits, ultimately disintegrated the pin and I was able to pull the column out of the coupler!

That's all I've accomplished so far.

To proceed, I need suggestions on how to remove the coupler from the steering box input sector shaft. There is NO roll pin holding it to the shaft, the hole for the roll pin is empty. Even with no roll pin, I cannot get it to budge. It doesn't want to come off the shaft. I need some kind of a puller tool to pull it off. I want to remove it to allow more room to get the box out of the car.

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Also following as I want to tackle this job soon.
 
The pin was tapered, so it will only come out one way. The coupler might be damaged now that you drilled it. If all of the pin is out, all you need to do is use a pry bar or pickle fork to slide the coupler off of the steering gear shaft. Don't use U-Tube for instructions, download the service manual from mymopar.com and use it instead. U-Tube is for entertainment only...

http://www.mymopar.com/index.php?pid=31
 
Aren't you going to use the Bergman extended steering coupler on the new Borg box?
 
I used a pickle fork and the coupler came right off. You must use the Bergman coupler for steering box.
 
To answer some of the questions. Engine is a 383 Magnum. With brute force, I pounded the coupler off the input shaft. I used some BIG vintage wrenches, put the open ends between the box and coupler and pounded the wrenchs with a hammer. Doubling the wrenches up when the gap started to grow bigger.

Yes, I am going to install the Bergman direct fit coupler. That is why I didn't care if I damaged the stock coupler, which I did. I just wanted it off the box, and I want that SOB box out of the car!!! I did buy two pickle forks tonight, but that was after I had already beat the coupler off. Don't know why they need a roll pin, which was NOT present in my coupler. As I had to really bang on it to get it to come off. I'm glad there was no pin in it, or else it would have been even more difficult to remove. If you guys have a roll pin in yours... Farewell and adieu to you fair spanish ladies... Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain..
 
Anyone recognize what kind of tie rod boots are on my car? Where they may have been bought from? I managed to break the boot on the driver side tie rod/center link connection. It broke when test fitting a tie rod puller this afternoon.

I've attached a photo of the car that the steering box from hell is being exorcised from.

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I found this video as an alternative method of extracting the torsion bar. And yes, I have a factory 1971 Dodge Chassis Service manual. The torsion bar tool they show in the manual i've not seen available anywhere.. I see some that are designed to beat the bar sideways, but not in the direction that the service manual shows..

 
I did have trouble with the roll pin and that's because it's so far down and you really can't swing a hammer. I had a long punch and then adapted an extension from my 3/8 ratchet that brought height above fender to swing a hammer to drive it out. Sometimes I spend more time trying to figure out a solution to the problem at hand, but then feel good after getting it done.
 
I’ve hit another blocker.. My Impact wrench 1 1/4” socket will NOT fit on the pitman steering arm nut ( the old nut currently on the car). It DOES fit on the new nut supplied with the Borgeson box. The old nut should be the same size 1 1/4” like the new nut as far as I know.. So I’m stuck trying to figure out how to get the old nut off so I can pull the steering arm off the old box..

when I measure the old one with a ruler it looks like it’s 1 1/4”, but I wonder if it’s slightly larger..
 
You need an 1-5/16" socket.
 
Used a pickle fork to separate the steering arm from the center link. Had to pound on the fork for a long time, but it finally popped loose. Will try a 1 5/16” socket on the nut when I get one.
 
Saturday Feb 15th, Day 2 summary:

1) Disconnected tie-rod from center link with a puller .The nut on this was so loose, I could screw it off with my finger. Not good to find...
2) Disconnected steering arm from the center link with a pickle fork (this took a crazy amount of pounding on the fork to come loose. Including actually breaking one hammer in the process. Was not possible to use a puller). The nut on this one was tight.
3) Removed Sector shaft output nut with a 1 5/16" socket and my Kobalt impact wrench.
4) Pulled steering arm off the shaft with a puller.
5) Removed torsion bar with the torsion puller tool from Mancini Racing. The tool alone was useless, until I loosened the nut on the lower control arm shaft, as suggested by the guy in the video I linked above. AFTER doing that, I was able to pound the torsion bar out with the Mancini tool. That nut put up a good fight too, as my electric Kobalt 650 ft lb impact wrench struggled to break it loose, but finally did.
6) Completely unbolted header flange and collector. Moved the header out of the way as best that I could. Some coolant leaked out of the rear two header flange bolt holes, running down on the starter and header pipes.. Had already completely drained the radiator, but apparently, the block still needs to be drained some too, to prevent getting coolant on your starter and headers (if you have them).
7) Drained the engine oil out of the pan, since the engine had been flooded back in December, and in case I need to remove the dipstick tube (which I'm not sure how to do yet..)
8) Loosened all 3 of the bolts securing the gearbox to the K-frame.

After doing all this, I still don't think I have enough clearance to get the gearbox out of the car, because of the damn exhaust header pipes.. Another forum member stopped by this weekend, and took a look under the car and he agreed, that the header pipes are still in the way. He suggested unbolting the passenger side collector too, then attempting to detach the exhaust hangers just aft of the mufflers. To then drop both pipes down to attempt to get the whole exhaust header out of the engine compartment. The exhaust pipes have a cross-over pipe welded to them, so they would both need to be dropped together. The starter would have to be removed and it is surrounded by header pipes. Someone has routed the parking brake cable UNDERNEATH the exhaust pipes, so that would have to be removed also. This solution sounds like a nightmare to me. I think the engine would need to be jacked up to get the whole header out, and I cannot get under the *** end of the car to unbolt any exhaust hangers right now.

Long tube headers make this "swap" a real bitch…

My idea, is maybe if I remove the lower control arm, I will gain just enough clearance to drop the box down and out of the car. This seems much simpler than trying to extract the header from between the engine and gearbox. I've already loosened the big nut on that lower control arm shaft. Bottom line is two days work and the leaky box is still in the car..

I might get a new Pitman steering arm too, to replace the old one.. The member that looked under my car said, “after seeing your car, no way am I ever putting headers on mine”. He has the stock manifolds on his 70 Charger.
 
The car will have to remain up on the jack stands and floor jack until next weekend (or maybe longer), as the torsion bar is out.. Hopefully the US Jack stands and Daytona jack can handle holding it up for a week..

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Good headers fit well. Cheap headers do not.
 
Didn't get much done this weekend. Rained most of the day Saturday, and my friend was unavailable to help.

Day 3, Sunday:

1) Removed the stock reduction gear starter. I was just able to pull it down and out between the frame rail and header pipe. The torsion bar needed to be slid back out of the way for this to happen, which it already was. With the starter out, I now can move the header around more to gain enough clearance that I think will allow the gearbox to come out from the top! So that will be the plan for next Saturday, to pull it up and out of the engine compartment. Instead of removing the lower control arm.

2) Removed battery tray support arm, to make room for gearbox to come up and out of engine compartment.

3) With no PS pump on the engine, found this a good time to replace the lower radiator hose. Removed old DAYCO made in Mexico hose and installed new GATES made in USA hose. Will do the same with the upper hose next weekend. Separating the lower hose from the radiator resulted in over half a gallon of coolant coming out. That plus the 1.5 gallons drained from the radiator 2 weeks ago, and some draining out of the rear two header bolt holes last weekend, makes for a total of about 2.25+ gallons drained from the system, so far.

Starter has one small nut missing and one small nut not seated. The lower mounting bolt was so loose I could back it off with my finger.. Was thinking about getting one of those mini starters.. If I put this one back in will probably wrap it with Ceramic Fiber Insulation Blanket material.

Check out the inside of this water pump inlet neck, it looks ancient. I don't want to replace the water pump now.. Wasn't counting on rebuilding the whole car just to replace the steering box. But I keep finding stuff I don't like. Coolant that drained out actually looks fairly clean and clear. That pump inlet doesn't.

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