shimming PS box

Is shimming a power steering box an acceptable thing to do?

My 68 Dart is going in to have the frame connectors welded on. I want the car on its wheels while this is done. I'm making it a roller...then it will come back apart when it goes in for paint. I installed the steering column so the car can be moved more easily. The stock steering coupler just barely hits the TTI shorty headers. I can still turn the steering wheel but the 4 corners of the coupler seal retainer rub one tube. My first though was to just trim a little off each corner of the coupler retainer but then I thought about shimming the box. It would only take a very thin washer under the box on the inside bolts. I could dent the tube but don't want to mess up the coating. Thoughts?

Shimming the box is commonly done to get the drag link level, I don't see where this would be much different.

If you heat up the tube that needs clearance red hot and use something round and smooth like a 1/2" drive extension to gently press your dent in with, once it cools down it should be none the worse for wear.

My buddy found out the hard way that just because Indy says your headers will fit their new to the market at the time SR heads, it don't mean they will still fit your car. He never factored the raised exhaust port into the mix and his fresh from being coated headers were now hard on the passenger torsion bar. He expected the coating to burn off when he heated it but it was just as shiny silver when he was done as it had been before.

Your mileage may vary.

If you go the shimming route, I'm not sure how much of the steering box is in contact with the K-frame other than where the ears are but I would use large diameter fender washers or the required thickness of flat stock to spread that clamping force and torque across at least as wide an area as the box contacted before to avoid any potential for cracking.

Kevin

Thanks. The boxes mounting flange is on the opposite end as the coupler. A small shim at the flange should equate to a larger movement at the coupler. I've got some scrap 20 gauge sheet metal. I thought about making a shim/plate out of that. Then it would cover a larger area then a washer.

How about shimming the driver side motor mount up a little

Pretty sure that will make it worse. The coupler sits in kind of a valley on the one pipe. Any change up or down will put it closer to the pipe. I'll double check that though. I've got one of the Schumacker adjustable torque straps on it.

Sometimes engines take a set once laid into the mounts and bolted down. You could try loosening all the mount bracket bolts, trans mount bolts and lifting the low side of the engine some and then re-tighten all bolts. In this regard, fractions of an inch can make a difference in how well things fit together.

This is certainly a possibility, and worth the time to try.

Shimming the box is how you correct bump steer on the driver's side, so on one hand, you can shim it, but on the other, it will change your bump steer on that tire, and you don't know for better or worse without measuring it.