Hi Jagies,
Before mounting the steering rack I wanted to clean and powder coat the lower steering U Joint.
It appears a bit difficult to get the parts apart and I’m a bit afraid of putting all the needles back in.
Should I leave it alone lubricate and paint instead of powdering or powder with the needles in and lubricate afterwards ?
Anyone of you been there done that ?
Thx, Tom
Looking at the last picture , it looks like there is a needle missing already by the gap !
I would strip it , fit a new universale joint , about £20 , then spray paint it , then pump grease in to it ! 
Thx, well it seems two needles are ‘missing’ on both sides (of the one joint opened) but I guess this is by design ?! The U-joint seems to be ok technically (no wear or ‘noise’) but I wanted it to look nicer and lubricate it primarily.
I’ve never seen a u-joint with a needle gap. It wouldn’t make any sense. As improbably as it seems, it looks like yours is missing needles. It’s not hard to install new joints without messing it up so long as you have the needles well greased to hold them in place. I also seat the bearing post into the cap before trying to push them all they way home so no needles can be displaced in the process. Insert one cap and the center piece and tap it most of the way in. Then slide the center piece over to the other side and put the opposing cap onto it. Don’t tap this time and instead push it home gently with a vice while keeping the center piece centralized. It should slip in easily without much force.
I powder coated mine and it’s fine, but the powder coating place must mask the bearing surfaces or it will be a nightmare to sand it off. You’ll end up over sanding and ruining the yokes because the caps will be too loose.
Well I would not know where the four needles had gone but will open the second joint and see if there is a gap as well. I could go for a new part but this will take too long and I want to finish the steering the next days 
Hi, There is only one correct way to do this, replace the U Joint with GKN from SNG, if you are going to powder coat or paint, do this first after removing the old U Joint and really SEAL the openings of the U Joint housing or you will not be able to press new ones into place.
Regards,
Allen
I do believe that as the cups don’t even want to get out 
Well I just received the new steering rack from SNG - don’t want to order again the day after
I will have a look if there is a gap on the other joint also (maybe this is by intention although it appears weird to me too) but I don’t think anyone has opened those since 1973 …
If you do bite the bullet and replace the spider I always run a brake cylinder hone into the bores to give it a light clean up, makes the cups easier to push in.
It sure seems like an odd place to want to introduce any slop. I’d wait and change it personally because it’s a pain the butt to get the thing out again.
I should not have looked at it too closely 
But it appears that the gap is so narrow that the needles can not twist and it would not be possible to take a single needle out without the cups further parted. But the prob is that I want to continue to assemble (cooler, bonnet, brake lines, cabling) and this would cause another delay
Do you think it is unsafe to have needles ‘missing’ ?
Is it correct that the upper U-joint is the same as the lower so if than I should service both ?
I did, piece of mind, and tight and precise steering.
Hey Tom,
2 needles missing are TWO needles missing! NO IFS, NO BUTTS.
These bearings could possibly still go for another 100 years, with or without 2 or 3 needles.
The car is nearly 50. Yes, 50 years old.
What is another week or two waiting for the correct parts.
Don’t be an ass.
If you don’t want advice from experienced enthusiasts, don’t ask.
Do it properly.
Regards
Chris
Cape Town
I just saw that GKN has a subsidiary in Austria - maybe they can help and I do not have to bother Steve from SNG again …
The car has spent it’s first 22 years in the States - guess someone has 8 times -( sorry 4times only as the upper seems to use a different U-joint C28600) 1.5 needles (the gap size) there too many. If you knew how tidy and carefully not to so experienced enthusiasts have rebuilt an engine, overhauled a suspension and fitted the whole interior, zinc plated or powder coated almost every single piece and accepted many but not all (e.g: not correct the cam shaft position) suggestions here in the forum … I will go for GKN’s but my ‘experience’ tells me that needles don’t get lost but the gap was by intention - no need to argue or tell me who to listen to …
Hi Tom. The advise you are getting is sound and is given with your best interest in mind. The last person to replace that cross piece did it incorrectly. Take that u-joint down to your local bearing house and ask the parts person if they ever sell them with missing needles. They will assuredly tell you that they are not supplied that way. They will also likely be able to supply you with a replacement part from stock quite inexpensively.
Thx yes i try to get the GKN part as now everything is easily accessable and removing the new steering rack sure would be a hassle once everything is in place. Don’t know who has dropped one needle out of many 4 times in a row - must have happened in Coventry or at the PO decades ago, to me the X piece seems to be original but I’m not an enthusiastic expert. Thx for your advise !
I was able to get the joint in a local store. For the finish I stayed with spray painting in transparent. When removing the old joint the securing bolt had the two dents in place at the same position as on the body of the joint. Guess it was never taken off before …
Thank you for your advises and I am lucky to have an additional grease nipple now
Btw the GKN partnumber is U 035 EAN: 4019064300069
I think with the power steering the forces will be far below but fixing this issue sure is not a mistake. There was no visible wear and the joint did not show any bearing play at all. Lucky I could get the part locally. Thx !
Hi Tom,
are you able to pinch the yoke with the allen head screw until there is a tight fit on the steering rack pinion?
Do you use a torque wrench for the allen screw?
I can slide my yoke back and forth on the pinion - even with the allen screw tightened.
thanks
Dan
