pitman arm home rebuild
 

After pricing both new and rebuilt pitman arms for my 63 Tempest and finding the costs sky high, I decided to try rebuilding one myself. There is really not much to one, but getting it apart is the challenge. I used a hack saw to cut the top off and gain access to the bolt and bushing. The bushing is a plastic or nylon sleeve that wraps around the pitman bolt and separates it from a heavy rubber bushing inside the steel housing. After taking it apart, a visit to the local Fastenal store produced a brass flange sleeve bearing that I modified to fit the bolt and it pressed into the pitman arm. The preformed modification was sawing a diagonal slot through the brass sleeve.
The arm cap was drilled and tapped so a grease zerk could be installed. The cap was then mig welded back on. This has to be done in stages to keep the rubber bushing from getting too hot. I welded on opposite sides of the cap in very small increments and cooled with a wet rag until it was totally sealed. After all was cooled down, a shot of grease was added through the zerk.
The bolt is now solid in the housing and turns with a slight resistance. All side slop is gone. No guarantee that it will last for 100,000 miles, but the new brass bearing and grease can't be any worse than the nylon part it replaced. The first picture is the arm disassembled, second is the completed part, and the third is the brass sleeve installed.

I repaired one for a 67 Firebird exactly the same way many years ago, except I had the machine shop at work make a custom bronze bushing to fit. At the time nobody was making a replacement and all the used ones I could find were just as worn out as mine was. The steering was worlds better after the fix, and I put at least 50,000 miles on it before selling the car.

You should be good to go!

Walt