Wow, time flies, so I figured I'd stop by and give a quick update on my '66. All is well, fortunately.
During the winter, I decided to replace my existing steering box, which was a Jeep Grand Cherokee unit that was remanufactured by Lares. While I was satisfied with the steering ratio, the on-center directness was very not good. It let the car wander too much when driving straight and just made driving more of a chore than I wanted. I managed to get a Black Friday deal for $100 off a new steering box from Detroit Speed & Engineering.
Going into it, I knew this meant that I would have to make changes to my hydraulic lines, since the DSE box uses o-ring style fittings and the hoses on my car were the original flare style. I found some adapters on Amazon, which I thought would make things easy, but I soon found out that using them presented a clearance conflict between the high pressure hose going into the box and the low pressure return hose going into the fluid reservoir. I searched all over for a different high pressure hose that would fix my issue, but nothing fit the bill with the right combination of fittings, bend angles, and overall length. I then looked into the possibility of making an AN line, but by the time I priced out all of the materials for that, it seemed silly. Ultimately, the least expensive solution was to buy a PS fluid reservoir with a different low pressure return tube configuration. But that of course meant I had to remove the alternator and PS pump, then disassemble it...
Everything worked out in the end and the new DSE steering box is MUCH better than the reman'd Jeep Grand Cherokee box. Driving the car straight down the middle of the lane is so much easier now, which makes it more relaxed behind the wheel as a driver since I don't have to constantly make steering corrections. And for those who are wondering, yes, I did play with the JGC box to see if it was out of adjustment. It felt good on the bench. The tolerances just aren't as good as the DSE box, which was a brand new (not reman'd) unit.
I also purchased some floor mats from ACC to match the carpet. I like these much more than the original style rubbery plastic ones that I often see.
This past Saturday I took the longest drive yet in the car since putting it back together. About 100 miles each way, across the Puget Sound on the ferry to the Olympic Peninsula, then hopped on U.S. Hwy 101 southbound to eventually reach the race track to hang out with friends who were enjoying a lapping day.
Other than wishing I had an overdrive transmission, the car behaved phenomenally. Before the trip, I was concerned about overheating while waiting in line for the ferry. But despite prolonged idling time, it never went above 210F. I can live with that. As soon as I started moving, the temp went right back down to 180F and stayed there no matter what speed I was driving, slow or fast.
Got lots of compliments throughout the day and at the track despite being in the company of lots of very impressive metal. It was a very fun trip and was a good trust-building exercise with the car.