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I have just had my steering box out to replace the seals. There are two adjustments to be done. One adjustment is done with shims on the front cover to get the right loading on the bearings for the steering worm shaft (the shaft that goes to the steering column). This can only really be done with the steering box out of the car. Haynes manual gives a load of 1 to 2.5 kg when pulling on a string wrapped around the steering worm shaft. This is done before the rest of the steering box is assembled. Once you get the shims right, you need to pull it to bits again and use gasket sealant between all the shims to make it oil-tight.
I would like to think that the shop that did the overhaul did all of this properly for you.
The second adjustment is using the adjustment bolt on the top cover. Again, I did this with the steering box out of the car. Haynes manual shows a lever attached to the worm shaft. The lever is 210mm long and the adjustment is correct when it takes 0.4 to 0.7 kg to turn this shaft through the centre position (out with the fish scales again).
You may be able to do the second adjustment with the steering box in the car but you would need to look at disconnecting the pitman arm from the bottom of the steering box so that the friction of the front linkages didn't affect the result. I'm guessing the steering column bush would not offer much resistance.
Check with the re-conditioner to see what they did to adjust the box.
My steering box is working great now - doesn't leak and the correct adjustment makes it nice and stable.
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