Steve70Carlo Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Hey guys, The rubber rag joint finally gave up the ghost a few weeks ago. I counted the splines on my input shaft and measured the diameter. Its a 3/4" 36 Spline input shaft. The box is a manual steering box. Car was originally power steering. I dont think it matters that much because when I switched it out 15 years ago, the manual box came with the rag joint that fits it (I purchased the box and joint used). I ordered several replacements and so far all of the rag joints have had flat spot ground into them for alignment purposes. My input shaft is splined completely around the diameter of the input shaft with no flat spot ground in. I got another one in the mail from JEGS today and still, this one has a flat spot ground into the splines which will not allow it to slip onto my input shaft. I am attaching pictures. I would reuse my original rag joint pieces and just get a rebuild kit for the bushing but the splines are worn out on the original rag joint piece. If anyone can help me in this, I would be grateful! The car has been torn apart too long! (In the third picture, I found this on another website. My input shaft is the one that says "fully splined") Thanks! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leghome Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Steve did you order a rag joint for a 63-69 Chevelle with manual steering? Not trying to be a smarty pants just trying to clarify which joint you keep getting that has not worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve70Carlo Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 Hi Larry, The first time I ordered from OPGI and ordered for a 70 Monte Carlo Manual Steering. The second time I ordered from JEGS and it wasn't specified to a year. It just said fits most GM cars. I just looked at OPGI again and it says that they sell the same coupler for all 64-72 GM cars. That doesn't seem correct to me. When I originally sent back the coupler to OPGI, they made me write an email explaining why the part wouldnt fit and and said they would contact me back to find a solution. No luck. Just was issued a refund. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leghome Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 I have never been fully satisfied with OPGI on anything I have purchased from them. From being over priced compared to say The Parts Place to having everything I needed in stock. As far as stuff like the rag joint and other mechanical parts I have had real good luck with my local NAPA store. I worked there for 10 of the last 11 months (old age made getting in and out of the car for deliveries to much for me to handle) and the any tiem I needed annything the counter guys bent over backwards to try and help me. We got in weveral parts that would not work so they ordered another and another until we had the right piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve70Carlo Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 Today while looking around some more online I came across a place that's called Don's East Coast Restorations located in New York. I called them and the lady who answered the phone actually went and got the part off the shelf and sat down and looked at it while I walked her through what I was looking for. This seems like it's going to work. NEVER in my 20 years of restoring cars, have I had a parts rep do that for me. It was always "order it, pay shipping and if it doesn't work, pay shipping back". Just on the service alone I would recommend giving them a try. I will follow up and let you know if it works. Supposed to be here tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leghome Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Thats great Steve. I did that a few times at NAPA even though I was a delivery driver the counter guy did not know exactly what the customer's question was ( he knows new cars but not the classics) so I would find the part and go over it with the customer. Sometimes the boss was not happy with me but we rarely had an unhappy customer. Customers service will sell a lot of parts usually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve70Carlo Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 The rag joint came as promised and it is EXACTLY what I needed! Hopefully this post might help someone in the future who may come across this same issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leghome Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Hey Steve how about posting the part number to make it easier for someone else to solve the same problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve70Carlo Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 Good Idea Larry. I ordered it through Don's East Coast Restoration. Phone number is 631-226-7982. Their part number was 16-051CA The box that it came in though had "Coupler 202" on it and looked very much like the box I got from Advanced Auto the first time around which was a Lares product. I looked it up and Lares does have a 202 Coupler. It was cheaper to order though Don's anyway, so I would go that route. I am attaching a picture of the coupler I received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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