Do half-assed work so it looks like you are actually getting more work done, or so you have more time to **** off. The supervisor is getting the "numbers" he needs, so no problem. Worry about damage control when it blows up in their face, and never address the half-assed work. Then when the place goes down the crapper go someplace else and do the same thing. I see it every day.
Steering Box - Help!
- Thread starter SF-66TC
- Start date
If you stay in the same brand or geographical area this behavior does catch up to you... But I am still amazed some people could get jobs... About half the jobs I worked came and recruited me for having a good reputation...
The other side of this coin is the employer... Do they encourage a culture of quality and ethical work? I passed on many job offers because of the dealer's reputation... techs tend to move around a lot. I refused a nice sounding offer from a Chrysler dealer back in the later 90s, because they had a internal issue where some techs would "bug" finished cars to make other techs lose time or look bad. The reputation was bad enough other dealers wouldn't hire anybody out of that shop...
Knew another Dodge dealer about the same time offered me a "lead tech" job at a really high flat rate... their brand of "carrot or stick" was a monthly damage bonus...$500 to be split 5 ways... they then charged every complaint to that account and you wound up negative dollars every month. I refused it because they were going to pool the labor hours for the team, but not let me hire and fire... they were known for giving each team a couple cheap members from the street and not enough lifts to really produce.
Cant tell you the number of times I saw pay plans changed because someone figured out how to make more money from them. Commission structures directly relate to profits, but that's not how ownership sees it. Saw lots get fired for making more than their bosses too.
Building a business right requires good help. You cant hold onto good help if you don't pay them right and treat them right. Managers who only watch numbers need to be replaced, unfortunately many owners only watch the numbers too.
Pitiful, ain't it ?
SF-66TC
Well-Known Member
Hey Doug,
Sorry about not responding to this post - I must have over-looked it since I had fire in my eyes and could only see RED at the time. I haven't posted the results yet because after I got the unit back from FF and installed it I was toying around buttoning up the rest of my suspension. I also just installed Summits Electronic Mopar distributor with ECU and just got the car started on Monday.
I would highly recommend this upgrade over the Pertronix Igniter for several reasons. I initially bought the Igniter II and the Flame-Thrower II Coil, but decided to switch and go with the unit from Summit - although it's $50 more than the Pertronix, it's well worth the difference in price.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-850004/overview/
Summit Electronic Mopar Distributor 850004 - $199.97
- Summits unit is a complete new distributor
- Comes with a new vacuum advance
- Comes with an upgraded ORANGE ECU rather than the BLUE one as shown.
- Comes with a new cap and ballast resister
- Can use the stock coil with it
- If anything goes wrong with unit parts are readily available
- If need to re-install old points dizzy, just swap out dizzy - no need to replace coil
Pertronix Igniter II & Coil - $145.23
- Igniter kit
- Need an upgraded coil to use with it
- Retain old dizzy and components
- Retain old dizzy bushing/bearings could be worn
- Retain old dizzy weights and springs could be worn
- Retain old vacuum advance unit - diaphragm could be worn
- Retain old cap or purchase new one
- Retain old ballast resister or purchase new one
- If Igniter goes out will need to purchase new kit at +$100
- Can re-install old points dizzy, but will need to change coil back to OEM.
Re: suspension and steering -
I haven't taken the car out on the road yet as I was wanting the suspension to settle in before I torqued the strut rod and control arm bushings. I'll get that all done on Sat and take the car out on it's maiden voyage with a complete front end rebuild and see how it all feels.
Oh yes, I did pull the car out 25ft onto the drive way and the steering did feel a little bit firmer than stock - I got the Stage-1.
I drove a buddies Coronet that had a Stage-3 rebuild and liked it so I sent an email to FF that that was what I wanted. I got a call back from Dick at Firm Feel and he highly suggested against it especially for a C-body. He mentioned he's driven C-bodies with all 3 stage boxes and felt in his professional opinion that the Stage-1 was the best fit for the car. The Coronet is a B-body and I have a C-body and he said that was apples and oranges. He did say he'd build my box anyway I wanted, but was against the Stage-3. I thought about it and figured that if I went with a Stage-3 and it ended up being too firm I would be stuck with it, but if I went with the Stage-1 which is suppose to be a little bit firmer than the police box I guess I could be happy with that. Actually anything would be better than the "non-resistence steering" the car had. Besides, since I installed FF's Tubular Upper Control arms for the additional caster that in itself would help with road feel. I'll post my results after the weekend run. - Steven
Last edited:
traintech55
Senior Member
I did swap my Federal pump to a Saginaw on my 66 300. And yes the feel is a little firmer.
SF-66TC
Well-Known Member
traintech55, changing just the steering pump firms up the steering - how does that work?
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
Is this a plug n play or do you have to mess with pulleys and brackets.
traintech55
Senior Member
Mine is a non A/C car and it was a plug and play. Everything lined right up. I used a pressure line from a 67 318 "C" body, fit like a glove.
traintech55
Senior Member
Rick Ehrenberg from Mopar Action had an article on this maybe three years ago. The Saginaw pump has different valveing than the federal pump, plus you can shim the Saginaw pump to make it harder.
hotdog647
Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2013
- Messages
- 103
- Reaction score
- 42
I read up on the output psi of Federal vs Saginaw pumps. The early slant 6 Saginaw pumps put out a lower PSIs and were supposed to make it harder to turn C Bodies. Saginaw had different pump models with different PSI output for different front weight cars, and you can buy a shim kit for less than $20 or use washers to get that exact feel you like, and still be able to parallel park your beauty. Here is a link to the old article: http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?35970-Saginaw P/S pump shimming for better feel Go to this article and click on link if PDF doesn't open automatically.
We put a rebuilt stock steering box in last week while we swapped a dual quad 440 into a 63 Sport Fury. It had the same big steering wheel, easy steering feel. It still has it. The Sport Fury will be the test mule for the Saginaw pump, and I will post what we find out here in a month or so. I'm a junk yard junkie and will use the cross reference from RockAuto to (hopefully) find some big block Saginaw brackets; otherwise they're available new on eBay.
We put a rebuilt stock steering box in last week while we swapped a dual quad 440 into a 63 Sport Fury. It had the same big steering wheel, easy steering feel. It still has it. The Sport Fury will be the test mule for the Saginaw pump, and I will post what we find out here in a month or so. I'm a junk yard junkie and will use the cross reference from RockAuto to (hopefully) find some big block Saginaw brackets; otherwise they're available new on eBay.
Last edited:
SF-66TC
Well-Known Member
traintech55
Senior Member
Thanks for finding the article. It does make a difference in feel.
hotdog647
Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2013
- Messages
- 103
- Reaction score
- 42
Sorry I couldn't get the link work correctly. Just put the parts above together to see the entire article.
Last edited:
SF-66TC
Well-Known Member
Thanks actually goes to Big_John who originally posted the link on page-4 #72 of this thread.
Similar threads
