steering coupler removal

Ken Blackman said

I'm trying to remove the power steering box from my 1971 Duster. Have removed the roll pin, I have removed the bolts from the firewall mounting plate and loosened the bolts from the under dash mounting bracket but can't get the steering shaft and coupler to come off the steering box spline. anyone have any suggestions on what I should do next

Thanks
Ken

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Terry- No new ideas...posted below how I got power strg box out.

Ken,
Minor hijack of Terry's thread, but as I removed my power strg box from my 71 Duster recently here's what I did after removing the pin and firewall bolts. I removed the TWO steering column nuts (front) and ONE bolt (rear) dropped it down slightly off the two front studs, and kept back pressure on the column while a friend lightly tapped with a small hammer on the shaft where it joins the power steering box. Make sure you've disconnected the transmission linkage from the column inside the engine compartment. Now the unexpected part...factory service manual says the box should come out the bottom--guy who wrote that obviously never did it. After pulling the arm and removing the three bolts the box was loose, but there was NO WAY we could get it out the bottom...stock 71 340 with stock manifolds. Sooo, off came the exhaust manifold...take your time and don't break a bolt off...lots of wiggling back and forth. Next surprise was antifreeze coming out of the rear most bolt. Don't know if that's just my heads being drilled too far years ago...or if that's factory...just might have a bucket ready. Luckily it came off no problem and the power steering box came out the top. New bolts, gasket, steer and gear pump went back in reverse order in eventfully. Good Luck!