1971 Dart Swinger Worm Gear Adjustment

TrailBeast said

Pretty sure that's a 5/8 nut.
Center the wheels, loosen the nut and work the steering shaft back and forth by hand while you lightly tighten the adjuster screw just until it stops moving easily.
Any more than that and you could end up with a bind up in the center.
This may need to be done again after you get it all tightened back up and turn the steering lock to lock.
The slotted screw should turn really easy, so not a ton of worry about getting to it.
You should be able to even turn it using a nickel or other coin.
Be sure to hold it while you tighten the lock nut again.

3-4 inches is a lot to try to adjust out and have a useable box, but maybe.
Start there and see what happens.

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Thanks, it's probably a long shot for sure, but at this point I've sunk quite a bit into the front end already and just hoping to get it safe to drive and stem the bleeding for a little while. Then I can plan for the gearbox replacement.

I read somewhere else that 5/8 was the size and I believe I even heard that on a YouTube video somewhere as well, so I'll start there. I went out and bought a set of stubby box end wrenches so hopefully that can get me in there with enough room to get this done. I didn't want to have to unbolt the power steering lines to get this done but they were certainly in the way with a standard box end wrench.

One thing though, most tutorials I saw just said go 1/4 turn each time but you suggested tightening until it gives resistance, but what if this is more than 1/4 turn? Is it still safe to do that or should I try it in 1/4 turn stages? Also, should the car be on the ground while doing this to stop the wheels from actually turning after the adjustment has been done?

Thanks for getting back to me.