Trick to reattaching steering coupler?
 

I am replacing the steering gear on my '68 Fury. I've got the old one out, and the new one in, but I'm having trouble sliding the coupler all the way into place (so that I can replace the roller pin). It slid easily about halfway down, but that was it. I tapped it with a hammer a few times, and it moved, but the thin metal piece on the top of the coupler started coming off. I don't want to break the darn thing, but I'm not sure how else to seat it.

There are several threads about removing a steering coupling, but I can't find any about reattaching it. Am I doing something wrong? Is there something obvious that I'm missing?

Many thanks for any guidance.

Use a long blunt punch in the roll pin hole. Shouldn't take much to seat it.... IF the top piece is too bent up ?? Replace it !!!! You will have a hard time getting it to stay on

There is a master spline on the steering box shaft that must match the coupler.

Besides having both clean it shouldn't take too much effort to tap it down into place.

Loosening the steering shaft mounting bolts can help to align them but shimming under the mounting flanges may be required to prevent binding. This is only needed after a collision or maybe a 45yr old sagging car.

Thanks, gentlemen! I had been working on this last night, and in the dark I didn't notice the master spline. I had to pull the steering column back out, get a mirror and realign everything. It wasn't much fun, but at least it's on there properly now!

I do have another question ... The new steering gear did not come with the metal valve connections. I guess I'm supposed to pull them off the old gear? They seem to be attached pretty securely. Is there a good way to get them off, or is it just a matter of using a wrench and pulling really hard?

I'm not sure what you mean by "metal VALVE connections".

I apologize, I don't know the correct term. I'm talking about the hose fitting in this picture. The big one came off easily, but the small one didn't. I'm going to try a little harder. http://i61.tinypic.com/343lyyu.jpg

I'm pretty sure the small one is a straight thread with a small o ring inside not a pipe thread so a good socket and even pull should break it loose.

Those fittings are easy to find if you can't get it out.

Got it, thanks! A breaker bar allowed me to use the magic of leverage to get it loose.

Now, it's all put together, and (seemingly) working fine. The gearbox itself is all set. Now, the steering coupling just takes ordinary grease, right?

Correct. Manual says fill to 1/2" from top.