....to re-orientate the steering box.

I had an idle moment or two because I couldn't be bothered to lug all the TIG gear round to the workshop that has the chassis in it and so I elected to tack the last bit of the rear gearbox mount in situ with a small stick welder which belongs to Learned Counsel. Unfortunately, by the time I'd finished the preparations - which included changing the original gearbox mounting rubbers for a good set so that the height of the box was correct - Learned Counsel had locked up and gone. So, I looked around for another job I could get on with and my eye settled on the steering box and column. It's a bit heavy and unwieldy so I re-separated the box from the column and set about eyeing up the best position for the box on the chassis rail.

You'll remember that the problem with the mounting of the steering box was solved by the suggestion (not mine) to turn it downside up and leftways rightmost, thus presenting the built-in mounting to the chassis rail instead of the engine block. Well, I was having a chat with More Learned Counsel regarding the route of the drag link because it was going to end up with a couple of bends in it and, it occurred to us both that it would be wise to check that the action of the steering wheel corresponded with the anticipated movement of the front wheels now that the box was overhead the underhang.

And it's a good job I checked or the whole malarkey would have ended up as an amusement at a country fair.

In a bid to recover the situation I played about with the box for the rest of the afternoon but no matter which way I arranged it, it was either in the way of something else - access to the starter motor in particular - or was rigged with crossed controls. There's nothing to it but to look for a suitable box that I can mount more easily. For instance, the Austin 16 box is man enough and sits on the top of the rail.....  yup, there's a thought.

Anyway, the stick welder appeared and the rear mount was finished, the plates drilled and the whole assembly bolted down.

The steering box red-herring is just the sort of subterfuge that Sir Cuthbert and Perkins would have cooked up..... hmm.