Hi everyone,

 

I've looked through the judging manual for my 1973 corvette, but I can't find the correct finish for the steering box.  Was it painted or just left in the raw cast iron finish.  Maybe someone with an original car can help me out.

Thanks, Dean

Dean, the majority of the steering boxes were painted, but not all of them were. When I restored the chassis on my car, I documented everything I could, and the steering box was one thing I questioned.
My box was definitely never painted. There was a yellow ink stamp(CM) on it that was clearly visable. I talked to the National Team Leader for the 73-77 cars, and was told that, while most of them were painted, some original cars have been seen with no paint on them. I carefully made a stencil of the letters on mine, and restamped it once I was done cleaning.
You might be able to find some kind of ink mark/stamp on yours, too. Mine is on the engine side of the box, toward the top.
If you take the box off the car, you can verify from the condition of the back side if it had paint at one time or not.
Hope this helps.