I recently replaced my steering gearbox with a rebuilt one from Cardone. After bolting it in, I placed the pitman on the shaft (which fit right on very easy) but once I tightened it up, there's a 3/8" or so gap at the top (between the pitman and the gearbox). I undid the whole thing and noticed that I had tightened the bolt to the extent of the threads, and it seems that it's attached just fine, since it steers beautifully, but I'm still concerned. Is this normal, since the gearbox is pretty universal for most GM cars of the era, or am I doing something wrong and need a spacer? I'd put pictures on, but my camera broke, and I'm spending the money on parts instead of a new camera. Any ideas would be AWESOME. Thanks.
The pitman arm does not slide on all the way, it is a press fit basically. As long as it is tightened to spec (something well over 100 ft-lbs) you should be fine.
