Well Gentlemen, we have liftoff!! The parts came in last night and looked identical, except that the shaft was 1 inch longer than the original. I did not let this deter me, I actually am looking forward to having an inch more for leg room under the wheel. It was a bit of a trick to get the timing down on the new ball nut, but I believe we have success. I moved the adjustment screw in about as far as I could to try and take all the play out of the steering wheel which, while the front end was jacked up, didn't seem to do much. I took it out this early afternoon after putting everything back together and it seems to be back to normal. I'm still a little nervous and listen to every little noise it makes with baited breath. It's -2 degrees in the sun here today, so that often makes things creak and pop. Everything seems to be running smoothly, and I am very hopeful that the problem is solved. An interesting note, when I cleaned out the gearbox, I dumped all the gunk out into a pan, ball bearings grime and all. This morning the bottom half inch was frozen up tight. Guess we know without question the culprit now!! I will post the pictures I took as soon as I do some more reading and figure out how, but I want to extend a very big thank you to all who helped out here, especially Service Dept Vic. If you folks ever make it down to Maine, there will be a cold beer waiting for you!! More to come. . .