Identify Your Adwest Steering Box
The question we're asked most often is what a customer actually has. This page shows what a genuine Adwest data plate says, using a real example, and explains what to send us when the plate is missing, worn, or you're simply not sure.
The data plate, and what it tells you
A genuine Adwest steering box carries a data plate fixed to the housing. It is stamped with the manufacturer, the type, a part number, and a date code. Between them, those four fields identify the unit: who made it, what it is, which specification it left the factory as, and roughly when.
Genuine units also carry an Adwest serial number, separate from the type plate. We record this serial at the start of every inspection, and a reconditioned unit is issued a new serial once the work is complete, so the box's history stays traceable from one owner to the next. That process is documented in full on the Adwest Verified page.
A genuine Adwest plate, read in full
The clearest way to show what a plate should look like is a real one. This is the data plate from a genuine steering box we stripped, inspected and reconditioned, documented in full on our 1988 Defender steering box case study.
- Manufacturer
- Adwest Eng. Ltd., England
- Type
- VAR-A-MATIC
- Part No
- GBE 26400 00
- Date code
- 8-D · manufactured 1988
We read that date code against a confirmed reference, not a general formula applied to every plate. Date codes and part numbering changed over the decades Adwest supplied these units, so we don't publish a universal decoding table here — it would be guesswork dressed up as fact. Send us a photograph of your plate and we will read it properly, against records, the same way we read this one.
When the plate is missing, worn, or doesn't match
Plates get overpainted, corrode, or come loose over nearly four decades of service. A missing or unreadable plate does not mean the unit isn't genuine, and it doesn't stop us identifying it. We can help identify Adwest steering boxes using casting numbers and markings on the housing itself, shaft dimensions and seal geometry, and application and production history.
This applies equally if the unit has been rebuilt, modified, or documented inconsistently over the years, which is common on older Defenders and restoration projects. We work from what is actually in front of us, not from assumptions about what should be there.
What we need from you to identify a unit
Photographs do most of the work. Before you contact us, it helps to have:
- A photograph of the data plate, if it's present and legible
- Photographs of any casting numbers or markings elsewhere on the housing
- Any steering gear number you already have, for example one printed on a service part or previous invoice
- The year of your vehicle, if known, and whether the box is still fitted, recently removed, or in storage
You don't need all of this to get started. Send what you have, and we'll tell you what, if anything, is missing.
What happens once your unit is identified
Once we've confirmed what you have, the next step is inspection. Every genuine Adwest steering box is stripped, inspected and assessed before any rebuild decision is made, and OE-spec reconditioning follows only where the unit is suitable. Inspection and diagnosis starts at £125.