Steering Box & Priming Yesterday

The steering box was checked and stripped a side shim was removed to reduce some play, the box however was empty of oil - no lubrication for how long?? We now need another top shim to remove some load of the top bearing as its 'grinding' a little too much at the moment. After a good few hours of cleaning and rust removal we got the 1st coat of primer on most of the front axle parts and also the steering box.