LouieM

The special price in Steeroids make it hard to resist. I'd like to test drive a C2 or C3 here in the San Francisco Bay area before I make the plunge, though. I could also drive over to the Central Valley or even southern California. The system sounds great, but I really do need to drive a car so equipped before spending a grand plus install time. The most antiquated feature of my stock 67 is the steering; I recently removed the power steering and went to manual, and enjoy the difference --- no wander on the highway, plus having at least some road feel --- but am not thrilled at how heavy the steering is around town; yes, the steering links were repositioned on the tie rods and the alignment were redone. Having sticky Yokohama AVS 215/65/15 tires probably makes the steering heavier than having original bias ply tires, but I'm sure not going back to those junkers.

Anyone know if rebuilding the stock steering box can significantly lighten the steering. Maybe having 37-year-old parts is part of the problem?


Anyone have personal experience with Steeroids on a C2 or C3? Worth the cost?

kellsdad

Barry Bonds?

LouieM

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I was gonna be insulted that you chose a baseball player over governor-elect Ahhnold, but our new main man's really from LA. Bonds is still bulking up to Ahhnold's size to run for guv in 2008! :cheers:

Cris

Don't know about steeroids, but I have been looking at another option - the replacement steering box that Flaming River makes. I am pretty sure it is a higher ratio than the stock box so it probably would not be a good candidate for manual steering.

63bruce

Hi Louie, I did install the Steeroids on my 63 SWC. Am I happy? Not sure. The rack does not fit with the SHP oil pan, the rubber boots are jammed up against the pan and will wear out in a few miles. So I changed the pan for an aftermarket. Then, the bolts on the rack end of the tie rod links hit the control arms well before full lock. The guys at Speed Direct were helpful and courteous, but I haven't completely sorted this out yet. Let's just say i love the idea, but the reality hasn't matched up. I know it will be great, once all the interference issues are done as the feel and performance are excellent

LouieM

Bruce, Thanks a million for sharing you experience. The problems you mention are surprising, since they are such obvious ones and should have been avoided by proper design and testing by Speed Direct. The magazine articles and web sites that describe installing Steeroids don't mention your problems at all. My 67 327/350 has a stock SHP oil pan, and I wouldn't be happy replacing it with an aftermarket one. Steeroids just went down a notch or two on my possible-future-mod list. I did send an email to Speed Direct asking for a referral to a Steeroid-ed C2 in the SF Bay area, but have not heard from them so far.

Cris, The Flaming River box is quite expensive for just being a simple old steering box, as I see it. You're right, a faster-ratio box is not what I want for my manual steering. FYI there is a well-illustrated, well-written how-to article on rebuilding 63-82 steering boxes at:
http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2001...ing/steer1.asp

A Corvette-only mechanic I know would charge $300 for this job. In my case, I would probably attempt this rebuild before buying a new box. Part (most?) of my 67's hard steering might just be worn-out parts.

One of the Corvette magazines promised many months ago to have an article on adapting real power steering (as opposed to the 63-82 add-on power-assisted type) from the 80s or 90s (I think) to our cars, but has not come through that I know of. Anyone who knows of such an article or conversion please let me know!

My search for modern, unheavy steering continues........

Louie

LouieM

I forgot to mention that the 2002 Zip catalog lists a 63-82 steering-box rebuild kit for $79 and offers a rebuilding service for $190 and also has ready-to-ship rebuilt boxes on hand for the same price. Bound to be more expensive in 2003, the vendor vultures never miss a chance to up prices as a service to us true believers.

BayRay

LouieM,

Don't know if this is what you are looking for but here is a website that might help you out.
http://www.corvettesteering.com/55-57%20chevy.htm

BayRay

LouieM

BayRay,
I did once find these guys but later lost all my web bookmarks so forgot about them. I'm not really sure what they are selling -- maybe internally valved power steering boxes that I mentioned earlier? Anyhow thanks for the referral. If I find out what they are selling and it sounds interesting I'll post a note about it.

Louie

hogbrains

Try this. It's a great solution.
http://www.corvettesteering.com/55-57%20chevy.htm :hurray:

LouieM

Hogbrains,
That's the site I looked earlier today. Sounds interesting. Is this simply a late model GM internally valved power steering box that adapts to a Vette? The web site is not all that clear about what they're selling.

Have you or any other Vette owner used this setup? Does it have positive steering feel, without feeling too light and without being vague? I'm looking for some sort of power or non-power steering that avoids the slop and vagueness of the original 63-82 Vette PS.

Louie

Speed Direct

LouieM, in all fairness let me state our side of the fitment issue. I will not deny that we have encountered a few issues such as what Bruce has described. They are, however, the exception. What we are finding is that the build tolerance on Corvettes leaves much to be desired. We have found variations to be as much as 3/4" as to where the suspension is located on the frame relative to the steering. This has nothing to do with proper design and testing of our system and has everything to do with the lack of quality control on the part of GM. We find these variations on the same year cars so it is not an issue of year-to-year design changes with the Corvette. We would have to physically measure every single car in order to avoid such situations.

With that said, we are more than willing to help our customers solve any unforeseen problems that arise during installation. A large majority of our customers have trouble free installations and it seems that when one encounters a problem it is typically a big one. That indicates that the car is significantly different from the others. I feel that our system is the best upgrade available with regard to steering feel, responsiveness and non-intrusive installation.

bcwaller

Doug Dayson (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerouser?cmd=viewprofile&id=34022) from the C3 area has done the install and is very happy with it, and he is in your area. Send him a message and I'm sure he'll tell you all about the install. I think he has pictures of the install and modifications that they made online, but I'm not sure where they are.

LouieM

bcwaller-thanks for the referral. I'll get in touch and hopefully see and get to drive a steeroids-equipped car.

SpeedDirect- Thanks for letting me/us know the source of the fitment problems. Sorry if I came down too hard on your product without good reason. I know that midyear bodies can be assymetical with reference to the frame, but I did not know that suspension pieces(!) suffered from the same quality control problems.

Steeroids does seem to be the best overall fix for 60s steering technology. Your comments raise two questions:

1. Are there suspension/frame/steering component measurements I can make on my 67 to make sure that Steeroids will not interfere with anything?

2. If, in spite of your product's quality and my car's front undercarriage dimensions, the Steeroids unit simply does not fit and operate as designed without interfering with the pan, frame, steering components, etc., how will you resolve this problem? If the product won't fit, then I would expect a refund, perhaps less a restocking fee of 10-15%. I'd like to learn how you've handled such a situation in the past.

Other issues may come to mind, but these are the two I have for now.

Again, I apologize for criticizing your product without being informed of both sides of the issue.

Louie

Speed Direct

LouieM, not a problem. I know you are just trying to get enough information to make an informed decision. I don't have a problem with that at all. I also appreciate our customer's comments because I am confident that even if they have encountered a problem we have tried our best to fix the issue. In fact it is better that you hear from customers because that gives us more credibility.

To answer your questions,
1. At the moment there aren't any measurements that can be taken. Because this has happened only a few times we don't have much data as to the reason for each instance.

2. In the past we have been able to resolve problems without having the product returned. We have identified the areas of concern via phone conversations and e-mail/digital pictures. Then we offer solutions. Many times the solutions can be quite simple. Such as changing the order of assembly of a washer/nut/bolt or simply removing a washer. We do have a refund policy with a restocking fee.

LouieM

SpeedDirect,
Thanks for the answers. I've emailed someone locally who has installed your system and hope to see how it steers within a couple of days.

For those interested, the January 2003 issue of Corvette Fever has a 5-page article on installing Steeroids on a '72. Their review was favorable, though they mentioned it took them two days to convert to the Steeroids, not the 3 hours stated in the ads. There were some minor fitment issues, and Speed Direct was responsive when a longer-than-supplied hose was needed for that particular install.

So far, so good. If I get to drive a Steeroids-equipped Vette (Barry Bonds'?) and approve of it, I'll become a customer.

Louie

silverslashstreak

I bought a box from Corvette steering about 2 years ago before they were making kits to install the box. The box a very nice box with a long pitman shaft so it works very nice on rear steer cars like our 63 to 82 frames. It is 2.25 turns lock to lock and has great feel. It fits small block cars with or without headers. We have one on my 63 and my sons 73 and in the over 30 years I have been working on and driving my 63 it is the single best improvement i have ever done to the car. I think that now the people at corvette steering have a complete kit available now with rag joint mounts and pitman arm conversion. You might give them a call and check it out. I have put about 20000 miles on mine and have had no trouble. Good luck

LouieM

bcwaller,
Thanks for the ref to Doug Dayson. We talked a while and he's a super guy. I'll get to drive his Steeroided C3 tomorrow morning; he lives only 6 or 7 miles from me.

silverslashstreak,
Wonderful to get your input, you're the first to relate experience with the Corvette Steering setup. 2.25 turns lock to lock sounds super. I'd like to hear your opinion of this system in detail. I'll be glad to call you tonight or tomorrow if you let me know when calling would be OK --- and if you send me your phone number! Let me know when to call, if this is OK by you, by sending me an email to: lmarin4@earthlink.net

This is getting interesting!

Louie :cheers:

LouieM

I called the Corvette Steering folks and talked to Tom Reina, one of the two(?) principals. They invented their setup because they too were unhappy with 60s power steering on otherwise fun-to-drive C2s and C3s. Their $675 setup includes a 2000-vintage GM power steering box and hoses that go to the stock C2/s PS pump, plus a bracket if needed. The existing steering links on the car stay the same, including the Pitman arm, though of course you don't need the PS ram. It's basically a bolt-on process EXCEPT that you must shorten the steering column by 2.5 inches. You don't cut the column (which would nix the setup for me), but you must remove the steering column and adjust it so that it is 2.5" shorter (at this point I lapse from semi-ignorance to complete ignorance, since I've never taken a steering column apart and don't know how it adjusts for length; the shop manual and AIM are not helpful for me). Shortening this shaft is particularly delicate on 67s, I'm told, because of the collapsible column introduced that year. Once shortened, the column goes back in the car and the new PS box hooks right up. The new setup does not hang down any lower than the factory steering box and linkage. He says that the new box is adjusted for a medium or slightly harder feel, in contrast to the feather-light resistance of the 60s factory PS. As already noted by silverslashstreak, the steering is 2.25 turns lock to lock. He referred me to two people in my area who have some experience with this setup on their cars. Tom seems to be friends with all the top Corvette shop owners/mechanics in my part of Nor Cal and urged me to contact them to inquire about his reputation.

I have to ask locally about this steering shaft-shortening operation before I can be more interested, but the basic idea of a modern PS box sounds good.

silverslashstreak -- what can you tell us about shortening the steering column shaft 2.5" on your 63 and your son's 73? How in heck do you accomplish it?