Chuck Harmon

I thought a few of you might be interested in some of my pre-road test pictures of the power steering conversion nearing completion. I still have to install the remote reservoir and plumb the lines. But I am close to being done. I am extrmely pleased with the fit of the new steering box. It's great not to have to have a hydraulic cylinder or R&P system slung under the the front suspension. The power valves are within the box itself. The feel is very solid and quick. At least it is while sitting on the ground sitting still:lol: It does feel very tight, no slop whatsoever.

Chuck

Matt Gruber

:thumbs:
how many turns lock to lock?

turtlevette

is that a recirculating ball type unit?

Chuck Harmon

Matt,

It's only about 2.25 turns lock to lock. Much quicker than before. I think the former ratio was about 16:1 vs. 12:1 for the new box. Even though the ratio quoted for this box is 12:1, it is actually 12.7:1.

Turtlevette,

Yes, the box is worm gear & ball type steering. I have owned numerous cars with rack & pinion and worm & gear. I personally think R&P is over vaunted. It is a very simple design that works well, but the worm and ball works very well too. I think Worm & Ball has a greater smoothness due to its design. My ZO6 has R&P. But I don't think a driver could tell one for the other based on road feel alone.

Chuck

Shark Racer

Chuck- I hope you'll give me a chance to test out that new steering system one of these days. I may well accidentally find such a system on my car in the future.

-Steve

silverslashstreak

Chuck Its the best thing I've ever done to my 63, benn on for about three years and no problems. I don't understand why eveyone is so intent on putting racks on there cars when there is so many problems with them ona c2 c3 frame. SSS

Chuck Harmon

Silverslashstreak,


Your car is almost as great looking as your kids! I sure am looking forward to experiencing mine. I agree about the R&P bandwagon. Kind of reminds me of a story about an emperor and some new clothes.

Chuck


[Modified by Chuck Harmon, 12:16 AM 2/25/2004]

Matt Gruber

did the box come with a pitman arm?

fauxrs

Chuck..

Do you have a list of part numbers and items you had to replace or update.
My engine will be coming out of the car soon and this is something I would very much like to do while the engine is out.

Post here, PM or e-mail

thanks

gkull

Chuck that's a nice looking pump!:) does it use a remote res.? One thing that you might consider is a small oil cooler.

I used to go through pumps every year or so. The seals would go because of heat and they start dripping. Now I'm on the same pump for three years. I reduced the pump rpm with a smaller crank pulley, but wider sticky 17 inch tires and high rpm just ruins the pumps.

Do you have your movie ticket yet?


[Modified by gkull, 11:05 AM 2/25/2004]

EricU

What box is that? and what other parts did you need to use or modify?

Did you have any header clearance issues?

That is a one nice looking setup. I did not like what I heard about the P&P conversions out there, though some people swear by them.

Thanks, Eric.

Chuck Harmon

Matt,

I understand that Corvette Steering has now machined the steering box to allow you to use the original manual pitman arm.

Fauxrs,

I am using a new type II power steering pump. I wouldn't go that route if I had it to do over again. I still have a little fabrication to do. Get the original Corvette style pump with the attached reservoir. Call Tom at Corvettesteering.com. A great guy with a wealth of knowledge.

Chuck

markdtn

Is that a late Grand Cherokee box? I have heard about this swap. Looks great. If you don't have a reservoir yet, GM uses them on a wide variety of vehicles-late 80s 2.8 cavalier, astro van (at least 2 styles), some full-sized vans, C4 Vette (3 styles), 92-6 Caprice/SS, LT1 Camaro?, big-block bus/truck, etc.

70 LS1

Chuck,

I am very interested in this as well. My experience with older power steering setups is they assist too much and don't give you any feel for the road. How does this feel when you drive it?

Was this a conversion from manual steering to power or an upgrade to the stock power system. How much did it cost?



[Modified by 70 LS1, 9:47 AM 2/25/2004]

fauxrs

Chuck
I was more interested in which box you are using as opposed to the pump. I've often thought of going to a type II pump, because of what i've seen in other cars at shows....I appreciate your candid opinionof that....

Is the box from Corvette Steering? if so which box is it? is there a P/N?


[Modified by fauxrs, 2:19 PM 2/25/2004]

71roadster

I am using the same box with the stock corvette pump. I find that there is too much flow out of the stock pump (too much assist - tends to squeal) and have an adjustable flow diverter that I will be installing soon and hope some day to install a speed sensitive system. Interesting that the kit came with a straight pitman arm. I thought they were using reworked stockers with the dogleg to clear the frame. Interesting also that they use a borgeson style joint to connect to the steering shaft. Speaks highly of the engineering for the box alignment. I am using a rag joint which allows for a little mis-alignment.

I am curious about the bolts used to secure the pump to the frame. Are they long grade 5 UNF carriage bolts like the stockers or are they something else. I have been looking for some UNF Grade 5 carriage bolts a little longer than the stock ones and have not found anything.

Chris

Chuck Harmon

I could probably dig up the part number of the unit I got from Corvette Steering, but it would be much smarter to simply call Tom and have him tell you what you need. Also, as I pointed out above, they have changed the box so that you can now use your original pitman arm. Part number may have changed.

I used the universal joint supplied instead of the stock rag joint (see pix #6). Once upon a time, I was one of the most outspoken advocates of manual steering over power steering because of the importance of road feel. I still feel that way if I were to take out a TR6 for a couple quick laps. But driving a much heavier car like the C3 using new tires with more grip than was ever dreamed possible with street tires, it makes for more work than fun. Years ago when I drove my heavy, over assisted V12 XJS, I found that I quickly developed a sensitivity to the steering and could still accurately feel what the tires were doing while I was torturing them.

I still haven't driven the car yet. It's driving me nuts! I did finally finishing my wiring project on the car.

Still to be done: Minor drilling and welding to add two more bolts to my removable crossmember modifiction, add more shims to my differential clutch pack, correct minor leak with brake caliper, re-assemble interior pieces, clean and install spark plugs, add coolant, install hood. Last but not least ... Notify neighbors that the shaking is not an earthquake!

GKULL, my tickets are purchased for Friday afternoon @ 4:45 :cheers:

Chuck

motown 71

Pardon my ignorance please, do you have a link or possibly a # for this company. I've never heard of them but am highly interested in this mod.
How many hrs do ya have in this ? Thanks !!

Dave

442olds

I have the Corvette Steering (http://www.corvettesteering.com) conversion kit on my car as well. Have a little over 1000 miles on it so far. I have some pictures of the finished set up but they are on a computer at home. I used a late model 454 powersteering pump/alt bracket like you would see in the 454SS trucks. I used the stock vette pump but put a delta 88 reservior around it to work with my acc. bracket. I also added a hydraboost from an astro van from the junkyard and converted an aluminum Ford master cylinder (I know its a ford but it was aluminum and sits level, try and find a gm master that isn't at an incline that's almimnum). It works great. I think I snagged the master off an F-150. I would have gone with a rack but the expense and the flimsy brackets in the steeroids kits really didn't appeal to me.

I highly reccomend the Corvette Steering kit, it fits well and can be installed with very little effort. The clearance on a big block with 2.125" Stahl side pipe headers is a tight. i did have to tune my pipes to fit but I would have had to do that with the stock steering box too. So i didn't think it was that.

One word of advice though. Something I wasn't informed of before I started the install. The steering shaft in the column must be collapsed to get the borgenson steering u-joint to fit. I wasn't informed of this until after I called to ask why a kit that is supposed to fit doesn't.

I'll post some pictures later....

motown 71

Thanks for the additional info 442, I'll be checking out the link for ordering tonight !!
:cheers: