The Dude

So, once I remove all the PS components from my '76, what is the steering linkage part that replaces that junk called?

Motor City Vette

Not sure I can help you with the linkage information, but I was curious why you no longer would want PS? My car doesn't have PS and there are definitely times when I wished I had it. Especially during slow cruises or events/car shows that require you to park in some small tight spaces. After cranking on the wheel for a while to park at car shows, it gets to be a real drag.

LeAnn82Collector

The center link.I have a manual steering one from a 70 that I did a conversion to PS on for a friend. I can ask him how much he wants for it.

Greg

sb69coupe

I sent you an IM. I have been considering adding power steering to my '69. I just rebuilt the center link when I did the front suspension. Perhaps I could swap you my manual center link and some $$$ for your power steering setup???

Shannon

The Dude

No street driving anymore for mine. The State of Kalifornia suggested this to me since it has the "wrong" engine in it. (Those guys at the "Test Only" stations are thorough, man.)

sb69coupe, I IM-ed you back. It would be easier if you were in So. Cal. I don't know how favorably the USPS, UPS or FedEx would look upon a box that's probably going to drop PS fluid no matter how thoroughly the components are drained prior to packing.

LeAnn82, thanks, that would be cool if you'd check. I'd pop that in and then have a PS setup to "donate" or sell to somebody.


[Modified by The Dude, 12:55 PM 4/13/2004]

Fevre

They might not like it but they deliver them, I bought a serp set up from an F-body and the box was half soaked with PS fluid when I got.

Avette4me

You can take a heavy guage plastic and make a sealed "bag" by holding two boards on the open ends and burning them together. :cheers:

LeAnn82Collector

Actually this is Greg, your racing buddy at Carlsbad from 5 years ago. I'll let you know about the link. He also has the manual pittman arm, but you can use your PS one unless you're trying to sell your PS setup.

The Dude

Hey, man. HTF areya? I don't really care about selling the PS setup. It'd be nice if I could do that or just give it to somebody so I could have done with it. that'll take care of getting rid of every accessory belt on my engine except the alternator. What would the difference be, manual pitman arm vs. PS pittman arm? Different lengths or something?

joeveto

I went for over two years without power steering, and it really sucked. At speed, it's fine. But when you're going slow. Sheesh. It blows.

bence13_33

The Dude:
I too hate the feel of the factory power steering. I also don't like the idea of the power steering belt robbing me of 5-10 horsepower. I just got rid of the power steering pump and looped the line. Feels just like rack & pinion steering at no additional cost. Most people will tell you not to do this, but I see no real disadvantage to doing this and I've been running it like this for 2 years and love the feel of it while driving. Give it a try and see what you think, you may be surprised. You can use one of the lines off of the power steering pump to loop it. I looped it to keep moisture out of everything.

Stoge

You probably need to look into getting a heavy duty rag joint.

Paul Borowski

I love the manual steering-I just consider it a good workout for the arms :lolg:

Jim Shea

Stoge,
The flexible coupling (rag joint) in the C3 Corvette is a heavy duty part. As long as you purchase a OEM part from GM dealers or from any number of the Corvette suppliers, you will have a heavy duty unit.

The C3 Corvette flexible couplings were all the same regardless if you had power steering or not. The thing to shy away from are the "kits" that are available to rebuild the flexible coupling assembly. Stay away from them like the plague!

Jim Shea

BTW, the only time your power steering pump sucks 10 horsepower from your engine is when you are at full steering lock and your pump is in pressure relief. When you are driving straight down the road, the pump is recirculating fluid and the pump is only consuming 1/4 ot 1/2 horsepower.

bence13_33

Jim Shea:
I can remember Jim (427hotrod) telling me on his old 1st Gen Camaro that he used to drag race, he would pull the power steering belt before going to the track. He said that it did show a difference on timeslips(I can't remember how much and I don't want to misquote him). In drag racing it's a bunch of minor things that most people overlook that means the difference between winning and losing. For instance, I beat a Camaro by .0588 to the finish line and a Monte Carlo by .0249.

The Dude

Loop it, huh? Hmmmm. I might try removing the belt completely on the second run the next time I go to the track to see if there are any gains there. Primary concern is excess weight. Going manual ought to save me around 15-20 pounds, I would think.

How's your BBC orange hot rod running?

bence13_33

The Dude:
It's not. Hehe. The motor is out of the car, I'm going to make some alterations to it for this upcoming racing season. To really see if there is a difference you need a car that runs consistant and you need to have a solid baseline for what the car runs and then make the change. There is horsepower being tied up there, how much I don't know. It could be .05 down the 1/4 mile it could be .01 . My point is that I like the way that the steering feels without the power steering and I got rid of some clutter from the engine bay while also shaving some weight and freeing up some horsepower (however minute it may seem).