Technical Aluminum Vega steering box questions update: corvair box

Does anyone know anything about the Zigs aluminum Vega steering box? Weight, reliability, feel, etc? Thanks, Joel


http://www.zigsstreetrods.com/Pages/componts.html

 

Kinda looks like one of the Borgeson ones. Ask them who makes them and where. Same with the 'made for street rods' ones.

 

Looks good in the picture. I'm pretty sure they (Zigs) don't build them there so like X38 says, find out who manufacturers the box. If it is in fact Borgeson/ Mullins you're golden, if it's a Chinese knock-off steer clear............Did you catch the steer clear reference?

 

I think Summit sells Borgeson parts. Might want to compare prices before deciding where to order from.

 

If you're looking at a retro fit do be aware that the aluminium bodied version is bulkier than the cast iron original style, even though it picks up on mountings etc. I found this when looking to swap for a quicker steering ratio from an aluminium Flaming River box in my '32 - my sbc engine mount interfered with where the box wanted to be. It was on a finished, painted car so i wasn't going to be cutting the frame up, and couldn't achieve the same end with a longer pitman arm either. I used a Unisteer instead to great affect but that's a different story! The Flaming River box sat for many years and is now installed on another, current '32 project. I'm hoping it'll work well!

Chris

 

Thanks for the advice so far guys! The thing is I can't find any Borgeson or Flaming River aluminum Vega box listed online. Or any other manual aluminum box for that matter besides this one listed add zig's. Does anyone have a link to something?

 

joel you might also want to consider the 63 corvair steering box. the 63 is aluminum and has the short splined stub coming out of it. I put them in everything. they work great. the coupe has one in it. I don't reverse them.

 

Brian, that's a consideration. My dad has a 63 'vair among his junk that I could steal one out of. I was looking at the one in Hemi Squirrel s car, the mount is angled, so I'd have to re-do the mounting area somehow. Maybe a Vega would bolt right in place of my boat anchor 525. Does anyone know how much weight I would save switching from a cast-iron 525 box to an aluminum Vega or Corvair box?

 

I think for the price of the aluminum box the dollars per pound of weight savings will be high, and possibly the actual weight savings may be negligible. When you compare the physical size of the billet box to the cast iron Vega there is much more mass to the alloy box. Aluminum is 38% the weight of cast iron but engineering the billet box to be stout enough added a lot of aluminum. I wonder if you could ask Zips to weigh both steering boxes for you?
Going from a 525 to a Vega will be OK, the bolt pattern is the same, it is the length of the input shaft that is longer on the 525. @Happydaze mentions a valid point too, will the billet box physically fit where a cast Vega would and still clear your mounts, headers, etc?
I just remembered that I have an OEM Vega in my stash, weighed on the old bathroom scale it is 11 pounds. Not the most accurate scale, but good enough for comparison. Borgeson's are manufactured to the old Saginaw specs on the original machinery and tooling.
Aluminum Corvair? Might be OK but even BITD they were recommended for pretty lightweight, small block T buckets. Vega's are typically recommended in 2500 pound cars and the 525 for heavier ones and I imagine that is CYA speak required by the manufacturer's lawyers. I have an OEM Saginaw Vega in my coupe, the car is 2700# with 15 gallons of gas and me (200 #) in it. I have a later, long input shaft iron Corvair box but I never even considered it for my car.
Here's a link about the aluminum Vega box, scroll down.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/0803rc-steering-box-options/

 

Good info, thanks! I just received a response to my email from zips. They said they no longer carry the aluminum Vega box. I think nobody makes it anymore, because I can't find it anywhere online.

 

I just picked up an aluminum corvair box that will save 6 pounds over the iron Saginaw 525 box. It weighs 6 pounds. I think the 525 is 12 lbs.

 

Corvair curb weight lists at 2675 , gives you an idea of where it's appropriate to use a corvair steering box ...

 

Yes and most of the weight was at the rear of the car.

 

Actually , if you check , they were pretty even ... Oops 38% frt 62%rear , thought I'd seen different

 

My car is lighter than a corvair, with about 50-50 weight distribution, so the Corvair box should be OK. But still I plan to get another 100+ pounds out of it.

 

The 'vair does have the trunk in front tho. So it should have a design factor that allows at least a few hundred pounds extra on the front.

 

Hemi Joel your car won't have that much weight on the front with the wheels off the ground!

 

and you don't even need to steer, when the front wheels are off the ground!