I was wanting to put a rack-n-pinion unit in my 52 chevy sedan. the OG steering is slopy and getting worse since i installed power disc brakes. Im thinking there has to be a kit or someone who has tried this before. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
other than MII I have not seen anything. My dad's had a delivery for several years and at one time we researched everything out there. We ended up with Corvette.
Hey MarkX, Butch's Rod Shop makes a rack and pinion kit for the 49-54 Chevy using stock suspension. I installed one on my 50 Fleetline and was amazed at the difference it made. I couldn't deal with the sloppy stock steering that was no doubt worn out after 50 years of service. The BRS kit isn't cheap and doesn't include the rack, hoses or pump. It took me a while to figure it all out but I mounted a regular Chevy small block pump up near the manifold and thermostat housing and I run one belt. This is all gonna change however as I want ro run the power steering pump/generator combo found on mid 50's Chevy power steering set-ups. It's kind of long and won't clear my Fenton headers so I'm using a 54 Corvette exhaust manifold (factory split) instead. The rack is a 90 Cavalier and relatively cheap. The actual kit is pretty straight forward to install but I'm not sure if BRS is even around anymore. If I had to do it again I think I'd try and find a 54 Chev factory power steering set-up or spring for the whole Mustang 2 deal. It's probably cheaper in the long run if you end up rebuilding your stock suspension. Hope this helps!
Butch's Rod Shop changes ownership and operates under a new name,Death Row... Somethingorother. Check the archives.
MarkX- Take a look at Heidt's website to learn a lot about front suspension before you do this. The wrong setup...even if it's just a little off...will cause major problems. Basically, if you hit a pothole or bump in the road, you'll be headed out across a field before you knew what happened. Bad stuff. That's what they call "bumpsteer". You might have more luck finding a regular worm-and-sector box that could be adapted while maintaining the GM geometry of the front end. Also, I think The Filling Station rebuilds those stock boxes. Links: http://www.heidts.com/heisinfo.htm http://www.fillingstation.com/ btw- good to meet you and the others the other nite!
I just checked The Filling Station and Chevs of the 40s, and they both have rebuild kits listed for the stock steering box on 49-54 cars. It'd be worth lookin' into....
Noooooooooooooo......don't even waste another minute on that old 52 steering box..there's a bolt-on fix for your car if you can tolerate manual steering. The 49-52 chevy steering gear has 2 shafts in it and both of 'em are supported by bronze bushings...a really bad idea. When the bushings wear, the shafts move side to side in them instead of twisting like they should. If they only rode in a good, quality tapered roller bearings, all that side-to-side movement of the sector shaft and pitman arm shaft would be gone. Well Bucko, you're in luck. In 1953, chevy went to roller bearings in their steering boxes and they still bolt up the same as 49-52 boxes. Not sure about column and shaft length differences but I gotta believe it's also the same or real close. I let my 50 chevy sedan delivery steer me all the way to the west coast and back with the worn-out original box. Even with new radial tires, it was a white knuckle ride with swerving and "hunting" all over the road, combined with constant corrective movements...man! I was completely worn out when I got back to Omaha!! I snagged the steering box outa a 53 sedan and bolted it up to my 50 chevy...made a whole different car out of it. The new steering is light and easy with the rollers in the steering box. I cut my steering shaft down low, slid a seal down the stub shaft into the top of the steering box and welded a rag-joint coupler on the original shaft. I shortened an 80 chevy van non-tilt column to work with a deep dish steering wheel. Doesn't it bug you to have that damn 52 steering wheel right in your face with it's too-long column and shaft? I hated that! The shortened van column put the wheel right where I wanted it and the van column was almost the same diameter as the original...meant I was able to file the original column drop a little and re-use it. The new column looked original but came with modern turn signals and 4 way flashers. I filled the shifter hole after filing it flush...looked almost stock... Not telling what to do but it worked for me..... BTW, the old 50 steering box filled a stump-hole in my front yard...looks much better there.
Rocky- the kit I saw on Chevs of the 40s looked like it had roller bearings. Could they be retrofit into the 49-52 box? (I put an MII in my car early on...before there were any "kits" to do so...so I never learned much about the original setups, except that I didn't like it!)
I don't know....didn't measure anything because I had access to a complete, cherry 53-54 box but the 49-52 shaft will also wear into the old bushings, rendering it useless for bushings or bearings...
I dont now if you have saab´s over there but i think u have! go and find one from a 900 saab it is almost bult on,i have one on my 51 and the only thing i did fabricate was bracket´s to hold it in place,used a power pump from a chevy(have a small block)get shore that you get the connecting rod also,drill a little bigger hole in the rod and weld it to the stock column.
Hi Mark Here is what i did to get away from the half turn of free play on my 50 olds with 150000 miles on the car. New kingpins first, then measured distance between steering arms, and between lower a arm shafts. Went to bone yard and started measuring racks. Found a 88 ciera was just 1.7 inches wider on front tread than my 50. The rods were same length as lower arm on the 50, mounted rack to frame level and same plane as lower a-arm bushing. Had to cut and shorten steering arms on both sides to half there length to get turning radis to turn as tight as old box would. With rack in right plane, level and in same location as 50 steering links was, I have zero bump steer. Old GM pump works great with power rack. I have Toro column and u joint to rack. Gotta keep all olds you know.Bottom line, handles like a slot car, will go where you want and no slop, half as many turns lock to lock. Less than a 100.00 bucks if you can fab and weld.
Thanks for all the Info guys ....... I think im gonna try this and I'll keep you all posted!.... so Im off to the bone yard to search for that perfect donor!...... if you have any more info you can PM me Thanks again!!!
I wonder if an early 80s X-car rack would work? Only because I have one I drove for a winter beater a while ago, an '84 Skylark. I also have three unknown NOS Mopar racks sitting in the garage I wish I could ID and do something with.
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