Hey guys I’d like some advice about an oem factory steering setup I just bought used off eBay. My car is a standard steering 63 impala. I recently bought the whole power steering system (gear box,pump,valve,etc). Everything is used and the operational status is unknown. Originally I was going to rebuild each component but what if they work fine. How can I tell before installation. The components have surface rust but aren’t greasy and leaking so I guess that’s good. What would you guys do if you were in my shoes? Thanks
I think I'd replace the hoses as they look a bit suspect in the picture. I'm not sure that the steering gear is any different between standard and power steering. If the box you currently have is okay, I wouldn't replace it, just the rest of the linkage.
Its easy enough to install to check . Do you have the pump ? The lines should be replaced and the idler arm . The pump and mount bracket for your motor is important along with the correct pulleys and fan belt .
Any of those X frame car if you buy a power steering kit you will need to replace the radiator . the power steering is bigger and interferes with the radiator. So I would look at the slave cylinder and see if it can be rebuilt and get new hoses
This is an original gm power steering setup off a ‘60 impala . Why would the radiator need to be replaced? From my understanding standard gear boxes where different from PS ones
yup, a friend of mine just did this exact thing on his 59. the steering gears are a different ratio, go ahead and change it. I would change out the hoses and give it a try. did you get the pump and brackets and all the pulleys that are needed?
Yeah the hoses are trash. I do need a double groove crank pulley. It makes you wonder why would someone remove a part if there isn’t anything wrong with it. I recently bought a Muncie tranny that looked like hell and the guy didn’t know its working status. I was going to rebuild it before installing it but decided to roll the dice and see if it works. After cleaning it up i installed it and it runs great no issues. I’m hoping the same with this P/S system
If you do have the pump, rebuild it yourself using the $10 Sunsong or Edelmann kits with bushing. $150 rebuilt units from the local parts house always seem to have something wrong, have found vanes installed wrong more than a few times. Not sure if the $200 resto catalog pumps are any better. You'll need the pulley tool either way.
They usually throw out the power steering ram system and upgrade to a later Saginaw power steering box [which is better]
^^^^^^ did this on my 64. worked great but, then learned I needed a new radiator with a notch in it to allow the new steering box location and length.
Yeah thats why I wanted an original one so I wouldn’t have any fitment issues. Thanks for sharing that.
Make sure you use the pitman that matches the power steering center link [it should be slightly deeper to allow for the pindle valve assembly] If not the Pindle valve leans one direction. The reason a Saginaw box is better is purely because the Pindle valve [spool] is on the column so it is more accurate due to mechanical gearing [16:1 +] You can make power rams more stable with altered allignment specs and radial tyres.[you need to "soften" the predictability] You want as much caster as possible. Slight positive camber Slight toe-in If you use modern negative camber specs the car will dart all over the place [due to freeplay in the Pindle valve directly affecting the steering angles]
That is what I would do [but there is bit of engineering involved] You vulture the column and controller from a Prius Note : this doesn't quicken the steering ratio
The Jalopy Journal
