gbarmore

Got my Borgeson steering box installed today on my 1980. It was a relatively painless process until I got to the hoses. Routing them is not that big a deal, the problem I have is the bronze bushings that came with it to adapt to the flared hoses. The instructions state that they are provided for the steering box to adapt for the flared hose ends. I was able to get the high pressure hose installed by dropping one of the 5 included bushings into the inlet in the box, easy... Then I tried to do the same with the low pressure inlet and the bushing was too big to drop in all the way making it impossible to get the hose screwed into the box. I ended up turning the bushing down on my homemade "lathe" so that it would fit. Hopefully it seals. Anyone ever have this issue??

Finally, I went to install the high pressure line to the PS pump and no dice. I had O-Ring hoses on the original lines so I figured I needed to install a bushing in the pump as I did for the Steering box. Again, the bushings were too big around to fit so I turned one of them down which allowed it to fit width-wise, but then it was too tall to allow me to get the hose tightened into the pump more than one turn.

Pics show original PS hose, the bushing, etc. Am I missing something?

Original Hose


Pump before bushing


Pump after bushing


Any help is appreciated!

David Mc

It looks like that line should thread into the pump with no adapter

qwank

I had to tap my bushings in. they fit pretty tight.

gbarmore

That hose in the picture is the original, the one that came with the Borgeson box is a simple flared hose without the o-ring assembly.

gbarmore

I did try to tap the bushings in but there was no way they were going to fit. I suppose it's possible that I got the wrong ones. I'll contact Borgeson. Thanks for the input Qwank.

samdjr74

I'm interested in hearing about the outcome as well. I'm going to order my Borgeson on Friday so I want to make sure I'm aware of any issues and work arounds.

gbarmore

I called Borgeson today and they told me that the bushing bores in both the steering box and the steering pumps can vary enough to require some "polishing". I dont have a lathe so slid the bushing over a drill bit and held it in place with some automotive tape then used a very sharp chisel to shave off just enough material to get it to fit. Worked remarkably well but I still have the issue with the power steering pump so going to have to take a closer look at what to do there. Your bushings may well fit just fine, I guess I got "lucky" and got undersized bores.

samdjr74

Thanks for the update. I heard a few folks had issues with those bushings. I also heard you really need to make those connections tight, I think someone even said they thought the line was going to snap with how tight they had to make it.

I'm replacing my pump as well so hopefully everything will work out ok. I just put on a new pump but I had a major leak of PS fluid and I may have damaged the pump. for $50 to replace it, why take a chance.

Any other surprises so far with the installation, any advice you could share that helped?

David Mc

Greg, can I barge in on your thread and ask a question?

How many grooves in your crank pulley? I want to do a manual to Borgeson conversion and the kit has a PS pump and pulley but no belt or crank pulley. My '72 has two groove pulleys. The inside groove is the alternator and the outside groove is the A/C compressor.

gbarmore

Hey David, I have a 3 groove aftermarket aluminum pulley that I got from Skip White performance when I purchased my 383. Wish I could help with your question but not having a '72 I can't really comment on your set-up and what would / wouldn't work. There are probably plenty of folks here on the form with 72's that could help however.

mikep3

I had to modify the brass adaptors that go in the steering box. I mounted them on a long screw and used a drill and file till they would fit in the holes of the box.
The pump you show is not like my standard GM pump set up for the double flare hose end which should not need a brass adaptor. Can you show the high pressure hose end that came with the kit?
My 78 had two pulleys on the crank, one closest to the engine had two groves, alt and ac. the second pulley had one grove for the ps pump.

gbarmore

These are the hoses that came with the kit.....



Maybe I don't need the brass bushing in the pump but it does not have a built-in 'crown' in the seat for the flare and that just seems wrong....... But then again, if you look at my first pic above of the original hose, it pretty much just clamps down against the steel seat of the pump too.

Ranger24

Good thread for those of us who have the box on the assembly line. How many brass bushings came with your kit? I received only two and was scratching my head over what those were for so thanks for posting this (I still need to read the instructions).

gbarmore

I actually received 5 brass bushings with my kit. There were 3 of them zip-tied to the hoses which you can see in the pic above, and 2 additional bushings zip-tied to the pump. Not sure why 5 as they are intended for the 2 ports in the pump and presumably the outlet port on the PS pump.

Still wondering if the pump actually requires a bushing or not. Anyone out there with experience on this??

mikep3

Same here, 3 in a bag and two zip tied to the hoses. They only go in the steering box ports for the double flare hose ends.
I would send a picture of the pump to Borgeson or Jim Sera?? And have them advise, but to me your pump port don't look like mine.

gbarmore

Here's a good look at the PS pump port illustrating where the hose end flare seats without a bushing in. The next picture shows the bushing in the port and although it's hard to tell in the pic, it makes it impossible to get more than 1 1/2 turns engagement from the hose end and I am not comfortable with that. The big question for me is, is the bushing even required for the pump port or can I expect it to seal just fine without it?

Pump port.....


With bushing in.....


Thanks for any input!

samdjr74

Is the flare on the stock hose the same degree as the new hose?

gbarmore

Nope... Loosk like the Borgeson is single and original was double?? The large flare on the original appears to seat in the same area on the pump port as the Borgeson does, but they are definitely different styles of flares.

Borgeson....


Original.....

David Mc

IT appears your original setup uses the o-ring for a seal not a tapered seat. If it was me, I'd probably have the hose re-done with the o-ring style end to fit your pump.

Have you threaded the Borgeson hose into the fitting? I thought GM went to metric threads when they converted to the o-ring style.

samdjr74

Interesting, what does Borgeson have to say about it?