morningstar

I have a 1964 vette (coupe) with no power steering or power brakes.
The original car had a 327/250 hp motor. I am replacing it with a 327/ 365 motor (deeper oil pan) it appears the deeper pan will interfere with the steering dampner. How is this resolved? I don not want to remove the dampner or use a shallow pan. What was the set up of the original 327/365 hp motors.
Please help Thanks Steve

JohnZ

Just remove the steering damper - 365's came without them.

cam30era

I agree with JohnZ. My '65 L76 does not have a steering damper.

RoadKing96

There is no steering dampener on the 365hp. The bigger oil pan GM used on them did NOT allow the room for one.

RK

Mrbill_3

Is no the front end loose when driving with out the damper. I know that my 64 coupe did not have a damper installed when I bough her, She floated all over the road, then installed the sreering damper, made a difference driving.

morningstar

Thats what I am concerned about. Is there a way to keep the dampner? Perhaps extend it down an inch or two??

cam30era

There is no looseness, nor instability in my '65 L76. Steering and handling are great, especially for a 47 year old car.

LB66383

My '66 had no damper on it when I got it (and no power steering). When I rebuilt the suspension, I put a damper on it, and noticed no difference in the steering/performance.

JohnZ

There is nothing to be concerned about - 40% of production was big-blocks, and NONE of them had a steering damper. If it was that important, they wouldn't have built all the 365 and 375hp cars without them; they cancelled it completely for '68 and never used it again, with exactly the same chassis.

Mrbill_3

What I did on my 64 coupe. was fabricate a longer bracket for the drag link and put spacers between the frame and the bracket.

MiguelsC2

I had the same situation with my 63. I added the dampner during my restoration.Mine never had one.

I didn't drive it much before the resto. So I can't attest to it's effectiveness.

But after much insistance in the past from JohnZ, that it's a needless item. I will go with that.