ganshert

I recently fitted the Borgeson kit to my 65. It works great and I’m glad I did it but it has several issues.

o-ring to flare adapters at the steering box are a crappy band aid solution and they leak
hoses are too long making it look sloppy
frame flex at full lock - aftermarket bracket available
pump reservoir return fitting clocked down (6 o’clock) and needs to be more like 11 o’clock pointing up to the drivers side
pulley is double groove cast big block pulley that only works for a subset of what they say the kit is supposed to work with

So, in addition to the kit I had to...
buy a crank pulley
buy a pump pulley
buy a frame stiffener bracket
make hoses that fit
weld a 6AN bung on the pump reservoir
clean up everything from the leaky hoses

Other than that it fit great and performs awesome.

And nobody likes a thread without pics so here is my car and the hoses I made.

65air_coupe

Was your car manual or power steering before installing this? If power, what was your justification for making the change and are you happy with your decision?

ganshert

manual

65air_coupe

Thanks, and nice job on those hoses!

hedgehead

Except for pulleys to fit the shp motor, mine fit fine out of the box. I did add the flex bracket. Great product.

Avispa

Thanks for this post. It's good stuff to consider whether to install the kit and how. It's disappointing that Borgeson doesn't just flat recommend the frame bracket. It should be apparent just from how the box works that the bracket is always needed; they should just say so. FWIW, if that's the pump that comes with the kit, the reservoir is the wrong one for a BB car. There are a couple of relatively recent threads on the subject of BB PS pumps (1Cerberus4u started one of them). The one in your pic is the so-called "canned ham" reservoir. It won't fit well on a BB car. The return hose clocking is just the icing on that moldy cake.

Factoid

Borgeson offers several options for the kit. One is just the box and rag joint which I think is a better option if you have a big block or (like me) are building a non-stock engine with aftermarket components and front accessory brackets. The Ridetech reinforcement bracket should be considered mandatory. Also, in researching sources I found that Amazon not only had the best prices, but free shipping with next day delivery.

You did a great job on the hose build and routing. Exactly what I have planned for my build. Great thread!

ganshert

Yes that is the pump and reservoir that came with the kit. It isn't right for a 65 either but on my car it's just a cosmetic difference, I didn't know that it didn't fit well on the BB cars. Good to know.

Also worth mentioning that you can buy the correct reservoir and fit it to the pump you get in the kit.

ganshert

good point, the kit I got was part number 999016

and yes on the Ridetech bracket, even with the bracket I was surprised how much the box moves at steering lock! It's enough that I now avoid full lock.

daz_au

I got my kit a while ago and I am getting ready to install it. I just got the one with the box, rag joint and hoses.... are the o'ring adapters just the little brass rings in the hose kit ?

What is actually required to make decent hoses then, some o'ring to AN adapters, then AN PS fittings and hose ? I have zero experience with power steering plumbing, have no idea what kind of fittings the box and pump have..... was hoping the hose kit that came with the box would just work.....

hedgehead

My hoses are just fine and fit perfect.

daz_au

This is not the first post I have seen saying the hose fittings are not correct for the box and they leak.....

Here is one on the C3 forum :

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...eson-leak.html

Does seem silly to provide a hose with a different fitting to the one the box was designed to use.... people seem to get it to work, but why not supply the hose with an o'ring fitting ?

ganshert

Yes, the little brass fittings convert the o-ring hole in the box to a flare fitting. No matter what I did they both weeped fluid. You can always install the hoses and adapters first to see if they work for you. Just don't do it on your new shop floor

I needed

one M18x1.5 o-ring to 6AN adapter for the box input
one M16x1.5 o-ring to 6AN adapter for the box output
one 5/8-18 inverted flare to 6AN adapter for the pump output
one 6AN weld on bung for the pump return
three feet of 6AN PTFE hose, my hoses ended up a little over a foot each
four steel 6AN 90 degree elbows, these are specific to PTFE tubing with an olive that wedges the tubing to the fitting.

I'm not sure all Borgeson boxes are the same as far as the fittings go. The adapters were all available on Amazon and the hose and fittings are available at any of the performance parts places. It's infinitely easier to make these hoses if you have a vise. Tons of videos on youtube for how to do PTFE tubing. Just take your time and make sure there isn't any steel strands from the jacket in your threads or fouling the olive,

ganshert

sometimes we get lucky

karkrafter

I guess I had couple less issues than you...You ARE right about the cast iron BB pulley having to be swapped. No leaks on mine though...

tuxnharley

Same here - and no frame flex!

John S 1961

Drives nice i bet