jim lockwood

I can't see where manual R&P would be inherently more difficult to steer than manual anything-else. Lots of positive caster is what will make a vehicle difficult to turn or "heavy", as you put it.

reno stallion

I have a flaming river manual rack in my 40 ****** . Is the rack it self heavy? NO. Is the steering feel heavy? YES. Especially in slow rolling situations like parking

RonCL55

Jim, thanks for clarifying. I really dont like manual C2s in terms of the effort required at low speeds and parking and I really do like my 14 inch steering wheel. They fit well with what I am trying to achieve in a cruiser. So unless the manual rack and pinion required no more effort than a power assisted C2, then I would certainly stay with the current system notwithstanding the “dead” feeling I mentioned.

reno stallion

I have a manual steering box in my 64c2 and it is noticeably easier to steer than the rack in the ******. But on the freeway the rack is far superior

Grampy

Steeroids also offers a C2 power R&P system. The "manual" Steeriods R&P is just a disabled power R&P. It has the the power R&P gear ratio so the steering effort will be heavier than a true manual Saginaw R&P that it is based on. The Steeroids power R&P steering effort can be tuned to a certain degree by shimming the relief valve spring in the pump.

jim lockwood

Are you sure that's a fair comparison? It seems like apples and oranges since the comparison involves more differences than just a manual box vs. R&P.

jim lockwood

Two thoughts:

1. Many say that converting to a Borgeson box improves the steering feel. I have no 1st hand experience with that conversion so I can't comment.

2. My '63 has factory PS and whatever the "dead" feeling is, I can't detect it and am certainly not bothered by it. I live in the Sierra where there are twistys everywhere. While I don't push the car anywhere near the limits of adhesion (and on the street it is stoooopid to do so), it's a delight to drive my '63 on the mountain roads.

Jim

reno stallion

[QUOTE=jim lockwood;1599736197]Are you sure that's a fair comparison? It seems like apples and oranges since the comparison involves more differences than just a manual box vs. R&P.[/QUOTE Well your right probably not apples for apples the ****** is lighter and has a better suspension

FLYNAVY30

I can't give an impression at the moment as I still don't have my car on the road, but the Steeroids manual R&P is allegedly 15% less effort than the factory manual steering box. Mine was originally a manual steering box car, so hopefully I'll eventually be able to give a viable apples to apples comparison of steering box to rack and pinion.

Nowhere Man

anybody who swaps out old worn out parts and or out of adjustment parts and swaps in brand new parts has no dog in this thread

FLYNAVY30

you're right....real men drive around on old broken parts. The thread's title literally has the brand name "RideTech" in it.....to the best of my knowledge, no C2 came from the factory "RideTech Equipped".

Nowhere Man

My point is you can’t compare anything when you go from a worn out parts to something new. Then say how bad it was before

FLYNAVY30

Agreed completely.....I didn't realize you meant "swaps out old worn out parts for new AFTERMARKET parts". That makes way more senes. In my specific case, I went from an old worn out manual box to a brand new manual box. Definitely better, still not what I was looking for. Now I've gone with the manual rack and pinion, so we'll see how that works once the car is back on the road. In my opinion, the new manual box still had more on center play than I want.

Nowhere Man

Too many people on this forum do this. Then bad mouth a 60 year design and blame it on that. Ignition threads are notorious for this. Suspension is right up there for this too.

FLYNAVY30

Absolutely!

68hemi

with #2 here. My 1965 has the original PS with Cooper 205/70x15” radials and good original MAINTAINED suspension. I too live in an area of AZ. where there are a lot of twisty mountain roads and I don’t notice any “dead” feeling in my steering. Having been in the new car business 20 years ago when all of the “newer” steering technology was in play I can honestly say I still prefer my 1963 Corvette steering over all of the new rack and pinion.

65air_coupe

Forty years ago when I was a much more aggressive driver than I am now, I upgraded my suspension front and rear with a VBP street/strip suspension that over time I have removed and reverted back to stock components little by little. I doubt there was any level of improvement that would be discernible by the average vette driver not matter how spirited but it definitely was harsher (polyurethane components) and less fun to drive.

Get the best possible tires and shocks, a modern alignment suitable for radial tires and go have fun!