My power steering pump is about shot in my 78,, I know 78s came with power steering ,,but for older Corvettes it was a option.. I am wondering what mine would steer like if I just took the belt off that runs the pump and drove it that way.. Has anyone ever done this ? Any info//advice would be great,, Thanks

 

The car will feel sloppy and hard to steer. The slop will come from the control valve not having hydraulic pressure to eliminate play. It will be harder to steer than a non-PS car as the tie rods will be in the wrong position on the steering knuckles increasing the effort tremendously.

Fix the pump.

 

Ok, thanks

 

I drove my C3 for a year with the power steering disconnected. The pulley broke off and I procrastinated tracking one down.

It is much, MUCH better with power steering.... but I lived without it.

 

On my 73 there is a position for non power steering on the steering link.

The hole is filled with lead(I think) at the factory.

I don't know what the steering would be like if this position would be used without PS but I imagine that the steering effort would be less.

When my 73 was less than 6 months old, the hose burst and I had to drive without PS for about 2 wks while the dealer waited for a new hose. Parking was do-able but took a lot of effort. Once the car was up to speed around 20 mph, the steering was acceptable.

Steve L
73 coupe since new

 

That was my experience as well. Parking took some effort, I built some muscle, but going down the road was manageable.

 

If you just pop the belt it will be rather nasty, try it...

Somewhere in the past I posted about ditching my PS on my 69,
I was going to do it right, you know redo it like a car that never came with it, or go rack and pinion,

Turns out in my case it was cheaper to keep the stock power steering it does work...

Why would you even want to do away with it is your steering all worn out?

 

I didn't say I wanted to do away with it,,,I just asked how it would steer without it......

 

the good news is pumps are cheap

 

I'm pretty sure I paid more for the pulley than I did for a new pump.

 

I get it, like me when bored you make out of the box posts....

 

Where can I get a cheap pump?

 

I just checked, my pump was $50 (with reservoir) at O'Reilly and the pulley was $45 at GMPartsDirect. There is at least one pump at rockauto right now that is under $30 before shipping if you use your old reservoir.

 

Take your pump off and take it in to the store. They have a tool there to pull the pulley off for you. That way you make one trip and can turn it in for the core charge at the same time.

There is no time like the present to change out the PS hoses also. You are 50% of the way there all ready.

 

One of the problems buying rebuilt parts for classic cars, is that the rebuilders are attuned to selling customers like you, who want cheap parts. This leaves people like me who want to buy quality parts being fostered off with cheap parts that don't work. I want people making repro parts to make quality parts and I expect to pay more for them due to the lack of production quantity.

I hope you find a really cheap pump and install it and have it fail. If people like you demanded up front quality parts, everyone would benefit.

Your posted question should be NOT "Where can I get a cheap pump?" but rather "Where can I get a quality reproduction pump?" Maybe when you've spent $40,000 plus on car parts to restore C3's you'll learn to ask for quality parts, not cheap parts. The cheap parts are the most expensive parts you can buy.

 

Geez, someones having a bad day.

 

For heavens sake this is a power steering pump! It isn't like he is looking for a rear diff or a transmission rebuild. What does it take? Half an hour to swap a pump? 40 bucks and a lifetime warranty, but for $300 he could buy one that the "reproduction specialist" will try really really hard to not have break in a few years.

 

Ouch.

Sorry my military pay doesnt cover a house, a wife, 2 kids, a mini-van, AND restoring a very common year (76) corvette back to top quality all high grade NCRS TopFlight spotless from intake to A*****e status.

Maybe it can cover a house, a wife, 2 kids, a mini-van, AND keeping a 76 corvette on the road.

I would rather spend $50 every 5 years to replace a power steering pump than to pay $200 for a pump that would last longer than my tired L48.

 

I've had many frustrations with repro/rebuilt parts. My standard PS parts have been bought from Corvette Forum vendors..mainly Volunteer Vettes for PS stuff. They also, like me, are frustrated by the lack of quality of repro parts. The last control valve for a C3 PS, that I bought, was bought from them. I discussed reliability with them and they frankly said that the repro control valves they sold sometimes were defective, but they'd immediately replace it....anyhow...6 years later, the PS control valve I bought from them is still working like new.

I think that Corvette Vendors have an uphill battle to get quality repro parts from manufacturers who are typically today in Taiwan or China. What I'm saying is that when you have Asian manufacturers who are trying to make the cheapest products they can.. and customers who are wanting to buy the cheapest products they can buy...junk is pretty certain to be the result. . OEM purchasers of car parts buy in massive quantity and have quality specifications that manufacturers have to produce to. In the repro world, low production and lack of quality specifications cause product quality to fail. To re-emphasize my point, if you want to buy a part for a C3, you should first of all be more interested in getting a quality part than be interested in the cheapest price. The cheapest price will actually usually be the most expensive price.

BTW: The last power steering pump I bought was from Rock Auto. They typically have a wide spread of priced parts...ranging from Chinese junk to the best available. I bought an OEM Saginaw PS pump that had a return line for a Hyrdoboost Power Brake assembly...Corvette vendors don't sell this part. It was one of the most expensive PS Rock Auto pump they had for sale......an OEM Saginaw new pump for about $90.

 

I agree on both of these, I should have replaced the hoses when I had the pump off.

I bought the pulley because my old pulley grenaded one day when I was driving down the street. THAT was a fun sound...