jgilevettes

Gang.. After some thought I believe it is time to add A/C, PS and a tilt wheel to my '70 BB Vert. She is in shop now for a top end paint job as well as seats, carpet, door panels, rag top etc...(also found and adding a hard top).

Given I don't want it to just sit in the garage for me to look at I believe it is time I break down and re-option my car. Given the heat here in Dallas I have decided to add a/c to the car after all these years of it pretty much being a no option BB car. Further, given that I am roughly 6'3 and 250 lbs I am about one cheeseburger from not being able to drive the car due to the lack of a tilt wheel. On top of all that I believe I no longer want to fight the very tough steering in tight places while under 5 mph due to the lack of power steering. The lack of power brakes I can live with .

SO - Can anyone suggest the best of all three of these items... The best a/c system to add that would look as close to original as possible as well as the best avenues for a tilt wheel conversion along with a power steering conversion? I am guessing many of the online corvette 'mod' shops have these things so I am really just curious what is considered the best of these to order. All of these items I would probably order and ship direct to the shop for them to install.

I appreciate experienced replies.

bazza77

If you can find a corvette tilt and adjustable steering column for 69 -76 it's literally a straight bolt and plug in.. easiest mod on your list.(I'm putting a 77 column in a 69 now)
78-82 tilt/tele are about 2 inches shorter and require a little trim on the plastic shroud but would give you more room for a cheese burger .( from Jim Shea)

I have done borgeson and rack/ pinion conversions on c3 and personally I am doing the borgeson again.
You could just add the power ram to what you already have but imo you will soon rust proof the bottom of your car with leaking oil sprayed everywhere. Others will disagree and say it works fine ,which is true .Just finding quality parts seems to be the problem with original "reconditioned" c3 steering components.

I added vintage air to a 77 which had a differant control set up . V.A does a kit for your model but uses as newer (better design) compressor which won't look original under the hood but the cabin control can stay as is.

Hope this helps .

jgilevettes

Thanks much.. Helps a lot!

DC3

Concur with bazza77.

FYI. The 1976 Vette had a one off steering column that came with a Vega steering wheel. Earlier steering wheels won't work on that column. I seem to remember some company offering an aftermarket kit so that steering wheels from 77-82 could be used.

I went with Borgeson as well and I am happy with that choice. Between me and the previous owner, we just could not stop the factory parts from leaking despite both rebuilding and replacing parts. Be advised the Borgeson gear box is physically larger and some headers will not fit with that box. I'm wanting a Tri-Y header for my '73 and can't find one that is known to work with the Borgeson. For much more info, there are plenty of threads on the forum regarding Borgeson conversions.

I also went with Vintage Air when converting my non-AC '73 to AC. I had to fabricate an adapter from fiberglass to work with a factory center vent. I eventually swapped the factory controls with one of Vintage Air's 3-**** controllers. I like the 3-**** controller a little better and don't mind the non-stock look but the retrofitted factory controls worked okay.

DC