when you put the borgeson box in with the headers on did you go from the top or under the car thank ray

 

The Borg. set up was just what It needed, It drives great, It steers & handles better than my El-Camino, when it was almost new. LOL I need to get it aligned before I drive it to far. I'm going out right after traffic slows down, Great Thread. Have a great one. Gene

 

well seeing that my steering box will need a rebuild and my valve is leaking too, I am thinking of maybe giong the borgeson route too, but I have one major concern... clearance

I have a sb with hooker super comp headers and sidepipes, now as you can see from my current setup with the original steering box there is like no room for a wider box, unless the box sits higher on the frame...

Can somebody tell me if the borgeson box is much wider than stock and at the same hight to the old box ? I would love to know if this will fit before giving out +700 $ on a box that won't fit


Thanks

 

I am not sure if this will help, but maybe give you an idea. My box fits perfect, and I have quite a bit of clearance with my Hooker Long Tube headers that exit to the side.




Both boxes seem to be pretty close to the same width. I tried to get the tape to the widest point where it impacts the headers. Just about 6 1/4 give or take a bit. I placed the original on top of the motor for this pic.





The biggest difference is length. The B box is quite a bit longer.

I know it looks close in the pictures, but I can put my finger all around the box and pipes without touching anything. Hope this helps.

 

I tried to measure how much it sticks out using the frame mounting surface as reference, i think you have to take into account around 2.5" in a vertical plane parallel to the engine

 

Thank you for the info, but it seems that the hooker headers for sidepipes are different as I have not that much room... Only have 5cm between frame and n°1 pipe at the bottom of the steering box. I don't know if the underside of the borgeson box is wider there ? The top is no problem as the pipe is low and cleares the top easy.

Might have to sticking with the original box I...




Dembo sent you pm ...

 

Stingraymax,

Going by your photos, I'll say that the Headers will hit the Borgeson box and you will have to do something else. By the look of the clearance you have ( or lack of it!!!), I would say that the headers you have are not "Corvette" headers, but merely a generic SBC header that is probably better suited to a Camaro, Impala, etc.

Without a doubt, the Borgeson box will give you a vastly improved steering feel and response, so you should look to getting rid of those headers and buy a set that are designed for a C3 Corvette.

I have a generic SBC set of Sanderson Block Hugger headers on my '74 coupe, and there is a ton of room for my Borgeson box and all of the hoses that connect it to my Hydroboost unit.

Surely someone locally would like to buy a used set of Chromed headers, so you could recoup some of the cost of buying a new Corvette-specific headers.

Hope this helps.

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn

 

I have Hooker headers and have a lot of room between the header and steering box. I just ordered the Borgeson setup from buyautoparts.com and got it for $569.92 shipped to my door. They have a coupon code running this month, but only until the 9th. Go to this thread and scroll down to post #192 by qwank for the coupon code.
I'm not home right now or I would take a picture of the clearance I have on mine so you could see the space. I get home tomorrow and will try and get a picture up on Saturday.

 

From looking at your photo with the arrow, I suspect AussieJohn may be on to something.

Looks as if your headers seem to bend towards the fender after the downturn, and the long tube headers bend in towards the motor for more clearance.

 

Just finished my install today. Everything seems fine in the driveway. I will have to wait for the ice/snow to melt before I can get out the driveway for a road test and alignment.

 

Here's the route I am taking. Don't have those clearance problems with this.
[IMG][/IMG]

 

You'll have your own set of challenges with that

 

I removed one of the headers to get my old steering box out and they are correct c3 corvette headers n° 2234 stamped into them, so no idea how I have so little clearance.

 

That's about the same amount of clearance that I have with the hooker sidemount headers.

 

I hate nasty surprises. Care to elaborate?

 

Randy, I have to thank and commend you for doing such a great job of documenting the process. I'm not done yet but hope to be soon. This thread has been the best single source of info for me.

One of my goals has been to get the old steering box out without removing the headers from my 427. I didn't think I could but was hoping to avoid the hassle. I unbolted the master cylinder and brake line mounts from the fender area, and also unbolted the alternator so I could move it to the side. This still wasn't giving me enough clearance to pull the steering box up and out with the pitman arm attached.

I decided to try to use a puller on the pitman arm but really wasn't having any luck finding room to get it into place. As I wrestled with that from below the car, I noticed that the box & pitman arm were starting to drop lower towards me but were getting caught on something I couldn't see from below. From the top side I could see that the rag joint was in the way so I finally worked it loose and out of there. After getting back under the car and going through a few contortions, I was actually able to get the box and pitman arm to drop through near the firewall. I was stunned and thrilled at the same time. Once out, I put the box on the floor and used the puller to remove the pitman arm within about 2 minutes.

I called it a night at that point. I haven't been able to break the steering ram connection to the center link yet, so that and a test fit of the Borg box are on my list for today. I'll post back with header clearance or lack thereof when I know more. I'm hoping to answer the big question for guys like me with a bigblock- will Hedman headers fit with the Borg box without having to dimple the headers. Fingers crossed....

 

Glad this thread helped Les, we're certainly getting some mileage out of it
For well over a year after I first posted this thread I would PM's from members with questions about the install, most having to do with header clearance. Since I have a smallblock, I didn't have an answer for the big block members, but I think most had their questions answered by posting up on this thread and others...yes definitely post up your results on what kind of fitment issues you might run into, hopefully it will help other members with the same set-up as yours

 

If I didn't love a challenge, I wouldn't own a C3. I'd own a Prius with a warranty. Anything else you'd like to contribute?

 

I think I'm going to just do it. I have a '69 427 4spd coupe with Hooker Headers and sidepipes.

 

Does anyone know where this part belongs? haha


Also, just to be sure, the borgeson upgrade calls for the permanent removal of the power cylinder, correct? (on an 81 with power steering if that makes a difference)