682XLR8

After reading about the Borgeson steering system here on the Forum, I went ahead and bought one for my 68, recieved it last Monday. Finished the install a couple hours ago and took the 68 for a cruise. About all I can say is the difference is unbelievable! Gone is the road wander, the dead spot in the center, the stiffness, the car tracks arrow straight on the freeway, and actually goes where I want it to on the twisties This is how it should have been done in the first place! Definitely one of the best mods I've done, right up there with the 200R4 swap
Install was pretty straightforward, about the only problem I had was the hoses. Not Borgeson's fault, it's how to snake them to the pump and avoid the headers and other areas.

Now for the pics:

This is how I recieved everything. The box is strapped to a piece of wood, also have the rag joint, hoses, and the link adapter to replace the control valve
[IMG][/IMG]

Old box on the left, new one on right


Box and link adapter installed
[IMG][/IMG]

The column needs to be shortened by gently tapping on the end. It was a trial and error process, I had installed and removed the box about four times before I got it right, even so I had to cut about an inch and a half off the plastic part the arrow is pointing to. Plus I had to disassemble the new rag joint and slide it on in sections. Wasn't that difficult once I figured out what I needed to do
[IMG][/IMG]

Hoses installed on the pump end. It's harder than it looks, those hoses are thicker than OEM, a little tough to manuever in the cramped quarters of the C3 engine bay
[IMG][/IMG]

Pitman arm installed. The input shaft of the Delphi 600 box is resplined to accept the C3 arm. That's as far as I could get it to go on. I'm going to check it again tomorrow
[IMG][/IMG]

Lots of room around the Hooker Comp headers. No issues there
[IMG][/IMG]

CA-Legal-Vette

Nice job Randy.

I'm amazed that the huge steering box fits in so neatly.

carbster09

This looks good. Where did you get it and how much?

carbster09

682XLR8

Thanks Mike! Come on over and check it out

carbster09-the total for the box, rag joint, link adapter and hose kit came to $749 before shipping. Call the number on this link and talk to Romeo, he's very helpful

http://www.borgeson.com/

Muddywaters

Lookn' good Randy... I'll have to give it a test! In reference to the pitman... are you getting a full nut? Looks a little shy.... Muddy

CheezMoe

I did mine two months ago! Same Result! Awesome upgrade...although I will say switching from manual I'm having to re-educate myself on driving the car into corners! It's way cool!...Excellent hardware and excellent price! ....only problem is now the wife likes to drive the car...

682XLR8

That's the nut supplied with the kit, 100 lb of torque(as far as my wrench will go, factory is 150) Now that it's settled in I'll check it again this afternoon

I read your threads on the Borgeson kit, went a long way towards my decision to buy it
Took some getting used to the quicker ratio, got it down now
My wife won't drive the 68, she's never even rode in it, one less thing to worry about

Günther-C3

Perfect pics!!!!
I´m a bit sad because I also want to drive this box, because when I looked in my eninge bay to see how much space between stock steering box and my Headman header is, I saw there is no further space That sucks!
Have you any idea what I can do? I don´t want do mold the headers. Here a pic:


Thanks, Günther

682XLR8

Put in a small block?

I'm not sure if the box will fit with a big block, may want to call the above link and talk to the folks at Borgeson, see what they say

CheezMoe

I am glad to see you were not sceered off by the hysteria over the rag joint and went ahead with the borgeson unit. Makes me feel better about my decision to do the same.

aussiejohn

Gunther-C3,
A long time Forum member, norvalwilheim, was probably the first to use this type of integral power steering box, and his remedy was to cut out a section of the frame where the steering box fits and weld in a thicker piece of steel that was positioned perhaps five or six millimeters AWAY from the engine. That is, into the frame.

The result, he claimed, was to move the steering box the same 5 or 6mm away from the engine. As a bonus, he said that the box now lined up better with the steering shaft and put less strain on the rag joint.

You may want to consider going that way, if you are, or know, a competent welder.

Regards from Down Under

aussiejohn
6 weeks to go

stock76

Interesting to see that the Borgeson set up uses a flexible steering coupler similar to OEM and not a universal joint. This looks like a great system to upgrade to.

Thanks for posting the pictures and comments.

682XLR8

I like the flexibility and stock look of the rag joint & so far have heard of no one having any problems with it

Didn't get a chance to check things out today after putting the new box throught its paces yesterday, tomorrow I'm off so I'll recheck all the bolts & make sure nothing rattled loose. At least there's no power steering fluid under the car

demonx

How would this compare to the VBP manual to power steering steering upgrade?

682XLR8

This the one you're referring to?

http://www.vbandp.com/detail.aspx?ID=994

The VBP kit appears to use the same Delphi 600 box, doesn't include the link adapter (not needed if you already have manual), costs almost $350 more than the similar Borgeson kit, and has a one year warranty (Borgesons has a three year)

Not about to put down any VBP product, but I'd say Borgeson is the better deal

blueray72

Very nice work Randy

7t2vette

Was the kit you used for converting an existing factory power steering system or a manual one? Looks great!

WESCH

Hi

Looking at the pics, it was a PS car.

Rgds. Günther

72LS1Vette

Anyone know if you can leave the old PS control valve on the arm and just connect the Pittman arm to it? Could save the expense of the adapter that way. The adapter looks an awful lot like the control valve with the hydraulic side cut off.



Rick B.

682XLR8

The car already had power steering, saving the expense of a new pump


I don't think the PS control valve was designed to work as a full manual llink, but I could be wrong(been known to happen)