First off, I understand that this issue hs been covered before. Google comes up with dozens of hits. Problem is, none of them fix the problem (for me, at least).

I have a 1976 stingray with power steering. The car had awful handling when I got it. Was extremely squirrelly and also no return to center of the steering wheel after turning. Had the car aligned and no improvement. Was told by the technician that it was my steering box.

I rebuilt the box, even bought an in-lb torque wrench to set it up, but no improvement. After that, I figured it must be a ball joint or bushing. New ball joints, upper and lower control arm bushings, springs, inner/outer tie rods and idler arm. Have tried just about every combination of alignment - have tried caster from 1 to 6, camber from -2 to 2. I can get the car to ride great now in a straight line (looseness is fixed) but still no improvement in the steering wheel return.

Next, new (rebulit) power steering pump and lines. No dice. Got the rebuild kits for the control valve and power steering cylinder. Still no improvement. Won't return to center at any speed.

The steering feels tight/heavy. I don't know for sure, because I never had it when it was working, but it does not feel right.

So now I went back and took the outer tie rods off and turned each front wheel by hand - easy. Disconnected pitman arm from the control valve - can turn the steering wheel by hand from under the car by pulling the pitman (steering box is therefore not too tight). Also, steering wheel spins freely with pitman disconnected.

With the car on jack stands, turning the steering wheel still feels a little tight with everything together. If I diconnect the power steering cylinder from the frame mount and turn the steering wheel, it feels much easier, but I expect some drag from the hydraulic cylinder (how much?). Loosened just about every castle nut to make sure something wasn't too tight (idler arm connection, etc). No change.

I disconnected the power cylinder and ran the car without the pump turning - hard as hell to turn the car, but wheel did return to center a little.

Everything seems to suggest a problem with the hydraulics, but I can't say what it could be. Control valve seems to be working. No leaks. Cylinder/control valve center without difficulty.

I'm running out of simple (inexpensive) solutions. Looking at the steering linkage, there is less clearance between the passenger inner tie rod end and the lower control arm than the driver side. That side seems a little further back overall than the other side. Don't know if the car was ever hit on that side, but it doesn't seem like it looking at it. When I adjust the camber and caster, there is a pretty good difference from side to side as far as the shims needed. I did install the offset upper control arm rods. In order to get the caster more than 2 or 3 on the passenger side, I had to use a longer bolt to get enough shims in. Driver side had a lot more room for adjustment.

Is the frame the problem? I would hate to bring it to a frame shop because I'm sure they will recommend working it. The problem is I don't want the hassle and $$$ if it isn't going to fix the problem. Am I missing something?

 

Google all you want; Jim Shea is the guy who can help you!

http://jimshea.corvettefaq.com/?page_id=4

He's a member here who can be reached by a PM.

Have a good visual look at the lower control arms, especially where they mount to the front crossmember and make sure these fasteners are secure and not damaged.