I recently decided to try out manual steering, and so I removed the power steering components, and installed a manual drag link, pitman arm, and moved the tie rods to the outer positions.

The installation was very simple, but when I went to set the toe, I ran into a problem - the tie rod would not shorten enough to eliminate too much toe-in.

I looked and found a number of threads where people who also converted from power to manual ran into the same issue. After MANY hours trying to figure out what I did wrong, I came to the conclusion that there must be something wrong with the tie rod ends. When I went to the auto parts store to check out new ones, I noticed that the new ones had much shorter necks. I ordered new tie rod ends, and then discovered that new ends would not screw all the way into the old sleeves, so I got 2 new sleeves also.

I don't think that cars had different tie rod ends based on whether the car had PS or not, I'm thinking that sometime in the past they had been replaced, and since the car had PS, the control valve could be screwed on tighter to allow for it to work. The manual drag link does not have this ability.

I'm creating this thread because those other threads I found where people were having this issue, none had a resolution.

Also, I'm really liking the manual steering.

 

Pretty sure that all sleeves, and both inner and outer tie rod ends, are the same from 1963-1982. Manual/PS matters not. You might be battling "bubba" or poorly procured aftermarket parts.