DorianC3

Mitty, would care to describe your before and after driving experience ?

MTIA

DC3

Mitty

Bikespace

I used a Flaming River u-joint, and my horn still works (good thing, too, I just used it the other day to prevent a clueless driver from backing into me)

I also used the brace. Steering is much more direct now, but left turns are limited by rubbing on the steering box mounting bolts. The brace makes it a bit worse.

I, too, need more caster. Steering is precise, but light.

DorianC3

(I am in Belgium so this is particularly helpful for me to watch)

Also on same wave-length. I also was planning to go Borgeson, add caster, and replace all my bushings that are seriously

I was planing on doing my bushings and increasing the caster while I was at it first. TBH, my rubber bushings look so deteriorated that a Borgeson would probaly still feel very vague.

DorianC3

And, same here - I have yet to come up with the most cost effective way to increase caster with or without the new bushings.

Black04Vert

My borgeson rag joint does not have the embedded mesh.

Mitty

DHer67

Thanks for this post! I've been researching the steering box for quite a while now, and finally went ahead with the install. Opportunity presented itself as my engine had to be removed to get rebuilt. That's another story. The Borgeson instructions are very limited, so I used this post as a photo guide there's lots of other posts out there, but this one has great step by step instructions. I have an extremely tight space to work in. The garage is just a little bit wider than the car. With the engine out I was able to jack up the front end and sit in the engine bay and do the work from there. I had no issues with leaking gaskets or fittings that didn't work. I did have to massage my brake lines just a little bit to get the box to fit. Borgeson box is significantly larger than the original Saginaw. Seems to be a much cleaner design. I haven't fired it up yet as I don't have the engine reinstalled. I hope I don't have to dent thr new OBX headers too much to get them in as well.

augiedoggy

I'll be curious to see how you make out as im considering this upgrade as well and have obx sidepipes as well. it practically touches the existing box now.

gjjcvette

Great information! 1) I had a Borgeson installed in my 1978 Corvette, but I do not notice enough "assistance" and also, the wheel does not return to center. Is this normal? Can it just be an alignment issue? The shop set the right caster to 3.0, but the left to -3.0 (????). This has to be wrong, but they will not correct it to + 3 on each side. 2) Finally, this car comes from the factory with - i believe- a 900 PSI pump and I believe that the Borgeson requires a 1200 to 1350 pump (as commented by Borgeson over the phone). Can this make it "more assisted"? I will appreciate comments from you and anyone who would like to chime in. Thanks!

DorianC3

This is all FWIW.

I did the Borgeson swap not so long ago and am very pleased with the results.

Mine felt over boosted to the point I felt there was not enough road feel. So I installed a restrictor on the pump.

I was also not pleased with the weak return to center so I modified my suspension to accommodate 7 degrees of caster. That made a good difference.

I don’t know which pump I have... but if you tell me what to look for, I can check.

platinummaker

I had the same situation as you. Apparently we are in the minority. I was able to increase flow and pressure on my existing pump by modifying the valve. I can’t locate the specific instructions but they were easily found on the internet. Removal of valve did not require removal of the PS pump as it is accessible from working underneath the car. The modifications helped immensely.

Ron1968

Do you eliminate the ram by installing the new Borgeson unit?

Ron1968

Do you eliminate the ram by installing the new Borgeson unit? Looks like it is no longer needed.

rpoL98

the Borgeson PS steering box deletes the ancient 50's era steering ram.

gjjcvette

Yes, it replaced the oem.

gjjcvette

So, did you enlarge the valve orifice? I was even thinking of buying a 1300 PSI pump, which is what Borgeson recommended when I askef them. Just a few minutes ago I checked and I see that my rag joint is torn! I barely used the car... anybody have any idea what could have caused this? Also I read that some people use some type of u-joint instead of the rag joint... I would appreciate if anybody can guide me in this direction and what are the benefits...

rpoL98

neither here nor there, on the power steering pump that came with my Borgeson kit, the valve orifice is appx 0.116" (measured with #32 drill bit). just fyi. If your orifice is smaller, you can just drill it out, carefully, to that dimension or next-smaller drill bit.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...nstall-22.html

platinummaker

If I recall correctly, I enlarged the orifice slightly, stretched the spring and removed 1 or 2 washers. Made a big difference, still not overly boosted for my preference.
Several posts online documenting the modification. Did not have to have PS pump removed as I came in from underneath.