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quick question about power steering. my 68 has a sbc350 which looks to be an early 70s build. Im having the engine rebuilt for more power and I want to upgrade to power steering. I see there are kits for normal 350 cars and high performance 350 cars. which kit would I get and what is the difference? I couldn't really see anything different from the descriptions I read on various retailer websites.
quick question about power steering. my 68 has a sbc350 which looks to be an early 70s build. Im having the engine rebuilt for more power and I want to upgrade to power steering. I see there are kits for normal 350 cars and high performance 350 cars. which kit would I get and what is the difference? I couldn't really see anything different from the descriptions I read on various retailer websites.
thank you!
Using the factory parts either normal 350 cars or high performance are not upgrades by today's standards.
Upgrades would include.
1 borgeson steering conversions
2.rack and pinion steering
Is the factory steering acceptable, of course but it does have its problems with leaking and maintenance. Good if you want a factory original car. But if this isn't your concern then look at other systems that give your more.
I have upgraded my 78 with a flaming river R&P system, but I did pay for it with bigger budget dollars.
Besides after-market systems the only up grades would be a new and better pump, new control valve, etc.
Also:
Some model yrs had two holes in the spindle arm, where the tie rod bolts to, right from the factory. One hole was for the std manual steering, the other mounting hole was for the optional and different steering ratio of the PS system. You will have to look up which yr had those arms and if you car has that extra hole or not.
I believe GM did away with that arm once the manual steering was no longer an option.
Last edited by HeadsU.P.; Nov 2, 2018 at 05:03 PM.
The reason I may upgrade is because ill be putting 17x11.5 wheels up front with 315-35-17 tires and it may be pretty heavy to move at lower speeds. My mechanic said the rag joint is falling apart and so I thought if I am replacing that, why not just get power steering while im at it. So in your guys opinion, I should go with something along the lines of borgeson, or rack and pinion, etc instead of buying the factory kit?
I've tried everything except rack and pinion. I love the manual steering in my 80 (stock tires), and my wife loves the Borgeson in her 79 (stock tires). The Borgeson is a bit bigger than the stock box, and may interfere with headers, but many have made it work, but everything else is simpler and doesn't leak.
I would never go back to stock power steering again, but it might be the right choice for you.
I showed my mechanic that electric power steering he said it may be difficult to make it fit with the long tube headers. He thinks the borgeson might be easier to work with due to limited space. I personally like the idea of the electric power steering
So I've been reading up on the Borgeson conversion which is most likely what ill go with considering the price point. Now I read a couple threads mentioning that if I had the stock steering box rebuilt by "GTR9999" I think it was, a member here on the forum, that I could get results similar to the Borgeson.
I'm assuming that I would have to buy additional parts to get this to happen? my car is bare bones, no ac, no p/s, no p/b. I got p/b now and I want to get power steering since I put 18x11s in the front on 295 tires.
any thoughts? or should I just get the Borgeson conversion kit?
So I've been reading up on the Borgeson conversion which is most likely what ill go with considering the price point. Now I read a couple threads mentioning that if I had the stock steering box rebuilt by "GTR9999" I think it was, a member here on the forum, that I could get results similar to the Borgeson. ...
My '73 came with factory P/S when I purchased it in 1988. It seemed to be operating pretty normally in my view, although with 255/60-15" all the way around, it didn't exactly feel like power steering at low speeds and the wife was convinced I removed the P/S belt whenever she was going to drive it.
In the early 2000's I decided to do a body off restoration to address some bird-cage issues and decided to sent my steering box to Vansteel to have them go through it. When it came back and I installed it, I was amazed just how much more 'power-steering' it had. It wasn't over boosted, but the P/S was definitely much improved.
Gary Ramadi (GTR1999) will certainly do a terrific job as well...
Mine only has manual steering, would it be beneficial at all to get the steering box rebuilt or is it not going to do much since I dont have p/s to begin with?
I don't think you would be disappointed after having the box professionally rebuilt, unless you haven't yet decided if you're going to switch to a Borgeson unit. It will clearly not move the large tires you're planning to use on the front as easily as having power steering would, but I think you'll notice a significant improvement and may decide you don't need the power steering after all. Rebuilding a worm and sector steering box is only half the problem, the bigger problem is getting it set up correctly. That's where experience and maybe a few special tools, really comes into play.
Also one of the big problems with having huge tires on the front (other than clearance issues) is the tram-lining effect you encounter on other than perfectly smooth streets. Especially so in town and city driving. It was enough of a problem with the C4 and the large tires they were using all around that in 1993 the standard front tire was reduced from a 275/40ZR17 to a 255/45ZR17 and the rear tire was increased from 275/40ZR17 to a 285/40ZR17.
Here's my GTR1999 rebuilt box next to my headers.** Perhaps a Borgeson would fit in your car. I doubt it would in mine. The Borgeson is REALLY nice in the 79, though.
**(Don't blame Gary for the powder coated box cover, the core came with it, and I thought it was cool and asked him to keep it. I also asked him to sign it).
I drove the car for a while with the stock 265 tires and it was fairly annoying at parking lot speeds. Once it got moving I enjoyed the feeling of manual steering. I dont want to spend a few hundred and then realize that its not enough and that I will need to upgrade to Borgeson after all. The 295-40-18 on 18x11rims is going to be much heavier to move at low speeds which is my main concern. I should have the car back from the shop within the month so I can test it out and see how I feel about it.
That is an extremely tight fit with the headers, I feel like my engine bay has more space than that but I could be wrong. Thats something I'll have to take into consideration before making any purchase. I'll find a pic of what the engine bay looks like so far with all the mods.
That picture has side exhaust headers.
I believe there is more clearance with undercar SB headers.
The steering gear box remains the same whether you a power assist ram on it or not, and it wears badly at 50 years old, and gets a lot of play in it. I had a car with 4 or 5 inches of steering wheel movement before the wheels would start to turn. That's how bad the wear can get. Check yours and see how much free-play it has. If you go with the factory power steering assist ram I would definately recommend you have your box rebuilt, unless you are sure you have no free-play (unlikely).
The borgenson box replaces all that with a new gear box, and it has a quicker 12.7 to 1 ratio vs the stock 16:1 ratio. Fewer turns lock to lock, a little less wheel movement required to turn the car. About the same change as you would get with a later model smaller diameter steering wheel. Doing both of those would make the wheel turn quickly like an IROC or late model Vette.
The borgenson box supposedly fits pretty well with a SBC but is a little tight with a BB & headers, put people have made them work.
power steering
