I just installed a Borgeson kit on my car and thought I would share the experience with anyone considering it. I'm not 100% complete yet, as I'm wrapping up the engine rebuild, but I'm close.

First, a little background. I purchase my '72 350 coup last December, knowing it was going to need an engine overhaul. I drove it a few time and discover the steering was really sloppy. I could easily move the wheel 4 or 5 inches in either direction before it engaged the steering. I also discovered major power steering leaks. Since I was planning to pull the motor, I decided that I would go ahead and replace the power steering with a Borgeson. This would eliminate the slop and notorious leaking issues.

I started off by doing my research and discovered this video, which was very helpful.
Next, I went to AutoZone and rented a Pitman arm puller. This was the only special tool I needed, or so I thought. More on that in a moment.

I started the morning with getting the car in the air with some ramps. This gave me plenty of room to get under and do what I needed. Fortunately, the engine was out and I had pressure washed most of the grim away already. Next I got under the car and started to work on the pitman arm. This is when I realize that the nut was HUGE and I didn't have a socket to fit it. The nut is a 1 5/16", so off to AutoZone I went. Once I had this socket, I had everything I needed.

I removed the nut holding the pitman arm. Fortunately I have an impact, so it was easy to remove. When I tried to use the puller, I couldn't get the clearance I needed due to how close the arm was to the frame. I believe I tried every angle I could, but I couldn't get it to fit. So I removed the three steering box bolts and shifted the box over to give me room. Unfortunately, with the box unbolted, it's hard to torque the puller to get the arm off. After a little PB Blaster and some help from a little heat (torch), I was able to get the arm free.

Once I had the pitman arm off, I removed the remaining components and got them out to the way. The next step was to shorten the steering shaft. I was afraid the would be a nightmare and I would end up having to remove the column. Fortunately, a little PB Blaster, a block of wood and a few smacks with a 5 lb hammer and it began to easily move. Be careful not to go too far with it. The next step was installing half of the rag joint on the steering shaft and the other half on the steering box. After a few test fittings and shortening the steering shaft even more (had to shorten a lot more than I expected), I discovered the brake lines were in the way. I took a step back and reassessed the situation and realized that I only need to move on line about 1/2" to make everything fit. So I loosened the fitting and shifted the line a bit. This required a little bending, but not much. In the end, I have about 1/4" clearance between the line and the steering box. I think this will be ok, but I'll keep and eye on it to make sure they don't rub. Last was installing the coupler and reconnecting the pitman arm, which was easy.

Now all I have to do is install the power steering hoses and center the steering wheel. I can already tell that the slop is going and the turning is tighter. It used to take 1 1/2 rotations of the steering wheel to complete the turn and now it takes about 1 1/4 rotations.

Overall, this was a lot easier than I thought, but I did have the engine out and was able to sit inside the engine bay. My biggest fear was removing/moving the original parts, as I wasn't sure if they would come out easily. The only issue I had and may still resolve was one of the bolts for the steering box was obstructed by the inside fender well, so I couldn't remove it and replace with the new one that came with the kit. I'm sure I can find a way to get it out, but decided to save that for later. Also, I tapped my steering shaft in a little too far, which you can see from the splines where the rag joint is connected. I believe I'll remove the rag joint bolts and try to hold the shaft while tapping the joint on further. Then I can reconnect the rag joint and pull the shaft back out a bit.

Here are a couple pictures of the finished product. One is just a side shot of the box installed and the other is a top view that shows how tight the brake lines are to the box. If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll do my best to help. Overall, much easier install than expected. Now I need to drive it!

 

Thanks for posting. I'm installing a Borgeson box on my '69. Ran into the brake line interference issue last night. Any suggestions for tweaking the lines that are already installed? My initial thought: Disconnect the lines from the p-valve, bend the p-valve bracket fwd, and hand-tweak the lines to make them fit.

 

I had the same problem last year with our '72 when I sent the gear out for rebuild. I was able to flex/move the fenderwell enough to remove and later re-install the bolt.

 

FLYNRYN - When I installed mine, I only needed to move my brake line about 1/4 to 1/2", which I did by bending it while it was installed. I was careful and didn't put too much pressure on it, but was planning to disconnect and reshape if needed. Hopefully you don't need to move it much.

Catfish4818 - I ended up doing the same thing you suggested and got my last bolt in as well.

On a side note: After final installation of my box, I ended up with a lot of slack and the steering felt like my old sloppy PS. I pulled the box and sent it back for inspection. I sent it on Monday and had it back on Thursday. I'm in Alabama, so not to far away, but WOW on the turn around and customer service.
Of course they found nothing wrong. I reinstalled and everything worked great. I suspect that I forgot to put additional PS fluid in the pump after my initial start and the fluid had pump through the lines and box. In my defense, I was installing a rebuilt motor (first time to ever to do that) and had a lot to make sure I connected/filled. As you know, it's almost impossible to get the cap off the PS pump, so I guess I forgot to go back and fill it after start. Oh, and I never got the engine to crank and ended up pulling it and reinstalling it. So at some point, I forgot about the PS.

Now the PS is awesome. No slop and much tighter. Feels more like a booster steering set up than power, where it's easy to turn the wheel but more like sports car where you can feel to road. So much more fun to drive now.

 

So, for a newbie here, is this for Power Steering equipped cars only?

 

They make kits for non PS as well.

Keith