Took the car to Summit Point to do a HPDE. When I came home, I found fluid on the floor of my car trailer.

I went under to take a look. It seems to be the Power Steering Control Valve is leaking. I confirmed when looking in the Power steering unit and it was dry.

The one leaking was from Vette Brakes. Anyone know where I can get a NON-Chinese replacement?

I found this at Summit racing equipment: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/l...iABEgLbkfD_BwE

It mentions it is new. Is Lares Corporation a USA company?

Please pass on an sources of USA replacements. I have not had good luck with the Chinese parts I have used.

 

They appear to have some manufacturing here but you would have to contact them for specifics.
https://www.larescorp.com/plant-tour/

 

The fact that it states "greaseable" tells me somebody doesn't know that you do not grease these things. Except once.
And that's after it has been thorughly disassembled, cleaned & rebuilt. Then after installing and centering the unit, you give it one shot of grease.

Don't get me wrong, love Summit, but some parts are so generic, fits all, etc.
I think you should stick with a Corvette vendor that really knows Vettes. Just in case there is an issue.
Just my 2 cents.

 

Update: From the recommendation of a friend I reached out to C&S Corvettes (https://www.corvettepartscenter.com/). I spoke to Steve at length. He mentioned Chinese parts have flooded our market. I guess finding USA parts is as frustrating for vendors as us. Plus he mentioned that if you have your car serviced by them and a Chinese part fails, they have to replace it and eat the labor. But I degress….

Then I emailed Lone star Caliper out of Texas for rebuild control valve.

He replied:

“Yes, we rebuild them in house in Texas. The cost is $149.00 to rebuild them and they come with a 5 year warranty. We don't use Chinese parts in our rebuilds. All seals are USA made.”

I’m not sure where he gets the USA seals, but I think this will be my solution.

Let me add as an aside, tracking a 54 year old car is not without it's consequences. But I do this with my son and wouldn’t change anything.

· Obviously the Power Steering control valve failed

· The Muncie started to pop out of gear on deceleration.

· The fuel filter gasket between the pump and block has started to leak.

 

The quality of these valves has been inconsistent for years. Rebuilt ones are typically worse than new. When VB&P was in business, they used to test the valves in a hydraulic system. I don't think anyone does that now, maybe so anyone knows of a place that does post it. You want to work with a dealer that is not going to hassle you with returns- even with rebuilt USA parts. The lack of QC at some of these places is amazing and has been for years.

I met a guy at Carlisle 12-15 year ago that came to my booth with a USA rebuilt steering box. It was junk, the one he got before it was junk, the one before that was junk, he got 6 "rebuilt" boxes in from the same place and all were very nicely painted junk. They were worse than the original box he removed 6 months earlier. He had to pay a shop to replace the box every time and pay the shipping on top of it. It cost him over $1000 in those fees alone. I told him the rebuilder was 2 aisles over and to bring the box to them for a good one this time, I wasn't out to take his money. Given his story and the fact he was in their face I expected his problem to be resolved. He came back an hour later with a new box still packaged up and asked me to rebuild it. I asked him why, it's rebuilt, you told them your story, it should be good to go. He said, " I know it's junk, can you make it right" I removed the box from the cardboard box and it looked as good as one of mine on the table. Then he said, "turn it and see" so I put a rag on the input and attempted to turn it. It was like turning a box of rocks, no exaggeration! I told him to take it back and demand a good box. He insisted I fix it, knowing what he would get from another exchange box. What I found was the gears were worn out, junk. Instead of replacing them- that costs money, the simply flipped the worm nut upside down and assembled it. No way that would work- then or now, yet that and others were sold and one reason why rebuilt boxes and parts get a bad rap.

I don't rebuilt valves, but I have for my cars. Have you thought about going to manual steering? I don't road race so I can't say I can compare the two, but the box is the same and your box is dialed in. A manual centerlink and 451 arm might be worth a test.

 

wow...pretty soon we will have to make our own parts...First it was the switches , then vacuum parts.....guess I have to start looking at getting parts from Mcmastrer carr to rebuild these things...

 

Summit sells Lares Corporation control valves. Lares claims they are new USA made https://catalog.larescorp.com/part/10025/

 

THANK YOU!

Yes I saw that. Here is the Summit Link: Lares Corporation 10025 Lares New Power Steering Control Valves | Summit Racing

I have sent an email to both Summit and Lares to confirm they are USA made. They also have a Limited Lifetime Warranty.

 

So it sounds like...someone with an original valve who wants THAT ONE rebuilt...has zero options and is SOL?

 

Seems like the rebuild kits may be Chinese. If you want to try rebuilding your see if you can purchase USA made parts.

 

I sent an email to Lares. This is the reply:

Hello,

Some of the parts on a #10025 do come form over seas but everything is built here in house. We do test these units for pressure, seal leaks and flow before they are boxed to ship to you. You have a lifetime warranty with this product as long as you keep your original paperwork. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you.

I believe this is the way I am going.

 

Summits rebuild kits are chinese...dont know if any of the other companies out there use the same parts.....probably

 

From Summit regarding the Lares: You know there are many manufacturers that cast and machine elsewhere and assemble in the US. When I look at our business attributes for the LSC-10025 I would by law be required to tell you it is People’s Republic of China for the country of origin; not trying to bum you out just as factual as required by law.

 

I believe all the rubber parts are the chinese parts as all the rebuild kits are chinese

 

I know. They are the only company that offered a Lifetime Warrantee. So I took a chance.Since I purchased the part new, I can keep the old core. The ONLY company that claims to have USA made rebuilding parts is Lone Star. Since I have the Power steering control valve I may attempt to rebuild it IF Lone Star will sell a rebuilding kit.

I wonder where you can get instuctions on how to rebuild a Power steering control valve?? Anyone do it? Is it hard?

 

here ya go..parts Mexico not china and still leak free
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-question.html

 

The factory Chevrolet Shop Manual has a chapter on the power steering components and covers the rebuild of the control valve. The problem is having the experience in identifying wear of the individual pieces and knowing whats in or out of spec. The other problem was already mentioned...getting quality seals and small parts to build it with. Also building a test rig to check the component after the rebuild and under pressure. When I was buying my current Corvette the owner had it in the shop for the annual state inspection and the mechanic found the control valve was leaking so they replaced it. I hope I don't jinx myself but it has been good but I don't have any idea where the control valve came from as the service receipt just says its "(new)" and was $482 (part only).

Our cars are held together these days with inferior seals and sub-components. Its a big gamble as to what and when rebuilt things will fail despite best efforts of our own because of these small parts. I just rebuilt my front brake calipers and had to buy seals made in China (Raybestos) because I couldn't find anything else quickly plus vendors don't tend to identify the parts sources. You find out when the seals and parts arrive. I only did a couple 7 mile test drives before I had to rebuild one of those rebuilt calipers a second time due to a piston seal leak. My work environment was like a clean room surgery lab and I checked all known specs on the pistons and bores. Careful, slow, and methodical work done on the rebuilds. I try to blame myself and learn to do things better but a bad part is a bad part sometimes.

The amount of bad rebuilt parts coming out of these companies is astounding. You don't know when they will fail just that they will. I helped someone repair their A/C system and the brand new compressor had no air gap set on the clutch. The person that installed it just ran the nut down on it and sent it down the line. Setting the air gap on an AC compressor is a Basic 101 step in the process. He didn't have a puller to fix that so went to the auto parts store who tried to sell him a "rebuilt" compressor as that's all they had in stock. I looked at it on the store's counter and it looked like it had come right out of a 40 year old vehicle and was merely put into the box and sent out the door. It was ugly as sin and obviously untouched.

 

I should have tried to do mine myself, but decided I would let the pros do it. Sent my valve to LS and it didnt last 100 miles before leaking again.
Sure I can remove it and send it back, but with my luck..........

Put this in a youtube search and you will see the procedure:

Willcox Rebuilds a Corvette Power Steering Control Valve 1963-1982

Good luck.

 

i watched them all too!! here is another link i referenced in my thread.. good pics..
http://www.cssbinc.com/images/ads/ho...structions.pdf

 

Nice. Thats even more detailed than the one I posted.