Looking to upgrade the power steering on my 71. That Borgeson upgrade seems like a hack job imho because to have to collapse the column in order for it to work. Thoughts, doubts, comments?? Thx guys

 

There are some pros and cons:

It is a 3rd generation Delphi 600 power steering box. With an integrated rack-n-pinion style spool valve.
It is a 30 year newer design than the already old 1950s style ram assist power steering that was put into the 1963 corvette.
It is an inch or two longer. That means you do have to collapse the column a little bit. The column has a total collapsible section of 12 to 18", so an inch or two is not all that significant. The column can be returned to normal length.
The ratio is 20% faster at 12.7:1 vs 16:1
The steering feel or heft can be adjusted.
It is not as leak prone as the OEM ram, control valve & moving hose system, what with the suspect quality of repop parts available today.
OEM dry grease boxes are likely shot by now, and need a rebuild to get rid of steering play. Worn out gear parts are getting scarce.
It will be quite expensive to rebuild all the parts in an OEM system to OEM tightness and make it leak free.
Steering coupling must be changed.

A rebuilt OEM steering box can feel as precise as a rack-n-pinion, and so can a Borgeson box conversion.
The conversion is pretty well engineered, but both can be made to work very well.

The demand for Borgeson box conversions is so high that the typical wait for a box can be 2-3 months out.

 

Thank you for the detailed reply.

 

Borgeson hands down. Better steering feel and resolves all the leaking issues with OEM ram setup.

 

Hydraulically speaking, I think the OEM mechanism dates to much earlier GM cars, maybe somewhere in the 50's? I don't have authoritative background on that, I just remember seeing stuff here and there. The Borgeson has so much less fittings that would otherwise leak.

The cons seem to be:

The collapsing steering shaft. More speculation, I'm sceptical, I doubt that minimal space will save your life. A really hard crash? I'd have to see pictures of where the steering wheel gets to. Myself I drive around with a five point harness, best I can do.

Stress on the frame. Depends on how much caster. I took a video once as I have a lot of caster. With the car sitting in the driveway, the frame does twist. On the road in some dynamic environment, everything on these cars twists. Some 57 years on, all the spot welds on my original frame are still holding on, so I am not particularly bothered.

Steering coupling: The coupling I got with my kit was particularly crappy. But you can marry the original coupling and rag joint with the fitting on the B's input shaft and be just as safe. Maybe that's been improved in the last 15 years? - dunno!

 

So zero issues collapsing the column ??

 

I did the Borg conversion on my 71 C3 because I swapped in a LS and every part of the stock steering was worn out or leaking PS fluid. Worked well zero issues. Just a cruiser but I did not se any frame flex but I never thought to look for it.

 

4 Borgeson installs.... 2 PS upgrades and 2 non PS conversions, never an issue collapsing a column in the car... dont go too far.
its only my opinion and perhaps different from others but all big improvements and never a leak

Just converted a non PS 70 and like the drive so much better,

Not a hard install, measure box differences for collaps length as not always exactly the same, spend the time centering steering components, box and steering column before setting the rage joint position to column

 

Not for me, but others have said otherwise.

I was in a pretty good place. Body was off and San Jose had a business where you could just walk up to a counter and get some hoses made. I have an LS motor so that required me to make some custom plumbing for the brake power steering fluid return line.

Some of these pictures may help you. I remember having some fitment problems with the Pittman arm that required a couple of trips to my local shop (Corvette Clinic in SJ). I am on good terms with the owner so he let me swap some arms until I got one with a pretty good fit.

 

Absolutely! . i wasted my money on a rack and pinion years ago on a C3 . This is the way to go but make sure you have good tie rod ends. Get the better fittings, don't use the brass inserts that come with it. They leak. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/c...ol?seid=srese2

 

I used the factory shaft clamp vs the Borgenson.It's better imo and the steering lines up perfectly.

 

Perhaps the "non-hack" way to shorten the column would be to remove it, disassemble it, cut the lower shaft the correct length, and add new spines to the end.

I pulled the column and shortened it the "hack" way in my 79. The Borgeson upgrade completely transformed that car for the better.

 

I would not call shortening the column a "hack".
Just a length adjustment.

The 68 & up steering column is designed to collapse.
Disassembly of my column shows several tubes & shafts inside.
Each of those multiple parts is designed as two sliding tubes.
I did not measure the total collapsible length, but I would estimate it is at least 12", maybe 18"
Once the main shaft has been broken free of it's 50 years of rust, it will slide longer and shorter without ridiculous amounts of force. Maybe 10-15# of pressure. The weight of a gallon of milk, or two.
Injection molded plastic pins have been mentioned prior. They are for alignment and anti-rattle use only, they serve no strength purpose.

Shortening the column an inch or so does in no way defeat it's purpose as a safety item.


Main shaft, two piece, has a long large collapsible section, thinner section can completely fit inside larger diameter section, effectively cutting length in half


Several other internal tubes, tilt & tele column, all 2 piece and collapsible. Each of these sections can also collapse to half length.

 

So I just bought an EPAS electric power steering system I found for really cheap to install on my 69. I love the idea of not having any hoses and to be able to adjust the sensitivity. The downside seems to be that it can't fit under the dash. I called and talked to a really helpful tech there and they say they fit. I may not get to it until the fall, but I will do a thread here on the install when I do. I already have a donor column tube and shaft to cut up. Goal is to have tilt/tele and power steering.

Bill