Temporary Delete of Power Steering - '66 L79 4Spd
 

My power steering is leaking big time. It's the second rebuilt system for the car. Until I find a competent rebuilder or figure out how to do it myself, I'm considering converting to non-power so I can enjoy the upcoming spring/summer driving season.

What would be required to change the factory power to non-power steering.

No air, no air pump.

Thanks,
Ralph

Take the belt off the pump and remove the slave cylinder so you are not pushing/pulling fluid and install the outer tie rod ends in the rearward hole for easy steering.

You will soon appreciate the P/S, can you tell where the leaks are located.

Drain the fluid and remove the PS drive belt. The steering effort will be no greater than for manual, quick steering.

Been there. Done that.

This is what I did when the PS on my '63 sprang a leak and I was waiting on repair parts to arrive. Worked fine.

Jim

Just a quick note: if you do relocate the tie rods to the other set of holes, this will throw off the front wheel alignment to the point where you will need to readjust the toe-in.
Phil M.

Can't tell and it's about 40 degrees in my garage so would need a warm day to continue searching. My belief is it's the pump and it's a significant leak.

If you decide to eliminate the power steering, you'll need to replace the center link and pitman arm, but everything else remains the same.

Hydraulic cam, small block 63-68 Corvettes, used a steering damper, but it really isn't necessary. Big blocks, solid lifter 327's, and 69 and later Corvettes, didn't use the damper.

This is a temporary delete, I'll reinstall when I'm confident that the leaks have been fixed.
I understand that many small blocks had steering dampers. My car never had one (had it since new...).

Or just crack the lines open on the cylinder and remove the belt. Go around a few corners and the system will self purge of oil.

:iagree: You may also want to check/reduce the caster to ease the steering effort. :thumbs:

I would simply spend a weekend and repair the power steering. I rebuilt the pump on my '67 GTO (same pump) with a seal kit off of the internet for less than $20. It took me longer to r&r the pump than it did to rebuild it! If the box is leaking, buy a new one from NAPA and keep your original to have it rebuilt at your leisure. Cheap, and your car will be back in top form with minimal fuss and no jury-rigging.

:iagree:

35 EPA types just passed out after reading your suggestion..... :eek:

So, you knew what you had to do all along. You just wanted to let everyone know you were working or your car? Or wanted to boost your post count?

You've been driving the thing with it leaking for some time, obviously from your post. What's a few more drips on the pavement?

Get rid of the original power assist with the leaky valve body and get a Borgeson kit...

Cranky we are today?

Has anyone tried this on a 67 L36 (427/390hp) with A/C? It's a complicated pulley system, but it looks like I can take the center pulley (2 grooves) that drives the A/C compressor, and run it to the alternator (38" belt?). In the current configuration, the center pulley drives the PS pump (2 grooves) and the 2nd groove from the PS pump runs the alternator. I can do w/o A/C and PS this week, and rebuild the PS pump over the Christmas break. If so, what length belt? I measured ~38" (inside diameter) with my wife's sewing tape measure. (Hard to do with belts on the pulleys).

:iagree:

It's a hell of a lot easier to change the pump than it is to add Borgeson. Borgeson still uses the pump and if that's where the leak is there's no help there.

because addressing the real problem and fixing it correctly is a real problem around here.