I have a 70 cutlasss and im trying to clean up the bay as well as free up some horsepower,so heres the questions,if i remove the power steering from the car,how much harder will it be to turn the wheel and will i free up any HP? Im guessing I will have to get a shorter belt,will i need to relocate anything? and is it worth it?

 

First, you don't need any belt, since the PS pump is driven by it's own dedicated belt. Loose the pump, loose the belt.

As for steering effort, are you talking about swapping to a manual steering box or just running the power box without the pump? I did that in my young and stupid days on a 1968 442. It will definitely build your upper body strength!

 

I swaped my F85 to a manual box. Love it would never go back. While moving you don't notice it, only time is on tight turns and such while moving slow. I like the feel and feed back through the wheel, its not mushy like power steering. You also lose 25-30# as an added bonus!!
JKaz

 

I am still waiting for my refund. I return the heater box a month ago.

 

This reminds me of when I was a kid with my brand new learner's permit. I learned to drive in a '66 f-85 Deluxe without power steering or power brakes. Then, my mom bought a '67 Camaro convertible without power steering and power brakes. I asked my dad why we didn't have power steering, because it was so hard to park those cars (I didn't mind the standard brakes). My dad's answer was (and keep in mind, my dad is a depression era, WWII soldier, etc.), "If you need power steering to drive, well then you are just too damn lazy to drive"!

Oddly enough, the next car he bought was the '68 442 convertible (the one I have now). Since it came used, it had power steering and power brakes (something my dad would never pay for on purpose up to then). After that, all the cars my parents ever bought had power steering and power brakes!

 

It isn't difficult at all to drive a car with Armstrong steering. Unless of course you are a sissy girly man.

Oldsguy removed the power steering pump and gearbox from his 69 Delta 88 and installed a manual gear box from a 70s Pontiac in it. It was most excellent!

 

The problem I have with the manual steering boxes is the 800:1 steering ratio. Try a 12:1 power box from PSS. There's no comparison.

 

Is there a manual box I can go to the JY and grab to use on these cars? What about a g-body? I realize the aftermarket has a manual box for the g-body....but I am a cheapskate.

sb

 

My first car was a 67 Pontiac LeMans with no power steering. The young and dumb driver of the car thought it would be cool to install a 10 inch dia chain steering wheel. I kid you not, you had to pull it hand over hand about 16 times to get the wheels turn completely one way. By the end of the first summer, my arms looked like Popeye's! Once the car was moving it wasn't a big deal, but try to parallel park the car was a real pain in the ***. But hey I was 16 and had a chain steering wheel so I was a cool ****.

 

well it just seems like the steering is too mushy and the raito too slow,If I just removed the belt and power steering pump would that simulate what it would be like to have a manual steering box? I am fairly strong but again I would not like to have to reach arm over arm to parallel park and turn because this will be a daily driver,mostly hwy and not alot of parralel parking.

 

Its the lock to lock ratio that keeps me using the power steering. People forget that the old cars up until the 60's had huge steering wheels that helped make turning the car easier. Try manual steering with the small steering wheels in todays cars and it will be much harder.

 

I don't believe so. If you removed the belt from your PS pump it would be more difficult to steer than a car with manual steering.

 

Correct. Even the stock power steering box has a quicker ratio than the manual box. This makes the power box without pump harder to turn than the manual box.

 

I'm spoiled I like power steering, A/C, and power brakes. I would rather build a stronger engine and change gears then loose PS, PB, and A/C.

 

Would the power steering gear box get damaged with long use without a pump? I imagine it can't be a good thing.

 

Another factor to consider would the HUGE tires and wheels on your car. Are those 20s?

 

True, that would probably make it more difficult to steer with Armstrong steering.

 

well the deep dish wheels it has are 19's 19x8.5 and 19x10 in the back however those were ruined when the lug bolts broke off on the hwy so i will be replacing them with some weld prostar(skinnies up front) or more likely i will be replacing them with 15" black cragar wheels nascar style with a 225-245 in the front and 275-295s in the back

 

my 66 lemans is a no power steering or brakes car It will keep you in check if you to get in a pinch and start to saw on the wheel its ok on the roll and sure long sweeping corners like in nascar but as a real daily driver Think twice about it JMO cant you put a different valve in your current set up to make it less mushy ?

 

Kidcutty, you bought the "Double Negative" '71 Cutlass built by Jeff Schwartz with the LS7? The articles I read on it said that it had 18X9 fronts with 19X12.5 rears.
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/fea...***/index.html

 

Ooops, I see that that car is just inspiration for yours....I thought that you had bought that thing! I was hoping that the owner would show up on one of these forums.

 

leave the pump on and remove the belt and see how you like it.The steering shaft and steering wheel not not designed to handle all the toqure required to turn with out power assist.

 

well i dont wanna brake anything ,I will try the steering without the belt,if its fairly easy to turn i will get a manual box.

 

I think you will fine that it is going to be very hard to steer when stoped or moving slow.unless you' are a gorilla.

 

Take the belt off?

It has no relation to a manual box to get any idea of feel other than they're both manual, could be dangerous.

Just get going fast down a big hill then put the car in neutral and turn it off and see how manaul steering feels, as an extra added bonus manual brakes too.

If the column locks when you turn it off it will be hard to turn so better not try that unless you know how.

 

This seems to be a common fear, but if the backdrive linkage is connected and properly adjusted, you cannot turn the key to the LOCK position unless the trans is in park. The linkage was designed like this specifically so you cannot lock the steering column with the car in motion.

Yes, I am aware that you can slam the shifter into park while the car is still moving. The resulting noise MIGHT get your attention...

 

I wonder if changing the pressure regulator in the pump to a lower pressure would change the feel,make it feel stiffer????