I'm looking to convert my 1968 442 from factory power steering to a factory style manual steering. My biggest problem so far has been finding an affordable manual steering box. Does anybody here have any they would be willing to sell? Also can anybody shed some light on the subject? I've only been able to find one other thread relevant to this and it seemed brief. Any help is greatly appreciated, and I'm in no rush to start this project. Thank you very much!
- Jimmy

 

Get in touch with 507olds ( Brian trick) he has what u r looking for

 

I have to ask. WHY?

 

Will do, thank you!

 

I've found a more pleasant and wholesome driving experience in the cars that I have driven without power steering.

 

Separate question - I have a buddy with a 1961 Corvette that has manual steering who would like to convert to power... Is it safe to assume that the gear is different? Or is his GM's "standard issue" Saginaw as well? Thanks for the quick replies, everybody

 

I bought a unit from him last year and I will make the same conversion by the end of July. I never liked power steering as it feels to loose for my liking

 

I went the other way. I installed power steering on a 65 cutlass. I bought a power steering gear box from RockAuto,and a new pitman arm from local part store. I found a power steering pump and pulley from a member on this site. Easy install. I can not see any problems going the other way . Good Luck

 

I own a corvette and an Olds. The steering box is quite different on the vette.
I would suggest a Borgeson box/kit for the vette if originality is not critical.

 

Thanks for the info! Neither the 'Vette owner nor I are concerned about originality, simply thought it would be convenient if they were the same gear haha! I will give him that and a few other recommendations. Thank you again

 

I completely and totally agree. It can be convenient in the right car, but most cars I think can do without it. For example, I don't mind it in my .30 over 455 Vista Cruiser, but the Valiant I used to own could have gone without P/S. My 442 definitely would feel a lot tighter without the P/S

 

I'm a bit confused. Manual steering boxes have higher (numerical) ratios than power boxes, and therefore require more turns lock-to-lock, and feel like driving a bus.
I've had American cars with manual steering, and have converted them to power so that they would feel tighter and more controlled.

If you like it, then certainly have at it, but I can't see how it would feel preferable, especially when compared to a '92-'98 Grand Cherokee box.

- Eric

 

Maybe describing them as "tight" isn't exactly the way to go about it, but I guess the more appropriate way I mean to describe them as is to call them more "raw". All of the cars I have driven without power steering seem to have transferred the more anticipated feel of a car turning against pavement than the massive gamut of assisted cars I have driven. Definitely a weird personal preference of mine, haha!

 

Hey, if you like it, you like it. That's what this hobby is about - setting things up the way you want them.

Personally, I wish I hadn't thrown the manual steering box that I pulled out of my LS6 Chevelle in the garbage when I was in high school.

- Eric

 

One other note on the conversion. On some GM cars, the steering knuckle may mount the outer tie rod end farther out on manual cars for better leverage. So in addition to possible different pitman/idler arms, you may need that mod.

 

You might want to consider converting your power box to a 12.7 ratio, I did this a couple of years ago and it works really well, nice quick turn's, you get some feel back to the system, I can't say enough about doing this, it flat turned my old car into a modern feeling car. If interested I use Power Steering Services out of Missouri.
I know the OE PS is pretty lame on these old cars but I can't imagine going back to a manual box.

 

I'm w/ Jag opinion wise but his recommendation for Power Steering Svcs is a good one. He likely knows exactly what you need & probably has manual boxes available.

507olds, oldspackrat, jensen racing, Octania come to mind as members of this site that might have a box & pitman arm available.

 

You are right, nice guy running this place and he sets the valving and pressure on the pump to match the gear I'm sure this is why it feels so good.

 

x3 on changing over to quick ratio PS. I did this on my 66 and it feels great. You can find one at Rockauto for around $130.00 which includes the coupler (rag joint) and you can use your stock hoses with no adapters.

 

Has anybody tried the Vega steering box conversion? I can't find any threads related to it. I've come across a very reasonably priced brand new Vega manual steering box and am thinking that might be the way to go. More input please? Thanks again already for all the advice so far.

 

The driving experience between the power and manual is very different. My w31 has manual everything and my cutlass convertible has power everything. One is a raw powerhouse and the other is a luxury cruiser. I have to say that i enjoy the convertible but i am grinning from ear to ear while i get the workout in the w31. I am sure i would not feel the same way if i drove it everyday.

 

While this is true for SOME GM cars, "some" does not include A-body cars, which is what this tread is about. You need the pitman arm that matches the manual steering box, but nothing else in the linkage changes.

Probably because it can't (and shouldn't) be done. Use a little common sense here. Setting aside the completely different mounting configuration, why would you want to put a box designed for a 2,500 lb car into one that weighs nearly 4,000 lbs? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. The Vega box may be acceptable for a lightweight street rod, but not for an A-body. There is a bolt-in manual box for your car. I've driven with them, it suxs. Feel free to flog yourself if you're into that, however. These days, I find the quick ratio power box to be a much better option. Note that I do have manual steering in my 62 F-85 and I have no problem with that. There's still a big, big difference between a 2,700 lb car and a 4,000 lb car.

 

Let me add that in addition to the box ratio, the other change you can make to improve steering feel costs nothing. Increase the caster angle from stock to something closer to 2-3 degrees. The small stock caster angle was intended to lower steering force for folks who like "one-finger" power steering. Increasing caster will increase road feel and stability at the expense of more steering effort.