I have a 1971 Cutlass. These old car seem to have very easy and fast steering. Is there a way to stiffen them up like the newer cars so the steering wheel feels a little tougher. I have the GM2 type pump with remote reservoir. Thanks for any input.

 

There are fast ratio gear boxes available that will give a stiffer feel as well as a faster turn ratio.

 

Take the car to church if she's too fast and easy.

 

Add more caster to your alignment.

 

Would reducing the flow fix this situation?

 

this and this

ive done both much better feel at the wheel.

 

G body steering gearboxes from the performance cars are ideal for this swap. Monte Carlo, 442, Grand Nationals, etc all work well. You need to swap the pitman arm, use a rag joint from a square body truck, and minor modifications to the power steering hoses. The later gearboxes are metric fittings with W-rings, the original power steering pump uses a SAE with flare fittings. Another option is to use a later model power steering pump with the metric fittings and hoses.

You can also use F body gearboxes, the only problem is a slightly reduced turning radius. The same modifications are needed.

I think you can also use a Jeep steering gearbox, but I don’t know the specifics.

I swapped in a steering gearbox from a 86 442 probably 20 plus years ago, my car drives so much nicer compared to the original. The number of turns lock to lock is much better (the steering feel like a car instead of a boat) , there is just the right amount of road feel, and the over sensitive “powerful steering” is gone.

 

Check all your front end components for wear, and have the car properly aligned. Then, go forward from there. Worn balljoints and gearbox can affect steering stiffness or lack of.

 

The diameter of the torsion bar inside the steering gear housing determines how much power assist is available. A thick torsion bar means more steering effort, a thin bar means less effort, and a broken bar means zero effort.

You can have your steering gear rebuilt to your specs by specialists firms such as PowerSteering.com. They will dial in the effort and number of turns lock-to-lock that you want. And they will adjust the internal stops so there will be no turning radius problem like you sometimes get when swapping boxes from other cars.

I had this done and it was the best improvement I made to my steering feel, quickness, and turning radius.

 

Lots of options both new and rebuilt

Steer n Gear is an excellent rebuilder of OEM pumps and gearboxes, they can firm your box and set the ratio to taste - CPP makes an all-new 500-series firm feel gearbox which is an OEM fit drop-in - I believe it's a 12.7:1 ratio, i.e. 3 or 3.25 turns lock to lock. Lee Manufacturing also a superb albeit pricey option - all new box and internals and you can specify the level of firm/ratio settings right for your car.

I have the Lee box in my ragtop - 3.25 turns lock to lock and moderate firmness which works very well for street/highway use.

Last one I can think of is a guy on the Buick website - His name is Hector and goes by Carhex - he is a great rebuilder of OEM boxes and can also firm/ratio them to suit.

 

Hmm.. since the only difference between the two styles is how thick this bar is, a simple grinder should be away to waddle away at my thick factory bar until I'm happy with feel of the power assist. Do you know how the "stops" are adjusted?

 

You described your steering as "very easy." If you make the torsion bar thinner, it will make your steering even easier.

To get less easy and more feel, you would buy a torsion bar made for a car like a WS-6 TransAm that has better steering characteristics.

The stops are cast into the box. You would need to grind them to make a change. If you have the car's original box and original Pittman arm, the stops are already correct. It's only when you start swapping boxes and arms from different cars that you run into problems in that regard.