Trying to convert my manual steering into powersteering. I got me a saginaw box for a 56 but it looks like the column is also different. The powersteering one takes a rag joint and the manual one looks splined in. Anybody ever do this convertion before? Do I have to get rid of the column or is there an extra piece for the pw/s boxes?
Thanks in advance
Erit

 

Don't have an answer for you, but I'll dig around and see what I can find out

 

thanks

 

you need the steering column with the rag joint, the power steering gear box , pump and brackets, and a double groove pully on crank shaft and water pump.
Frank allen

 

I don't know if the power steering changed in 55 or 56. The 54 had a shaft that came out o power steering box and went all the way to the steering wheel where it had splines and was threaded to put the steering wheel on. Not a great safety feature.

 

thanks for the info, and yes you're right I already have the gearbox and the rag joint column btw I was thinking of going with a more modern 605 gearbox which I've been told fits right in. BTW this topic is a little old I asked this in 2009

The manual one is like that but the power assist one has a rag joint. Also for any one looking the gearbox is a one year (1956) only box. It fits out of Cadillac, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile. The column is only out of Oldsmobile but there is two kinds early, late model. A few things change; the column drop(two piece and three piece) The signal switch (one has wires that come all the way from the switch, the other has a rod that activates the switch at the bottom only wire in column is the horn), and the shifter lever (one screws in the other has a pin that holds it in place)