WIW?
- Thread starter giowest
- Start date
Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
Stamped in, or cast? Stamped, it's worth nothing... it's a sleazy attempt at a fake.
Cast? Well, you decide... it's no different than any other PS gear, other than revised internal stops to compensate for the longer pitman arm--which is what they used to make it a "faster ratio." You can buy the longer arms all day; they work on any power steering box, though on a non-T/A box, you might make the tires rub the frame at full lock. The internal ratio of the gearbox itself is identical to any other Mopar power-steering pump.
So... it's not faster ratio, and it isn't "firm feel" (which was done with nothing more complex than a stiffer reaction spring--also an easy upgrade to any power box)... so unless it's cheap and you're gonna sell it to a '70 E-car resto head at a substantial profit, there's no reason to buy it.
Interesting side note: though Mopar used a longer pitman arm to increase steering ratio, they didn't use a longer idler arm. This means the car actually had different steering ratios depending on what direction you were turning, as well as having a significantly-shorter turning radius going left than it did right. [smilie=e:
Cast? Well, you decide... it's no different than any other PS gear, other than revised internal stops to compensate for the longer pitman arm--which is what they used to make it a "faster ratio." You can buy the longer arms all day; they work on any power steering box, though on a non-T/A box, you might make the tires rub the frame at full lock. The internal ratio of the gearbox itself is identical to any other Mopar power-steering pump.
So... it's not faster ratio, and it isn't "firm feel" (which was done with nothing more complex than a stiffer reaction spring--also an easy upgrade to any power box)... so unless it's cheap and you're gonna sell it to a '70 E-car resto head at a substantial profit, there's no reason to buy it.
Interesting side note: though Mopar used a longer pitman arm to increase steering ratio, they didn't use a longer idler arm. This means the car actually had different steering ratios depending on what direction you were turning, as well as having a significantly-shorter turning radius going left than it did right. [smilie=e:
Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
The hot setup is to rebuild your stock box with mid-'80s cop internals, namely the firm-feel reaction spring... that's the only really "different" part. Then, get in contact with your repro-parts house of choice and get the long pitman arm. As I recall, it's nothing more than a C-body arm with the splines indexed differently. When I worked at Year One, I'm sure we sold a matching, longer idler arm which I assume was a C-body piece as well, but I'm not sure whether it was modified in any way.
Another steering improvement is to use the 1974-'78 C-body tie-rod ends and sleeves. They're 1/8" larger in diameter than the A/B-body stuff, so they don't flex, but they drop into your drag link and steering arms like they were born there. Less flex = better feel & precision. Cheap and easy, just like Mom. [smilie=e:
Another steering improvement is to use the 1974-'78 C-body tie-rod ends and sleeves. They're 1/8" larger in diameter than the A/B-body stuff, so they don't flex, but they drop into your drag link and steering arms like they were born there. Less flex = better feel & precision. Cheap and easy, just like Mom. [smilie=e:
