Join me in the joyous beating of a dead horse :grin2:
I'm planning out the upgrades to my car and have started focusing on the steering. I have a 66 coupe with the manual v8 19:1 steering box. I rebuilt it about 4 years ago but even after the rebuild it felt sloppy and I darn near had to put a steering wheel spinner on the thing to park it. With all the changes in suspension and stuff that I'm doing to it I want to upgrade the steering. It'd be super cool if I could get it to steer like a gokart and I'd really like to do away with the harpoon steering shaft if possible. Not that I'm planning to be getting into any front end collisions but, if I do, it'd be awesome if I wasnt impaled to the seat.
Use: hard street driving and occasional autocross. Since I do drive this thing a lot (or planning to...) and it's going to have 245 tires up front I'd like it to have power steering. Dont get me wrong...i like working out but I also like being able to park the car without breaking a sweat...also, in the spirit of full disclosure, the car will be lowered roughly 2" thanks to an UCA drop and 1" lowering springs
Option 1:
Unisteer / TCP power rack and pinion. ($1600 - $3000 depending on unit and accessories)
Pros: provides tight response, relatively bolt in, best road feel? (i dont have experience with this unit)
Cons: most expensive, possible increase in bumpsteer, not compatible with 70's big bearing spindles (?), quality control on some units, oil pan choices may be limited (351w block), vintage racing legality suspect
Option 2:
Borgeson power steering setup ($1100ish)
Pros: fairly inexpensive, uses the stock draglink and tie rods, can use whatever spindles you want, maintains stock appearance, vintage racing legal, quick steering ratio of 13:1 (or 14:1), drop in installation
Cons: power steering lines muddy up the cleanliness of the engine bay...that's really all I have hear...
** can the pump be used with a serpentine system?
Option 3:
Manual QR Steering box, Steering quickener, EPS ($800 - $2000 depending on sourcing of the EPS[kit vs salvage])
Pros: stock appearance, no lines to muddy up the engine bay, no leaks to worry about, no pump drawing power off the engine (3-4hp...is it even worth mentioning), probably the fastest steering system depending on the quickener to be used, uses the stock draglink / tierods, use whatever spindles you want, could be the most inexpensive depending on what you can dig out of the salvage yard
Cons: still have the harpoon, most fabrication to account for (EPS and quickener)
Help me decide what to do here. I'll probably be ordering the suspension late November / early December and would like to get the steering pieces at about the same time. I'm currently leaning towards the Borgeson unit and changing out all the old pieces (drag link, tie rods, etc) for new stuff.
I'm planning out the upgrades to my car and have started focusing on the steering. I have a 66 coupe with the manual v8 19:1 steering box. I rebuilt it about 4 years ago but even after the rebuild it felt sloppy and I darn near had to put a steering wheel spinner on the thing to park it. With all the changes in suspension and stuff that I'm doing to it I want to upgrade the steering. It'd be super cool if I could get it to steer like a gokart and I'd really like to do away with the harpoon steering shaft if possible. Not that I'm planning to be getting into any front end collisions but, if I do, it'd be awesome if I wasnt impaled to the seat.
Use: hard street driving and occasional autocross. Since I do drive this thing a lot (or planning to...) and it's going to have 245 tires up front I'd like it to have power steering. Dont get me wrong...i like working out but I also like being able to park the car without breaking a sweat...also, in the spirit of full disclosure, the car will be lowered roughly 2" thanks to an UCA drop and 1" lowering springs
Option 1:
Unisteer / TCP power rack and pinion. ($1600 - $3000 depending on unit and accessories)
Pros: provides tight response, relatively bolt in, best road feel? (i dont have experience with this unit)
Cons: most expensive, possible increase in bumpsteer, not compatible with 70's big bearing spindles (?), quality control on some units, oil pan choices may be limited (351w block), vintage racing legality suspect
Option 2:
Borgeson power steering setup ($1100ish)
Pros: fairly inexpensive, uses the stock draglink and tie rods, can use whatever spindles you want, maintains stock appearance, vintage racing legal, quick steering ratio of 13:1 (or 14:1), drop in installation
Cons: power steering lines muddy up the cleanliness of the engine bay...that's really all I have hear...
** can the pump be used with a serpentine system?
Option 3:
Manual QR Steering box, Steering quickener, EPS ($800 - $2000 depending on sourcing of the EPS[kit vs salvage])
Pros: stock appearance, no lines to muddy up the engine bay, no leaks to worry about, no pump drawing power off the engine (3-4hp...is it even worth mentioning), probably the fastest steering system depending on the quickener to be used, uses the stock draglink / tierods, use whatever spindles you want, could be the most inexpensive depending on what you can dig out of the salvage yard
Cons: still have the harpoon, most fabrication to account for (EPS and quickener)
Help me decide what to do here. I'll probably be ordering the suspension late November / early December and would like to get the steering pieces at about the same time. I'm currently leaning towards the Borgeson unit and changing out all the old pieces (drag link, tie rods, etc) for new stuff.