Power steering adn V8's? (1 Viewer)

[Sporin]

I've read about 300 power steering threads but I can 't seem to dig up much information on adding PS to a rig with a Chevy V8 in it already?

I'd like to start doing my research on this for the switch sometime down the $$ road. I assume it will actually be pretty straightforward if I use Chevy parts but I don't know what to look for or where.

Any of you Search gurus point me in the right direction?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[camcruiser13]

you kidding right

 

[Sporin]

I wish I was, I'm a pretty good searcher but every search seems to come up with 2F specific info. Because the search engine reads signatures it brings up a LOT of info that is difficult for the non-expert to pull information from. I found a bit of info searching for Chevy+bracket but I was hoping to find a more concise parts list.

Instead of mocking me, how about helping a newbie out and pointing me in the right direction? I'd really appreciate it, honestly.

 

[bigndn]

Search 'saginaw'........you'll get a bunch there.

 

[Sporin]

Appreciated, I've found tons of info on the Sag box as it is used in many 2F conversions, I'm trying to find out which pump to get and how it would hook up to my V8.

 

[fogblanket]

Dave
look at what Man-a-fre and SOR have intehr thre power steering sections. they both sell kits that you can peice together yourself and save a few dollars but you do have to be careful that all your peiced together pars are compatible where as the kits are compatible.
I don't know specifically what set up works best in a pig but i seem to recall some using a scout box or a fj60 box in tath it is set up to be on the frame behind the front crossmember.?. as far as a pump goes you should get a pump and brakcket for your engine then figure out your high pressure line. I would get a 'kit' that has the u-joints and everything that is replaced from the firewall forward. looking at a SOR diagram and matching it up to a parts list from one of the above mentioned kits will get you so knowledge .
HTH Jason

 

[Sporin]

Thank you Jason!

 

[Leaping Deer]

Dave,

Since you have a GM motor you could just grab a saginaw pump which was mated to any SBC using factory mounts out of a bone yard. You are going to need to make custom lines anyway so choose which ever box you want. I am really looking into the Scout saginaw box for my 40. But I don't know about the 55 vs 40 with this type of conversion.

http://www.wejacks.com/scoutsteering/index.html
Good link for a scout box but no info for V8 pump but it should be real easy.

 

[bandy rooster]

your going to need to pick up stock brackets from a 350 at a junkyard, pick up a power steering pump and hoses from like an 85 chevy suburban with a 5.7 at any auto parts store. and your going to need a saginaw power steering box which is avail at any junk yard *usually on older jeep*all of which comes in slight variations of turning clock to clock and in some 3 and 4 bolt mounting patterns. you'll also need get a mounting plate made by several different vendors for the sag box or from poser here on mud if he still sells them. from there your gonna need a TRE froma early 70s jeep cj5 and a conversion rod (avail from BTF prods.) to go from your saginaw pitman arm to stock tlc TRE... you'll also need to get a different steering shaft and prob a bunch of other s*** to...

 

[idus25]

Gm pumps are everywhere. Jeg's, Summit, eBay, JCWhitney. All will bolt to the GM brackets and then to the motor.

I have a saginaw I bought from Jeg's and used a March bracket to bolt it up. Ran lines to a Jeep TJ box I got from the yard. All works well together.

Good Luck

 

[Alz Toy]

Scout

Look in the tech section, and you'll find some info. After lots of reading, I went with the Scout box, as " I " think its the easiest of the Saginaw boxes , having used both. I basically used Woody's writeup to get an idea of what I needed to do. I used a steering shaft out of an early Toy mini 4x4, A Ford shock tower on d/side cut down to the same height as stock, A bearing from Kurt for the steering colum, along with the steering ujoints. Since I have the cradle mount on the front of my motor, I made my p/s pump mount, as stock GM mounted the pump off the side of the water pump, and the cradle was in the way. I've since seen a p/s pump mount on a late 70's Chev p/u that bolts to the front of the head that would be perfect, as thats roughly where my pump ended up being. I'm useing p/s hoses for a '69 Chevy Caprice. To me, the hardest part of the swap was cutting the inner fenderwell to clear the steering box. I used a cutoff wheel on a 4" electric grinder with some trial fitting, to keep from cutting to much material off. Hope this helps some, Al

 

[Sporin]

HUGE thanks everyone, this is exactly what I was looking for.

Time to hit the junkyard!

 

[FoYoChe]

I looked for a pump mount for quite a while, that didn't bolt to the exhaust somehow ( somebody explain to me why chevy thought it was a good idea to mount accessories to the exhaust someday) and I ended up buying a mount from alan grove, copied it and sent it back, it bolts to the set of tapped holes down low on the front of the motor. and it worked really well. Just wish I could have found a alternator mount that didn't bolt to the waterpump for cheap.

 

[Scott R]

You want the pump, bracket and lines from an 79' Suburban or 1500 without A/C. I didn't have to do any modifications to bolt this to my 87TBI. The lines are the perfect length and require no modifications. My entire Saginaw setup cost me less than $100 in parts, minus the plates I purchased from Orange45 here on mud. The steering shafts and yoke part numbers on are the this site and available at Napa.

To answer the question about how to mount the pump without a Chevy exhaust manifold, you can get a bracket for that from a hot rod shop like Streamline Industries in Denver.

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! I am running a 350 from a 77 Chevy full size sedan. I am running the original power steering pump and box that came with. Original hoses worked just fine. I did replace the hi pressure one just for old age problems. I mounted the box behind the radiator cross member. It is a close fit, but no problems. I did change out my exhaust manifolds to early 70's with the AIR rail. They are the low hanging style with the exit at the rear. I run 2 belts to the pump, as it squeals some with just one belt when I am really cranking on it in the rocks. I fabbed up a carrier bearing on the lower section of my steering column, and used a Borgson ujoint onto the Saginaw box. You need to find/use stock brackets and pump for whatever year/model your engine is, so that ll the pulleys will line up. John

 

[Sporin]

sweet, thanks everyone.

A big issue I have is that I have no idea what my engine came from. It was built for the PO by a shop in Scituate RI.

It's simple 350, with a 600cfm Edlebrock carb on it and a few other goodies. It's a beast., The dyno sheet says 287 hp at the crank., and the receipt says $3750. It's nuts.

I think starting with the 79 Suburban as a starting point is smart, I'll explore that avenue. You guys are the best, MOST appreciated.

 

[llih]

As others have said get the brackets from a bone yard. The standard location for the pump on 1980 trucks is mounted on the drivers side up high. The filler neck is easy to reach. The bracket has one bolt in common with the exhaust manifold. There are also brackets that mount the ps unit lower. I have even seen a couple of ps pumps mounted on the other side in heep conversions. The FAQ has a good section on which pump and box to use. There are even AutoZone part numbers. Depending on which exhaust manifold or headers you are using check to see how close the pump return line is to the exhaust. I had one pump that put the return within a 1/2 inch of the manifold. I thought that was just a little close.

 

[hellbilly]

Killer stuff in the tech link at the top, as mentioned above.

 

[deneric]

Something I want to address that I was not aware of when I started my project is the type of heads your motor has. If they are older heads with no bolt holes for accessories and you have a short style water pump you will need to convert to a long water pump. I had to do this and the end result is relocating my alternator to the passenger side and getting all the pullys (crank, water pump, and p/s) from the same doner vehicle. I didn't know I would have to do all this, so just my .02 cents. Good luck!

Eric

 

[fyresq]

Make sure you look into the differences of using the common conversion boxes (gm sag, scout sag, mini truck) etc. I was going to go with the scout sag because it seemed to be the most simple but them realized ( after buying the box) the steering arm travels between the frame and leaf springs and could get piched if you don't put a long bump stop (reducing travel in my mind). I went with GM saginaw which requires more welding and brackets (got a beautiful kit from 4x4 labs to go with my hi steer) but I think I will be much happier. By the way the GM box (if you shoose to use gm) that you want is the 4 bolt 4.25 turn out of an old boat chevy car like an impala. They are called 800 series boxes if you order one. Avoid the 3 bolt gm truck versions.