Ok, I have a 53 Pontiac with stock steering linkage, and I have a 68 Chevelle power steering box mounted, but I am having trouble finding a pitman arm that will work with this combination. I have a 57 Olds pitman and the angle is correct but it's too short and would need one about an inch longer to get the rods angled correctly. Now should I try to find a pitman arm thats longer or and Idler arm thats shorter to make the geometry correct? Can anyone help me on this, I've wasted money trying too many different things and them not working or can someone tell me how to flip over a pitman and what I'd have to do to make that work. I don't have fancy tools so keep that in mind. I only build them to drive. By the way I have hooked up a 57 Pontiac power steering pump and lines to the box and that part is working fine.
I would take a close look at using the idler from a 68 Chevelle, because we know the length matches the pitman arm. Can you mount the box and idler properly? I'm pretty sure the pitman and idler arms for a chevelle are wear items, so try to avoid a custom made wear item, it might bite you later on down the road. Saginaw steering boxes produce a lot of torque, make sure your mounting is solid. Many '67 to '87 Chevy pickup frames are cracked around the steering box mounting, food for thought.
If the arm is about 1" short , why not move the steering box down an inch to meet it ? You did say the angle is correct , just a little short . Won't that work or am I looking at it the wrong way . If that will work , you can always move the steering colunm down or add on as needed to connect the steering column back up .
All things considered, if a longer pitman arm will fix it, lengthen it. If you don't weld take it to a 'boiler shop' where they do that kind of heavy duty/critical welding. Of course that will reduce the ratio, where the wheels will turn a little quicker with same amount of travel on the steering wheel.
Moving the gear box is not an option, as it mounted up to two of the original steering gear holes and I had tried a different one using a home made adapter plate but that hit the starter and kept the engine from going in. I am using a 55 V8 Pontiac engine to replace the under powered straight 8 that was in it and a 59 Bellhousing so I could get a 4 speed behind the engine. Thats why I am using those parts plus a tilt column from a 64 Starfire that had a floor shift so no linkage there to get rid of, I was going to try to use a 57 power steering gear I got off Ebay but the ******* that sold it to me didn't tell me it was frozen up at the upper bearing, he said it was just a little rough feeling when turning it by hand, that guy must have been frickin King Cong to turn it by hand. That box may still be an option, but I think the simplest solution is a shorter Idler arm, but from what I'm not sure. That would put the geometry back by pulling the center link back in line. Any thought about that one? Besides I already rebuilt the front suspension and added disc brakes and changed the pedal to upper mounts so the power booster mounts to the firewall. Still have to figure out the clutch linkage but geting there.
the chevelle arm was too high and needed to be reversed to drop down enough to connect to the steering linkage. Do you know of a way to make that work because the arm is tappered?
A few things here, you'll have to remove the ball stud from the original pitman arm and weld it to the arm for the gearbox. Grind off the sledged area of the ball on the backside of the pitman arm than punch it out. Than drill a hole in the chevelle pitman arm for a very tight fit than weld in place. These old Pontiacs use a hollow tube centerlink for the idler,pitman arm and both inner tie rod ends,with springs, cups and washers at each end to set the tightness. The factory end from the old pitman must be re used to reset the preload on the steering ***embly correctly. I tried this my self at one point on my 55 and the problem I ran into was once the box was mounted, the location of the centerline of the pitman arm with the gearbox in the straight ahead position was too far from when the wheels were straight. I never tried to bend a pitman arm and remounted my column.gearbox ***embly. I was trying to use a 55 chevy box which mounts up over the frame more for more engine clearance.
The Chevelle Pitman arm is curved in the wrong way to match up with the Pontiac Center link. I did drill it out so the ball stud would fit it but when I mounted it up to the box it was too high and needed to be flipped over to get the correct angle. The problem is that you just can't flip it and have it go on the pitman shaft because the Chevelle pitman arm is tappered and won't go on the spline upside down. So that is where I am stuck.
Would that be strong enough to hold? I get concerned about cutting steering parts and welding them back together. Call me chicken but I don't want a weld to break at 80 mph. I guess I would have to take it to a professional shop to get that done?
Since the pitman and idler arm have to be the same exact length (+/- 1/8" works for me), go with modifying the Chevelle arm, make up a spare one while you're at it. If you're slick, have a simple alignment jig made up so you can replicate the first one accurately. Bob
The Jalopy Journal
