Hey, guys, I was wondering how much work/cost would it be abouts to upgrade my '54's Mustang II front end to power steering. I've been driving it more and I just wondered if it'd be worth the time and cash to do it. If needed I can take pictures of how everything is set up now. I believe it has the stock column in it, I just don't know about all the clearances. I'll have to check on those anyway because I don't know how close my front crossmember is to the scrub line and since I'm thinking about putting airbags on, I might as well pop the hood, turn on a drop light and snap some pictures for reference. The car's stored a short distance from my house, but I still pretty much have to make plans to go over and work on it since it's not in a direction I normally go. Anyway, any thoughts/tips from the seasoned veterans on the subject? Thanks, guys!
Should not be that hard. The power rack will bolt in were the manual rack was. You will need to change the joint at the steering input shaft. The manual has a 9/16- 26 spline shaft and the power has a 3/4-36 spline shaft. if you running a Chevy engine you can use the Chevy pump. You just have to put the valve in to change the pump pressure. There available at any place that sells the Mustang II setups. they also have the hose setup for that application.
I changed my '37 Chevy from manual to power last winter. I just called Old Dog Streetrods and they helped me figure out everything needed. As I remember, cost was between $700-$800 by the time I got done. Part of that cost was for new alternator bracket I had to get to relocate the alt to clear the pump. It probably cost me a little more than "usual" because my steering linkage was "homemade" and had to be redone. Sure glad I did it. It's like driving a different car.
If you get a late 80's Thunderbird rack (say 1988), you don't need to mess with any flow reducing scheme, like you do with a MII rack. They operate at the same GPM flow rate as the factory GM Saginaw pump. They are dimensionally identical to the MII rack. This means you just need to hang a pump, and hook up the hoses. Uses the same tie rod ends too. http://www.autozone.com/autozone/pa...=2&itemIdentifier=855296_0_0_2365,3918,100816 You want the "One Piece" unit, as in 3-turns lock-to-lock, and not the one made by TRW. Out here, less tax, the rack, including core is $63.00. Hard to beat that price. Keep in mind, there is one thing beyond the input shaft diameter/spline count difference. The input shaft on the rack is shorter, so you may need to get another chunk of steering shaft to make up the difference. It will depend on your setup. If this is not the least expensive route, I don't know what is. If you are going to bag it, and depending on how close you crossmember is mounted to the frame, you may need to notch and reinforce the frame rails where they p*** over the inner tie rod boots. This also will depend on your setup. Here is a 1952 Chevy, with a FatMan UltraLow crossmember that we are working on, note the notches:
The Jalopy Journal
