Customs power steering for 54 chevy car.

hi guys i need to put power steering in a 54 chevy car . i see there is a kit on ebay. has anyone used it? what have you used?
car has original front suspension and a 235, no headers. so there is room for a bigger box.

 

anybody?

 

well is it absolutely nessasary. just saying I had a 55 with the 6 banger in it and I didn't feel the need for powersteering ,on the other hand the wife did. well happy wife happy life. I put a manual rack in it and it was a lot better I even liked it myself. cheaper too.

 

I was also curious as to why. If you put in a smaller steering wheel I can see why. I love my power steering but I don't remember struggling with older cars I had. Musta been stronger then ! LOL

 

There actually was factory power steering available for 54 Chevy cars. I see that Chevs of the 40's has rebuild kits/reseal kits for both the box and the pump. Finding the pieces might be a challenge though.

 

original 54 power steering is rare and expensive when you find one.

if there was a good way to put power steering in these cars without going MII every manufacturer out there would offer one.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-steer...Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a47edef2f&vxp=mtr

 

Electric, spliced into the column, would be cheaper and easier than finding a stock setup.

Hell, a Mustang II setup would almost be cheaper than a stock setup.

 

Find a Cavalier power R&P.

 

do some searching ,there are a couple of kits out there . I bought one but don't remember the company I think they are members here . u use a later model pump and box .

 

customer wants power steering. i will give him power steering. the kit on ebay looks complete i want to find the best way.
rpope did you put a power rack in a 54 car?
gimpshotrods have you used the electric units. what is involved?
i will check with the customer he may want that original set up but it sounds like buying it, shipping, rebuilding the components, painting everything and installation he is probably looking at $2500.
thanks for the replies and the link.

 

We installed an Ididit electric column in a 39 Chevy. Just like installing a tilt column. Only three wires to hook up. We will never install another power steering kit with a box, pump, hoses, pullies etc.

 

thanks strcomp won't work for this car, original column shift, wheel has to stay.

 

Tb33.......A good friend of mine, who does a lot of custom conversions and fabrication, did a P/S install on a '53 Chevy earlier this year. He retained the stock upper column/wheel. He used a Ford Ranger steering box and fabricated brackets. I have some photos of that and I will post them, possibly later tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

Ray

 

Yeah, there is that. That kind of counts that out.

 

thanks Ray that would be great.

 

Tb33....Tried to upload here, but the pics are too large for the HAMB format and I don't want to reduce their size in my files.
I can email them to you 'as is'......if you will PM me your e-mail address.

Ray

 

There are free applications that all you to save a fresh copy of an image file, and resize it in the process.

 

hey 49ratfink do you have a photo of what 54 chev power steering stuff looks like???

 

Ray, just a suggestion. You could make a copy and rename the copy of any pic you want to share, then reduce the copy size to fit here. Saves your original full size files and you can delete the resized copy when done uploading.

 

Ray sent me these.;

 

thanks Ray. nice installation!

 

Just a point of clarification........the pics in post #20 are from top to bottom....'56 Studebaker/'56 Studebaker/'54 Chevy. You will note the steering boxes appear to be the same basic design, maybe Ross units, but the upper housing is 'clocked' differently one to the other.

The pics in post #21 are a P/S conversion on a '53 Chevy by a local friend. It is a Ford Ranger box which has the correct rotation for this application.

Ray

 

Heres another one unisteer offers without the column.

 

thanks, still trying to decide on which way to go.

 

Has anyone checked into 53-54 Corvette power steering? They used the same chassis but I've never compared them.

 

found an original box/column and i am looking for info on which fitting is the pressure and which is the return. does any one have service info for this?
thanks

 

i also need a pitman arm with 8 3/8" center of hole to center of ball, that will fit this unit.

 

also does any one know what length the shift rod from the handle the shift mechanism should be.
need help, have lot's of time and dough into this.....and a car stuck on the lift....

 

my motors manual does not really show which is the pressure side and which is the return, but the only clue i have is the pressure line has a fitting adapter and o-ring at the unit. there is a fittin like that but it is a larger port than the return. does that make sense? for some reason i would think the return would be larger. maybe not. what's your thoughts?