Couple of other things. The late model pitman arm with the ball joint obviously requires late model center link. It isn't difficult to find, I didn't use it because you also need to use a late model idler arm. Also not difficult to find, but my car had a brand new early model idler arm on it already. (I had to do a manual swap for header clearances, and had rebuilt the front suspension. And didn't want to replace new with new. For the record, anyone wanting to purchase a p/s setup, I have one for sale lol. No clearance issues with 302 and headers, I went 351w and old style crites headers. New style crites headers fit power steering.) There's also one manual steering setup listed online which has pictures of the pitman arm with part number of D3DA-3590-AB.
Don't worry about matching arm to sector, has to match the steering linkage. Excluding Mustang, physically all manual & P/S boxes are identical(Incl Torino, Maverick, etc). I believe in some years manual arms are different but all P/S should be same. Arms do vary between model lines. Eons ago I installed a P/S sector on my Cobra but not the assist. For that I used the original manual arm. When I added the full system, had to swap the P/S arm in place of manual.
I understand that, just appears that a D3DA-3590-AB is also a manual steering pitman arm along with the D0DA-3590-A. All I've found on a D3DA-3590-AB is this post, and all other posts say the only part number for an early model manual pitman arm is D0DA-3590-A. Just trying to shed light on the fact there appears to be another part number, and could help others in their conversions.
Here's info from '73-'79 Mercury parts catalog. the designation P in second column is Comet(mav same). Third is part number & last is ID on arm. If actual part number same, engineering number in last column makes no difference. Notice part number for 73/74 & 75/77 P/S arm are same. The manual arm for those years is different. Part numbers for 73/74 are originally 1969 & 1970 numbers, about 99.9% those cover 70/72 as well. EDIT Number from 65/72 Ford parts catalog, same as listed for 73/74. ID not given but no chance parts issued 70/72 would have a '73 ID. OK maybe a LATE '72 arm... Soooo in a nutshell, there is ONE P/S arm & TWO manual...
Yes, along with D0DA stamping, there was a 2nd. D3DA stamping, both used part number D0DZ-3590-A, here is picture of D3DA manual pitman arm......... David
Aha! Then then only way to tell between a manual D3DA and a PS D3DA would be the taper and overall shape.... Oh man! couldn't they just pick a different number and save us all this So, in your picture, the way the arm is positioned, the bigger diameter is on the upper side, correct?
Numbers on arms are different, manual is D3DA-3590-AB, while PS is D3DA-3590-BB. Using only the first four digits of any Ford part or casting number will probably get one in trouble. What D3DA reveals(D3) part originated in '73, (D)for Maverick/Comet, (A)chassis part. 3590 shows it's a steering arm, while AB or BB indicates the version, P/S or manual. First, second & third digit isn't necessarily set in stone. For instance the prefix on my original Comet 302 is D2OE, indicating it's Torino engine, no doubt was used in Torino & any other application that specked 302. The popular(OK at one time) 5.0 HO Mustang E7TE head indicates it was designed for truck application. Yes same head was on truck engines that were not HO. C8OE is prefix used on 428CJ intake, heads and block from 68-'70, same regardless if engine was installed Fairlane/Torino, Mustang/Cougar, or even Montego/Cyclone.
Both MS and PS pitman arm look exactly the same, the difference is with their tapered hole, which are opposite between them.......picture is with MS set up, you see how the MS center link(tapered pin facing down) attaches to to pitman arm from the top. With the PS set up, center link(tapered pin facing up) is attached from the bottom, so pitman is on top of the center link......I probably have picture of PS set up somewhere, but at least this will give you a general idea........ David
Here is a manual steering pitman arm compared to a power steering pitman arm. As one can see.....very different.
OK, Craig beat me to the pictures! May look the same from top view, but side view shows difference, which makes sense, as you can see in 1st picture, you need that "space" for both MS/PS center link to maintain correct alignment, as MS tapered stud faces downward, whereas the PS tapered stud faces upwards. Both pictures have the PS pitman at the top, can see the tapered hole diameter sizes too. David
