I believe all early '70s Torino, Mustang etc with 302 & P/S, use the same belt setup, would think they'd have a "on the shelf" solution...
Been fixing a lot of other stuff while I got it on stands. When I take it down want to just be able to drive it w/o any issues rest of the season. I hope to get the steering box in today; getting some help from my brother to handle the heavy box. If that goes in w/o issue the rest will be hopefully down hill. I have a Maverick friend who was suppose to help me the last 2 weeks, he didn't show or call - that kind of put me behind in getting the box in. Also, having problem getting the pittman arm from the p/s adapter - going to get if off today - one way - or another. Been doing a lot of cleaning and painting parts, while I have easy access. Putting in adj. brake rod, new mc, ign sw., fix emer./park brake issue. I will post pic when I finish the install of all the processes I have had to deal w/ on this matter. I am getting a serious itch to get the car on the road but don't want to leave any stone unturned -- going to triple check all fastners and connections B4 hitting the road. More on this topic in near future.
Update on my project! I have made some progress after having to overcome some hitches in the install. I have had to sleep on some of the issues a day or so to figure out my next steps. Also, don't like working on dark, rainy humid days, not to mention a man of my age crawling under a car on a daily basis. 1.) The car has a bracket the hyd. ram was connected to, custom made "heavy duty", that caused me some setbacks but finally figured my way around it. #22. 2.) Got all the connections made under the hood and to steering linkage. #228-230-231. The rag joint fits vry close to the firewall opening; had to notch the removable plate to clear one of the rag-joint bolts #223.
Yesterday, cut the steering column 2 5/8 " and it looks like that is enough to make room for everything syncing w/o any binding issues. Painted the column, contact glued the foam interior seal to the mounting plate - seems like that is the most feasible to reinstall the column and plate as a unit -- that is the way I removed it. My main concern here, seal the hole in firewall so no air, exhaust or heat comes in the car. Hopefully, will get the car back on the ground this week -- that is my plan. Still have some detailing and installing new master cyl., painting some of the spacers supporting the GM ps pump. I will post of how things worked out in the near future.
Getting close! Is that a sport grip steering wheel I see? I know a guy who could recover that leather for ya!
Yes - it is a cover ! I might consider having the wheel recovered may also go w/ AM wheel - yet to be determined. I cleaned up the bare steel section and cleared coated it - didn't cleanup on the underside like I wud have liked. It's not bad, the topside is in pretty nice shape - I had worked on it in the past. I may consider having the steel part powder coated an the wheel wrapped - all depends on cost. Right now, just interested in seeing what/how this upgrade will contribute to my driving pleasure. I was tired of a leaky, noisy, hoses/plumbing running every-which-way situation, not to mention I had the ram support break where the custom drop bracket was reinforced. I was lucky it broke coming out of the garage, cuz I was on my way to a show in Wisconsin - that was abt 4 yrs ago. So, this has to be improvement over present setup.
A little update on this conversion. After a much longer than anticipated time frame for getting this thing up and going, I made some progress over the last few weeks. Since this is a hobby car I don't work on it much, if I deem it's too hot and humid, or other life/family scenario's take preference. That said, since my last update I cut the column " I found it only needs to be cut 2.75" to clear the firewall and not leave a big gap to try and cover. I screwed around w/ the hoses I ordered w/ the kit for more than a week b4 I decided to have new hose fabbed. If I had did that earlier I wud have the car in service now. The hoses they sent me were just to short, esp., the pressure hose. I had 6 in. added to the pressure hose and it fell in place, moving it away from the header, whereas, I don't have to worry abt it burning through. I did contact them and they agreed to xchange them for new longer one's "cud have sent the longer one at first". The person I talked to this time "3rd. call", seemed more interested in solving and working w/ customer issues. I wanted the hose now, tired of screwing around - B4 U know it summer will be over in this part of the country. I did a lot of other things while I have the car up, so can't attribute all the time to the steering work. Seemingly, I have all/most of the big challenges under control -- hope to have the car on the street next week. Hopefully, all the lost sleep and aggravation & money will make this a worthwhile venture.
That's one thing I am going to have a leg up on, I manage a hose house! I will have anything for fluid conveyance at my disposal when the time comes. BTW, thanks for the write up, I am seriously considering going with this unit over a rack conversion.
Final thoughts on this system P.O.S. My experience w/ this setup has ended in total dissatisfaction. If I had know what I know now; I wud have rebuilt OE system -- which I intend to do anyway. After having the car aligned by 2 sources it wanders much worse than the OE. I was told by, Borg. add +3 deg caster over spec. I was told by align shop -- not enough adjustment on the strut rods to get that kind of adjustment? I know vry little about suspension tech. but I was not surprised the align shop statement. It also will not return to center w/o help and has much less assist than OE and less than modern cars --- long story short --- It's a downgrade from OE by a large margin. IMO it is a miss representation of the product. I had talk to some people who have the setup and they were impressed w/ it "money well spent" -- not my experience. I am afraid to drive it over 50 mph -- it's a chore to keep it aimed where u want it to go. I have missed a few of the events I normally attend over 100 mi. away installing the sys and waiting 10 days for a pump replacement. I will only be attending local events this season -- going to keep this setup rest of the season. Not going to miss the rest of the season. When I had the old setup I wud go anywhere, drive 70mph w/o any reservations. Going to contact Borg and let them know just what I think about the product and possibly file complaint w/ the state attorney of Conn. Not embarrassed to admit I made a mistake "part of life" -- regroup -- move on -- just informing others considering the setup of possible issues w/ product.
Sorry to hear you're still having issues but I'd think with enough caster it would return to center, problem is that will make a already "stiff" steering even stiffer... Here's a video that talks about preparing a '69 Fairlane Wagon for install of factory P/S(Yes Frank it has the exact suspension as a Maverick, so it most certainly applies)... The surprising thing is they are shooting for 7* of positive caster so are installing shims behind the front UCA mounting bolt... If you don't want to watch the whole thing, start at 17:45 for shim install...
