[ajzride]

Okay

So I took the car into Big 10 today to get the alignment done, and the results were less than satisfactory. The tech told me that he couldn't align the car because the gearbox, power steering control valve and power steering ram all needed to be replace before he could proceed. While I am pretty decent under the hood, I am completely lost when it comes to steering/suspension. Normally I would be keen to take anything from a big 10 tech with a grain of salt, but the guy was really helpful, put it up on the rack and showed me what all he thought was wrong, then instead of telling me how much he could fix it for, he said that he recommended I look into a Rack and pinion conversion kit since I was probably going to be looking at a pile of money anyway.

So i was wondering what suggestions you guy have. So far I have considered 4 options:

Option 1: approx $700
Get a new flaming river gear box, and a rebuild kit for the ram and control valve

Option 2: approx $1100
Get a new flaming river gear box, a new ram, and a new control valve

Option 3: approx $2000
Get a TCP or Flaming River rack and pinion conversion kit

Option 4: approx $2500 + install (no clue on cost)
Get a TCI IFS setup.

Personally I am leaning towards option 2. I'm not real confident in my ability to rebuild the valve or the ram, so I am leaning away from option 1. I've seen where there have been some negative things said about the TCP and FR R&P kits on the forum, plus, if I am going to spend 2K, I might as well go ahead and get the TCI IFS kit.

Which brings me to option 4, which is definitely the way I would like to go, however I have a few concerns:
A) Cost. I have pretty much reached my budget for the project, which means if I don't spend another dime, I'm going to blow my budget by the cost of a paint job. Admittingly I could swing it, but right now the car is nothing but a pile of junk to my wife, who does not understand my love of a primered up noisy smelly leaky automobile. I really need to get it painted and on the road so that she can see how much fun it can be before I start sinking more money into it, or else I might be sinking money into a marriage counselor.
B) Installation. TCI looks like a little more than I can handle myself. I'm sure I could knock it out with some help from my dad (he's a welder) but he is probably going to be on the road for the next six to nine months, so I can't count on much help from him. And I wouldn't have a clue where to look for a shop locally that could handle that sort of job. Plus paying someone to do it would drive the cost up even more.
C) Time. Since I have sold my other personal car, me and my wife only have one personal vehicle between us. Not a problem during the week as I can drive the company car, but I'm not supposed to use it on the weekends, so I need to get the mustang on the road soon.

So those are the options as I see them, but since I'm not overly fond of any of them, I was hoping you guys might be able to throw out some other ideas, or make me feel more comfortable about the ones I have already thought about.

Thanks guys.

[ajzride]

After two sleepless nights of thinking, pondering, deliberating and reading hundreds of pages of forums, i finally reached a decision.

I decided that while the TCI kit is the best value, I cannot afford to have someone install it, and I do not have the time or patience (or skill set) to do it myself.

I decided that I am sick of power steering, I hate the hoses, I hate the pumps, I hate the mess. A good manual setup cannot be any harder to steer than my current jacked up power rig, and I have no problems turning it now.

That left me with two options: A power steering eliminator kit and a new gearbox, or a manual rack and pinion system. Turns out one of the two the manual pinion system that everyone seemed most pleased with cost about the same as a new gearbox and PS eliminator kit. Based on my hours of reading, everyone seemed happiest with the steeroids kit and the new redesigned unisteer kits. I called unisteer today and they assured me that they new redesigned kit woull clear both the 351w swap headers and my z-bar. so I was able to pickup the unisteer kit from summit for under $800, it should arrive this week, and I hope to get it installed next weekend (I don't think I'll get to it this weekend with the holiday).

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and notes, and I'll add the process to build page, and hopefully anyone else coming through in the future will be able to benefit from my experiences.

Thanks for all the advice.

[MustangOne]

Rebuilt steering box $180
Rebuilt control valve $180
Rebuilt slave cylinder $130

Upper & lowers inner & outer $280

$770 rebuilt all of what you have.

Manual Drag link $130
Plus Upper & lowers inner & outer $280
Rebuilt steering box $180

$590 for a manual set up

[Ricks 70 stang]

You might look into the Borgeson power steering kit. That is what I have on my 70. Steers very well and best of all no leaks. I used the hedman elite headers and had to shim the drivers side mount for clearance between the header and the steering box. They say you can use your stock steering pump but I purchased the borgeson pump also. Just a thought.
Rick
I have a 351w with c-4. This will not work with z bar.

[ajzride]

MustangOne: Are those prices through your shop? That is a fantastic price on a gearbox. I looked at your website and only saw crate motors for sale there.

The best prices I found (mustang plus, mustang unlimited, california mustang) were 249 for control valve, 180 for slave cylinder, 375 for rebuilt steering box, 550 for new steering box, and 220 for manual steering adapter.

That comes out closer to
800 rebuilt steering box (not including uppers and lowers)
980 new steering box (not including uppers and lowers)
595 manual (not including uppers and lowers)

I'm certainly not disputing you, just wondering where you are finding such good prices, and also letting you know how I came to my decision.

If I can rebuild the system I have for 770, or convert to the Unisteer manual R&P for 765, the question then becomes which one will serve my purpose better.

Would I really notice a big difference in the effort required to turn the wheels between the stock PS setup and the manual R&P?

Unisteer ( and several forum users over at vintage mustangs) claim that the newer version of their system (part #8001110-01) only has a negligibly reduced turning radius and can be adjust for less than 1/32" of bump steer. If these statements are true, then it seems like for the same price upgrading to the R&P is a good move. If these statements are false, then I may be looking at a serious case of buyers regret if I move forward with the R&P install.

The other factor I was looking at is that if I remove my PS pump, then I can use that mounting location and V-belt groove for my AC system, because AC is far more important than PS in the deep south (unless I am underestimating how hard it will be to steer with a manual setup.)

I just checked and the rack setup has already shipped from summit (man those guys are fast) but it is not too late for me to send it back if I decide it is not the best option for me.

Rick: Definitely not interested in getting rid of the z-bar for a hydraulic setup yet, that is why i ruled out Borgeson kit. Thanks though.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

[MustangOne]

Those are the price from my Shop. Just need your your old stuff for cores. 800-215-0678

Do you have a link to what you bought at Summit?

ajride, Are you a writer or something.

The post be a lot lot nicer with some pics with links.

[MustangOne]

Originally Posted by Ricks 70 stang You might look into the Borgeson power steering kit. That is what I have on my 70. Steers very well and best of all no leaks. I used the hedman elite headers and had to shim the drivers side mount for clearance between the header and the steering box. They say you can use your stock steering pump but I purchased the borgeson pump also. Just a thought. Rick I have a 351w with c-4. This will not work with z bar.

Links to what you used be nice to see...

[ajzride]

This is what I bought from summit:

Unisteer Performance 8001110-01 - Unisteer Rack and Pinions - Overview - SummitRacing.com

I ordered it over the phone so that I could specify I wanted the granada tie rod ends, which they threw in at no charge.

I guess my real concern is that there is something I am totally overlooking or not understanding that is going to make me regret the rack and pinion conversion if I go through with it.

I will keep in mind that you sell stuff over the phone in the future. I would certainly rather give my money to you, who spends tons of time on this forum answering everyones questions, than give it to one of the big warehouse sellers.

I'm not really a writer per se, I'm an engineer, but I write tons of documentation, and yes I usually throw lots and lots of pictures in with my documentation (chemical operators love pictures).

The reason most of my posts lack lots of pics here is the fact that I can't just attach a picture to my post. I have to go upload it to photobucket, then paste in the link. I know it seems like a simple thing, but its a pain in the arse to me, especially since I do 75% of my posting from my iPhone. This is the first forum I have ever been active on that didn't allow you to post decent size pictures just by hitting the attach button.

But alas do not fret, I have downloaded the photobucket app for my iphone (which I take 99% of my pictures with), so soon I will be writing a script to upload all my pictures in the mustang album of my phone to photobucket daily, and they will be available anytime I get the urge to post.

I guess the reason I tend not to post links is because I have been on several forums where that is rather taboo because of excessive spamming.

[Ricks 70 stang]

Originally Posted by MustangOne Links to what you used be nice to see...

I hope this worked. This is what I bought and who I bought them from. I got them on sale with 15% off and free shipping. I have no pics of them installed right now. I will be working on getting some.

999024 MUSTANG BORGESON POWER STEERING UPGRADE KIT 289/302/351W 1968-1970

800330 MUSTANG BORGESON POWER STEERING PUMP SAGINAW KIT 289/302/351W 65-70

[MustangOne]

Are you going to use a tilt column with it? or cut the steering shaft?

I have steering shafts if you need so you dont have to cut a good rebuildable steering box.

Also if you use a stock column shaft you will need a idler to support the 3/4 DD shaft. or the 1" column shaft.

Photo is a link,

[MustangOne]

Originally Posted by Ricks 70 stang I hope this worked. This is what I bought and who I bought them from. I got them on sale with 15% off and free shipping. I have no pics of them installed right now.

I like that one, I have used it once.

[ajzride]

I will be using the stock column. I will have to cut the column 3 and 1/8", and then mount it to the floor with the supplied bracket from unisteer. The kit includes a "column tube bearing"



Which looks similar to the part you linked, so hopefully I will not need the idler support, because I don't want to have to wait on it to arrive.

The kit also includes a steering shaft:



I will not have to cut the shaft from my box, and I will be happy to send you the box to be rebuilt and sold if it is of any value to you.

[MustangOne]

Looks like it covers everything I was thinking.

Steering boxes are alway Value to me. If you box it. I will send a call tag for it.

[ajzride]

I'll PM you once it is boxed up. Would you like the control valve or slave cylinder as well? The pump is brand new, so I will return or sell that.

[MustangOne]

Yes please, Thank You

[ajzride]

I've created a thread just for the R&P install, which is complete. You can check the install here:

Installing a Unisteer Rack and Pinion

and I'll report results back here in a few months.