curse the man who invented power asist stering

Pencil neck? Too funny. I guess if ya got the pythons its not so bad.

 

I have upgraded to disc brakes as well. Anything under 25 mph, those disc will bring the car to a VERY abrupt stop. Plus the faster ratio steering = the car turns further, faster with less input to the steering wheel. Matter of personal preference. I certainly respect your experience and advice on the matter, I'd just suggest that when someone is doing the power to manual swap, at least take the car out and drive it ONCE with the the power box to see how you like it. Can always head straight back home and swap the manual box in if you don't like it. But it seems the majority of us running the power box with manual steering like it.

 

i thaught this thread was long burried

 

These have all been vehicles under 3000 lbs with the power assist ram physically removed from the car?

 

Good point. Cant hurt to give her a try. If you like it great if not you've lost nothing.

 

Of course not. All different models. Old Ford systems like ours included. Still had lots of Granadas and Monarchs and a few Mavs out there when I started out. Had 4 Mavs and Comets of my own back then. Some with power and some without. Went through this power manual thing with my best friends 65 Comet. He hated the power steering leaking and gave up trying to get a decent road feel. We tried the conversion kit but ended up swapping the linkage to manual. Found the power box just too much work in the city. Swapped for a manual. Didnt think I had to go into a big explanation of why I prefer the manual but there it is. Just like the ratio better for low speeds.

Jamie had a good idea. Just drive it with the power box and see what you think. Personal preference I guess. Like I've said before we build these cars for ourselves. If you decide to drive your car with a 12 inch steering wheel and a power box with seized up ball joints and flat 235's then go for it, its your car.

 

Im not fully understanding you saying it has more work in the city because of this:

 

The power box without power assist working takes more strength to turn the steering wheel than a manual. The power box will have less turns lock to lock which makes it more difficult. Thats why the box has power assist. You can have a better ratio in the box and still turn the wheel due to the assist.
The manual has more turns lock to lock to give more of a mechanical advantage.
The power steering in these cars would be ok if it was a different design. The problem isnt the assist its the design of the system.

Ok enough of this thread. Just put a rack in it and be done with it.

 

My car has standard steering. I parallel parked last week and my arms still hurt. Usually I go around the block and park somewhere else. I have to do a 4 or 5 shifts to turn around in our driveway. At least the car is an automatic.

There's thread here where some people tried changing the power v.s. standard gears to change the ratio but it was enough effort to almost bend the steering wheel.

In daily driving you occasionally have to make evasive moves to avoid an accident... power steering is nice then. When my front brakes need adjusting or the alignment is a little off the car is very tiresome to steer.

Soon I'll have my other Comet running with power steering... it'll be interesting to compare the two.