Borgeson 800126 Install 1971 Charger

[MoparGuy68]

I've researched this to see if I'm the first person in history to mount a PS cooler vertically. Looks like its been done before by other people. One of the linked articles regarding installation of a Derale cooler on a Mopar, states you can mount it vertically or horizontally, as long as it's in a position to get good air flow. They mounted theirs vertically in the article, although it is a radiator style cooler, not the loop type.

Another guy mounted two coolers vertically on either side of the radiator, one for transmission and one for PS.

I've already got the 22" core support blocking some airflow on the side edges of the 26" radiator. Mounting the cooler horizontally up against the radiator will block even more surface area. Also to mount it that way, down low, I think I'd need to run the return hoses underneath the core support.

I'm probably going to keep it mounted as is, and see how it works out based upon what I've read regarding cooler position/orientation.

https://www.streetmusclemag.com/tec...-fluid-coolers-reduce-operating-temperatures/

https://ck5.com/forums/threads/power-steering-cooler-location.315958/

 

[BergmanAutoCraft]

I merely made a suggestion utilizing my experience. Hopefully you wont have any issue.

 

[MoparGuy68]

This past Sunday, I drove my Super Bee for the FIRST time with functional power steering, since I’ve owned it! A quick drive around the neighborhood, at 7PM, after filling the system with fluid and purging the air.

The car arrived at my home 8 months ago, puking fluid out of the stock gearbox as it was pulled into my driveway. That was the last time it was driven with functional PS until Sunday. I started the epic Borgeson swap almost 6 months ago, and now it’s finally completed..

I’ll certainly remember 2020 for the rest of my life. All I’ve done is work on this Super Bee almost every weekend for the past 6 months, while the Coronavirus runs rampant.

After countless trips to auto parts stores and Ace Hardware. After ordering parts from Bergman, Classic Industries, Summit and Mancini Racing. After visiting Desert Valley Auto junk yard and spending more money than I’ve managed to keep track of, I now have a car that steers with power assist and doesn’t leave a trail of hydraulic fluid behind it (at least none that comes from the steering system).

I did see a small fluid spot on the floor after it sat overnight, but not sure whether that was from the new steering system. The spot was directly under the K-Frame. I’ll have to monitor it to see if the installation is really leak free or not.. Big improvement though, over the massive hemorrhage the previous box had!

What do I think of the Borgeson steering system so far? Unfortunately, most of my attention was directed at monitoring the ammeter, due to charging system problems (the next thing I have to work on..) I didn’t notice a huge difference between how it felt when I drove the car over a year ago, when I first looked at it. Which was the only time I drove it with a functional but severely leaky PS system.

What can I say about it after one drive. It works! I can steer the car with assist. I did not hear any hissing noise, like some people have complained about.

I have to turn the steering wheel almost 75 to 80 degrees toward the passenger side, for the car to track straight. Hopefully tie rod adjustment, done during alignment, will fix that. I can’t believe I was that far off centering the input shaft before mounting the coupler. I was meticulous about the centering. If I didn’t get it perfectly centered, it should have only been off by about plus or minus 1 to 2 teeth on the input shaft, not any 75 to 80 degrees..

The world’s longest and most drawn out PS swap is concluded.. Maybe.. I’ll only know that after attempting a front end alignment, and see if it turns out successfully.

 

[MoparGuy68]

Here is my experience on the process of filling the system with fluid and bleeding out the air, which went better than expected. As in no fluid shot out of the reservoir, which I was really worried about happening.

Turning the pump wheel by hand, with the belt off, is useless.. Cranking the engine with no spark, to turn the pump is useless.. Neither of these techniques actually made the level in the reservoir drop AT ALL. They did absolutely nothing.. In both cases the pump runs too slowly to pull any fluid into the system.

So I gave the engine spark, cranked the starter and fired up the engine. Luckily, after last fast idle adjustment, I apparently backed the screw out too far. As a result when it fired up, it only ran at 800 RPM, instead of the 1500 to 1700 RPM I was targeting for. As soon as it fired up, (I mean IMMEDIATELY) I ran out of the car, over to fender and the reservoir was DRY!! It was full before it fired up.. As soon as I saw this, I moved as fast as I could to cut the engine off. Thank God it didn’t start up at 1500+ RPM!

Immediately after turning the engine off I saw what looked like white foam begin filling the reservoir. It was like the thick head on a mug of freshly poured beer. I waited for the tiny bubbles to disappear, then added more fluid. Started the engine again. Saw some bigger air bubbles appear. Let it run a bit longer and added more fluid. Did this until the level stabilized and I saw no more bubbles.

Next I jacked the front up and put stands under the front frame rails. Started the engine, then slowly turned the wheel from lock to lock. Felt a small amount of vibration a few times, but not much. Saw a few small bubbles appear. Then repeated the wheel turning until no bubbles appeared and it was smooth in both directions, with no vibration. Probably turned lock to lock about 10 to 15 times.

Lowered car back on ground. Fluid level was about midway between Cold level and Hot level lines on dipstick. This was after pouring 32 ounces of fluid in the system. One full bottle of Prestone Non-synthetic Power Steering fluid is what I used. Then I fired up the engine and went for a drive..

I’ll make more comments about the feel of the steering after I drive the car again, which will be next weekend.

 

[MoparGuy68]

I did want to mention that I have 245/60/14 Radial T/A tires on 14x6 Rallye wheels with 4" backspacing on the front and rear of the car. The rear most sidewall of the front tires makes contact with the front frame rails, when turning lock to lock. On my car this is reducing the Borgeson lock to lock rotation to 3.25 turns versus the 3.5+ turns the box is capable of.

I need new tires badly as these are 20 years old! I'm wanting to put 245/60/15 on 15x7 Rallye wheels all around, but the 15x7 are 4.25" backspace, which will reduce my lock to lock to less than 3.25 turns (probably somewhere between 3 and 3.25 turns). 225/70/14 on the 14x6 4" BS, would probably allow the full 3.5+ turns. Not sure what other tire/wheel combination on front will..

 

[Luirg]

Question, which is the high pressure line on the steering box? Left or right looking at it from your posted picture. And then does it go from the pump low pressure to the cooler and back to the box? Thanks

 

[MoparGuy68]

Question, which is the high pressure line on the steering box? Left or right looking at it from your posted picture. And then does it go from the pump low pressure to the cooler and back to the box? Thanks

The high pressure line connects to the box closest to the K-Frame. Closest to the firewall is low pressure line. Fluid travels at high pressure from pump to box, then low pressure from box to cooler, then from cooler back to the pump.