Manual Vs. Power Steering...

[Lighthorseman]

Hoping someone could throw out some help - I'm doing an engine / tranny swap in my '70 Satellite convertible, going from a 383 auto to a 440 4 speed. I had been thinking about ditching the power steering in favour of manual steering, and since I have the engine bay all open, I guess now would be the best time to do it.

Here's my question - Has anyone out there done this, and are they happier with manual steering? Anyone have any pros and cons they could share?

Thanks in advance...

- Steve -

 

[Dennis H]

I would leave the ps in. Put in a Firm Feel Stage 2 and smaller dish Momo or fancy Grant steering wheel and enjoy the drive. I have a REAL daily driver. 7 or more thousand a year and I take the train to work sometimes. If you drive 2 thousand miles a year and track time then have at it.

 

[ykf7b0]

I have made this swap on my 69 roadrunner and I am satisfied. I wanted to shed the extra weight because my car is street/strip and I also like the looks of the cleaned up engine bay. I'm not running huge tire's up front (195-75-15) and steering is easy enough for me without the power steering.

 

[HT413]

I love my manual steering. Get the caster right on your alignment and it will be plenty light and much much more feel than oem power steering, which I find to be pretty numb. Little old ladies did it!

 

[tallhair]

You will love the manual steering above 5 or 10 mph and at speed and probably hate it when trying to park it in tight parking lots or slow cruising with a lot of turns

My old 68 RR was a manual steering 4 speed car and I loved it, but at slow speeds and doing a lot of turning in city traffic or a parking lot with a 4 speed it was sometimes a little challenging try to turn with left hand and shift with the right at the same time at slow speeds and I was 16 to 26 years old when I owned it.

You probably won't be parallel parking it but that's a whole lot of fun.

 

[67GTX440]

I feel like the steering on my 67 GTX is ridiculously light at speed. I would probably go with the manual unless tere is some way to stiffen up the PS. I would be curious about the responses to the same question regarding brakes. More pedal feel to the non-power brakes? Non-power better with disk brake conversions?

 

[tallhair]

I feel like the steering on my 67 GTX is ridiculously light at speed. I would probably go with the manual unless tere is some way to stiffen up the PS. I would be curious about the responses to the same question regarding brakes. More pedal feel to the non-power brakes? Non-power better with disk brake conversions?

Propwash is running a disc brake conversion w/ manual brakes. Check him out

 

[67GTX440]

I feel like the steering on my 67 GTX is ridiculously light at speed. I would probably go with the manual unless tere is some way to stiffen up the PS. I would be curious about the responses to the same question regarding brakes. More pedal feel to the non-power brakes? Non-power better with disk brake conversions?

I checked out the Firmfeel site. I did not know about this! Sweet!

 

[440+6]

I went the other way, my car was originally manual and I converted to power with a firm feel box and I would never go back to manual steering, kept everything to convert back but that's for the next owner (after I'm dead).

 

[Lighthorseman]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! 440+6 - Love the comment about how you're keeping the car until you die. This one is that car for me, too, so I can relate.

I think I will swap the power steering out for a manual box, and keep all the power steering components just in case. I am never going to be putting insane mileage on this car, not will I be parallel parking it...I'd rather park well away from all the sheep and walk a little further, and we have the space out here to be able to do that.

A long while ago, my very first car was a '79 Aspen. One day, the power steering started leaking, so I just disconnected it and drove it that way. It was fine - except for, as mentioned, really tight corners at low speed, and, of course, parallel parking. It took a fair bit of work to heave that wheel around, but if I'm not mistaken, a power steering box isn't designed to be a manual box.

The Satellite is really nice to drive, but the power steering feels "squishy" and vague. Maybe this will give me more of that "road-feel" I'm looking for, and if not, I'll just put everything back the way it is now, and look up the firm feel guys.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[JamieZ]

This article details how to alter the feel of power steering by adjusting the pressure:

http://www.moparaction.com/tech/beep/PUMP_IT_DOWN-re-v1.4.pdf

As for the weight issues, Borgeson makes light weight power steering that is designed for more performance applications.

 

[Cranky]

Driving a power steering car without the pump is pretty tough. My 66 Belvedere is manual and like mentioned above, alignment settings can affect the feel at low speeds...however, I like the cleaner look under the hood and the fact that there will never be leaking hoses etc and that thing isn't light either and it wasn't hard to drive. However, my 71 340 Cuda had the T/A steering setup and with 2 1/2 turns lock to lock, it was a blast at hot dog time! Best donut car I ever had.

 

[soundhd]

Not sure how old you are or what physical shape you are in but everyone that I know of that has or had manual steering already has or is changing over to power assist........unless you going to do any serious racing, do your self a favor...change over to power steering..........your quality of life will be much better.

 

[tallhair]

Here's an idea. Do you know any one who has a 4 speed car b-body with manual steering that will let you drive it? Might be a good idea to try it before you buy it LOL. Any volunteers from the Alberta area?

Oh and btw I'd love to see some pics of that 70 Sat convert. I used to have a 383 / 727 myself, but a big block 4 speed convert is cool as hell.

 

[71_Duster]

I have manual steering in my 67' Belvedere with a 440 and am swapping to power.

The car is an absolote pig in any sort of parking situation cars shows etc. I also find the manual steering while having much better feel at highway then stock power steering is rather twitchy. In my Duster I had before I swapped to power steering from manual and can honestly say it saved me from an accident.

I had a woman cut across traffic from one side of the street to the other and with the manual steering I HIGHLY doubt I would have had the reaction time due to the fact I was just one hand driving in a straight line and the fact slow *** ratio of the manual steering I would have plowed into her broad side at 60kmh.

Manual for drag racing power if you drive it.

Check out the Borgeson steering box set up and the install kit that Bergman autocraft sells to make it a drop in part that's what I am going to buy.

PS. I live in Alberta but the Belvy doesn't come out in the snow for anyone to drive! It's been -25 to -30 celcius this whole week.

 

[tallhair]

I have manual steering in my 67' Belvedere with a 440 and am swapping to power.

The car is an absolote pig in any sort of parking situation cars shows etc. I also find the manual steering while having much better feel at highway then stock power steering is rather twitchy. In my Duster I had before I swapped to power steering from manual and can honestly say it saved me from an accident.

I had a woman cut across traffic from one side of the street to the other and with the manual steering I HIGHLY doubt I would have had the reaction time due to the fact I was just one hand driving in a straight line and the fact slow *** ratio of the manual steering I would have plowed into her broad side at 60kmh.

Manual for drag racing power if you drive it.

Check out the Borgeson steering box set up and the install kit that Bergman autocraft sells to make it a drop in part that's what I am going to buy.

PS. I live in Alberta but the Belvy doesn't come out in the snow for anyone to drive! It's been -25 to -30 celcius this whole week.

Was either a 4 speed by chance?

 

[NJRR]

Hey Tallhair- I had a relative of your Sat vert, but mine was a 318/727 ( sold it to buy my 70 RR, which i regret but only have one garage). My first mopar (my college car) was also a 70 Sat vert, 318/ 3 on the tree/ manual steering/ manual brakes. When you're 20 years old, you don't even consider the issue of manual vs power steering.

Here's an idea. Do you know any one who has a 4 speed car b-body with manual steering that will let you drive it? Might be a good idea to try it before you buy it LOL. Any volunteers from the Alberta area?

Oh and btw I'd love to see some pics of that 70 Sat convert. I used to have a 383 / 727 myself, but a big block 4 speed convert is cool as hell.

 

[tallhair]

I agree with that NJRR and that's a nice looking 70 you had there. The 68 manual car was easy to drive and had excellent road feel, as long as there were space along the curb to pull up to and park and take off or on open areas. In constricted areas or city driving (both daily drivers) it as a little tough even when I was younger .. that's all i'm saying brother.

I'm going with FirmFeel II on my cars or III still debating. I drove my Dad's Dippy cop cars and they had pretty nice road feel AND were easy to maneuver at slow speeds.

 

[bink220]

Hey, I have a 64 Polara that had manual steering, changed it over to power. The car is heavy, big steering wheel and me being a senior citizen the power steering made the car much more pleasant to drive. My 2cents, keep the power steering. And I have to agree with Dennis H. use the Firm Feel. Bink

 

[WAYNES WORLD]

I got PS on mine and I did the PS pump pressure reduction trick. It's a lot better now. Nice and smooth in the parking lots but not too easy on the back roads or highway. A very cost effective way to get an improved steering system. You can get the Cardone A1 box Part Number: 27-6583
with the pitmat arm from Advance Auto Parts for $125, I got free shipping too.
Wayne