power to manual steering

[johnhinds]

Have a 65 belv w/pwr steering, thinking about converting to manual. street car only. has 383. i have everything to change it over just having second thoughts. whats your opinion? thanks

 

[PettyBlue72]

In my opinion the main reason for removing power steering is to remove the extra drag on the motor to free up power for straight line drag racing. So if you are going to use the car for street use only why not keep the convenience of the power steering rather than go backwards in technology and make the car harder to drive on the street.

Joe

 

[plymouthtime]

In my opinion is that the main reason for removing power steering is to remove the extra drag on the motor to free up power for straight line drag racing. So if you are going to use the car for street use only why not keep the convenience of the power steering rather than go backwards in technology and make the car harder to drive on the street.

Joe

I agree with Joe. I made that mistake on a 63 I had years ago. Other than the strip power steering rocks!

 

[Cranky]

Drove my 66 Belvedere for well over 10 years with manual steering. Parallel parking was the only thing I noticed that was more difficult but that said, what are you having second thoughts about? If you like doing donuts and hot dogging your car, ps is nice to have but if you are looking at getting rid of a good deal of weight off the front end PLUS the drag on the engine and go with the simplicity of manual steering and don't do donuts etc.....I'd go for it. Hell, even my wife drove the 66. Now, wide front tires and lower air pressure will help make it harder to steer. My fronts were 225/75's mounted on cop car wheels and I had all the caster and a lot of camber dialed into my alignment and it was still not hard to steer.

 

[ykf7b0]

If your looking for performance it's an easy way to gain some.

 

[PettyBlue72]

If your looking for performance it's an easy way to gain some.

You will not gain very much performance by removing the power steering. You still have a heavy BB in a big car, so removing the PS will not offset those facts and if the car is going to be driven on the street only why make it harder to drive. Manual steering is obsolete and only good for straight line racing.

 

[ykf7b0]

You will not gain very much performance by removing the power steering. You still have a heavy BB in a big car, so removing the PS will not offset those facts and if the car is going to be driven on the street only why make it harder to drive. Manual steering is obsolete and only good for straight line racing.

Every little bit helps and the weight savings is nice too.

 

[johnhinds]

I just think it looks more period correct with the manual and most early b-bodies i see have manual steering, the engine compartment looks cleaner.

 

[64Belvedere]

Mine was built with manual and it's got a power conversion in progress. It's a pig to drive with manual steering. Small tires on the front or not.

 

[brandon64]

I like manual steering, in addition to the power and weight benefits I believe you can feel the road much better. I convert all of my cars over to manual steering if they are not already equipped.

 

[bluefury]

Power or manual steering...?

"I like manual steering, in addition to the power and weight benefits I believe you can feel the road much better."

The only real draw back to power steering on a street driven mopar is to "light" feel at the steering wheel.... (lack of road feel). It's still much better then manual steering though.

An easy fix is to replace the pressure valve in the pump with one from an A body car. It reduces the line pressure and increases road feel. Your parking lot steering will suffer a little.

 

[brandon64]

"I like manual steering, in addition to the power and weight benefits I believe you can feel the road much better."

The only real draw back to power steering on a street driven mopar is to "light" feel at the steering wheel.... (lack of road feel). It's still much better then manual steering though.

An easy fix is to replace the pressure valve in the pump with one from an A body car. It reduces the line pressure and increases road feel. Your parking lot steering will suffer a little.

what if you own an A body, how would you reduce line pressure in that situation?

 

[brandon64]

grow some muscles, manual steering aint that bad. even when parking.

 

[PierreBelvedere]

I´d keep the power steering.
Been driving my ´65 Belvedere for two years with manual.
Then I changed it to powersteering, and...wow, just plain old wow.

 

[johnhinds]

Where is the pressure valve at in the pump, and how do you change it? I once totalled out a very nice 67 coronet RT because i was hot dogging it and over corrected because it had that light steering feel from pwr steering. wish i had that car back.

 

[moperformance]

The couple around here that I know of was converted to manual was because of the constant leaking. personally I think PS is great you juat have to stay on top of things.

 

[johnhinds]

I like the ratio better on the power but wish it was a little firmer, guess i should save my money and buy a box from firmfeel.

 

[Cranky]

You will not gain very much performance by removing the power steering. You still have a heavy BB in a big car, so removing the PS will not offset those facts and if the car is going to be driven on the street only why make it harder to drive. Manual steering is obsolete and only good for straight line racing.

How do you feel about stick shift?

Every little bit helps and the weight savings is nice too.

Every ounce counts! :headbang:

I just think it looks more period correct with the manual and most early b-bodies i see have manual steering, the engine compartment looks cleaner.

:headbang:

I like manual steering, in addition to the power and weight benefits I believe you can feel the road much better. I convert all of my cars over to manual steering if they are not already equipped.

I like power steering in the cars that I used for dating

The couple around here that I know of was converted to manual was because of the constant leaking. personally I think PS is great you juat have to stay on top of things.

I've had to work on just about every car I've ever owned because of something leaking with the steering! And that big hunk of cast iron weighs a ton compared to the manual box...and if my wife could drive my Belvedere without bitching about it being hard to steer, anybody can! I'm no Incredible Hulk but I could one hand my 66 into most parking spots. The only time I had to two hand the wheel was when the car wasn't moving at all. Now if you're going with a smaller diameter steering wheel....I can understand wanting ps.

 

[johnhinds]

I'm collecting everything i need to convert my car to 4-spd, even though i drive a tractor-trailer for a living, i love shifting gears, my 08 Ram 2500 is also a 6-spd. and no i don't need to build up my arms to steer my car, i drove big trucks for years w/o pwr steering. im like everbody else, i can't stand leaks. im probably not going to drive the car much so manual steering should'nt be too bad, i also like to have more road feel. how much is my pwr set up worth you think? pump,hoses,box,pulley etc. thanks for the info.

 

[brandon64]

I'm collecting everything i need to convert my car to 4-spd, even though i drive a tractor-trailer for a living, i love shifting gears, my 08 Ram 2500 is also a 6-spd. and no i don't need to build up my arms to steer my car, i drove big trucks for years w/o pwr steering. im like everbody else, i can't stand leaks. im probably not going to drive the car much so manual steering should'nt be too bad, i also like to have more road feel. how much is my pwr set up worth you think? pump,hoses,box,pulley etc. thanks for the info.

I sold my power column and box to a member on here for $200, I still have the pump for sale.