Discussion
I have been slowly sorting out my griff since buying it Feb. To date it has been difficult to handle, awkward to hold in a slide, twitchy and unstable under braking-generally horrible in fact.
I just got it back from Topcats. They have changed the front ball joints, renewed a worn wheel bearing, fitted power steering, (standard rack and Saxo electric pump solution) sorted the geometry properly and corner weighted it and it is a totally different car.
The power steering is a beautiful job. The pump sits where the washer bottle is normally located - they made a bracket for the pump and even had it powder coated to match the chassis, then made another barcket for the washer bottle which now sits centrally, and the PAS reservoir which has to be higher than the pump sits by the clutch reservior with the electric relays and fuse mounted on the alternator bracket. The water pipes from the rad had to be modified and rerouted as well.
The nervousness is gone, the car feels so planted on all roads, the new rack reacts beautifully and so much faster than the manual one and it is easy to slide and correct or not as I choose. It is rock solid under braking. As you can probably tell I am well chuffed.
If anyone is thinking of going the power steering route the Saxo electric pump mated to a standard PAS rack works really well and the Topcats guys have done a cracking job - I would certainly recommend them.
I just got it back from Topcats. They have changed the front ball joints, renewed a worn wheel bearing, fitted power steering, (standard rack and Saxo electric pump solution) sorted the geometry properly and corner weighted it and it is a totally different car.
The power steering is a beautiful job. The pump sits where the washer bottle is normally located - they made a bracket for the pump and even had it powder coated to match the chassis, then made another barcket for the washer bottle which now sits centrally, and the PAS reservoir which has to be higher than the pump sits by the clutch reservior with the electric relays and fuse mounted on the alternator bracket. The water pipes from the rad had to be modified and rerouted as well.
The nervousness is gone, the car feels so planted on all roads, the new rack reacts beautifully and so much faster than the manual one and it is easy to slide and correct or not as I choose. It is rock solid under braking. As you can probably tell I am well chuffed.
If anyone is thinking of going the power steering route the Saxo electric pump mated to a standard PAS rack works really well and the Topcats guys have done a cracking job - I would certainly recommend them.
No its found in Citroens & Peugots 
, but some of the Vauxhalls do also have an electric powered hydraulic pump, just not quite the same. There are also a couple of different versions of the saxo pump, not sure it makes much difference, just different reservoir locations and electrical connectors as far as I can tell.
, but some of the Vauxhalls do also have an electric powered hydraulic pump, just not quite the same. There are also a couple of different versions of the saxo pump, not sure it makes much difference, just different reservoir locations and electrical connectors as far as I can tell.The power steering pump is electrically powered (as opposeed to mechanical as one most griffs) but is a hydraulic pump mated to a PAS rack NOT a manual one.
Having done alot of investigation into this if you keep the manual rack you would fit a corsa B or C electric steering column. There is some space below the dash but nothing solid to mount it on under there and they are heavy and there is alot of torque through the unit so I decided against that route in the end. The other problem with them I undertsand is that the feel can be very light and the column ECU can be difficult and expensive to set to a comfortable level.
Having done alot of investigation into this if you keep the manual rack you would fit a corsa B or C electric steering column. There is some space below the dash but nothing solid to mount it on under there and they are heavy and there is alot of torque through the unit so I decided against that route in the end. The other problem with them I undertsand is that the feel can be very light and the column ECU can be difficult and expensive to set to a comfortable level.
http://www.thetvrshop.com/TVR/Parts_details/TVR%20...
Racing Green do an electric conversion..........at a price.
Racing Green do an electric conversion..........at a price.
jesfirth said:
The power steering pump is electrically powered (as opposeed to mechanical as one most griffs) but is a hydraulic pump mated to a PAS rack NOT a manual one.
I thought thats what you meant, what are the advantages of this setup over using a std mechanical pump (given that they are readily available unless your car is a pre-serp)?Edited by Bluebottle on Friday 16th July 12:20
Bluebottle said:
jesfirth said:
The power steering pump is electrically powered (as opposeed to mechanical as one most griffs) but is a hydraulic pump mated to a PAS rack NOT a manual one.
I thought thats what you meant, what are the advantages of this setup over using a std mechanical pump (given that they are readily available unless your car is a pre-serp)?Edited by Bluebottle on Friday 16th July 12:20
You don't have to have the hyd pipes crossing the hot exhaust, it simplifies the pipe runs a lot, and it gets rid of the hideous PAS reservoir that fouls rocker cover access etc.
You can ditch a lot of the serp front end gubbins, ie like a simplified JE alt bracket front end.
personally i don't like p/s when on track, great for shopping but lacks feel/feed back.
I had p/s on the Cerb and it was s
t, not even that keen on the p/s system that's fitted to Sags even though owners rave on about it.
The only down side to not having it is it does tire you out more when lapping, but i never do more than 7/8 laps a time anyway.
I had p/s on the Cerb and it was s
t, not even that keen on the p/s system that's fitted to Sags even though owners rave on about it.The only down side to not having it is it does tire you out more when lapping, but i never do more than 7/8 laps a time anyway.
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