I am not limp wristed but !

[uglymug]

I have seen a 1985 Vitesse RV8 power steering pump kit on Flea-bay and it has got me thinking. As I am on the long side I am not really sitting in the most comfy position while driving. The steering wheel is at full arm stretch away so I cannot get much leverage on it. If I were to fit power steering I think this would help my back a bit.
I understand that the rack is off a MK5 Cortina/Granada. Am I right in thinking that I have to re-place it to one with hydraulic fittings. Are they still about as ones on fleabay are not assisted. Where can I get a recon one from?..........ta like UG

[jon@127]

Hi Ug
I have just completed a PAS conversion and it is by no means a quick and simple job. However the results is a complete transformation. I've even downsized the steering wheel to 12" so I can fit my legs in and I can now manouver at slow speeds with just one hand.
If you do a search on "power steering for my 280" back to Oct last year you will find two threads I started and there is loads of info and exchanges in these.
I thoroughly recommend PAS.
Jon

[dickymint]

Wimps

[islander]

Having driven both a PAS and non PAS wedge, my comments are if you want slow speed easy of steering PAS is great so parking etc becomes very easy. However, at speed the non PAS is a lot more positive to drive with much better feedback!

Take your choice!

[jon@127]

At speed eh?
That wouldn't be speeds outside of the legal ones would it?
Obviously I wouldn't know about that.

Dicky, do you mean to tell us that your SEAC has manual steering?

[wedg1e]

I quite like the PAS on my 390; even at speed it's got good feel. Pushing it on roundabouts will tend to get the front end running wide but I don't need the steering to tell me that, I just look out of the window...

As for doing the conversion, good luck!

[l33]

I recently had a PAS conversion on my 350i.
The difference is increadable - its a completly different car to drive now. More responsive at speed and you can actually park it now!

From my research, The Manual racks are Mk4 / Mk5 cortina.
The PAS racks are generally Rover SD1. There are 3 types - Named after the companies that modified the pipe-runs on them to fin in the wedge - "Burman", "Supra" &... (can't remember the last).

I dare say however if your doing a conversion, as long as you have a grinder, Mig and big lump hammer, anything could be persuaded to fit.

Good Luck!
L33.

[wedg1e]

l33 said:

From my research, The Manual racks are Mk4 / Mk5 cortina. The PAS racks are generally Rover SD1.

Pretty sure mine is from the 2.3 V6 Cortina. There are loads in scrappies, shouldn't take long to find one...

[jchase]

I hold my whimpy hands up as I am in the process of a PAS conversion too. I bought a PAS set-up off of a scrapped 350i including a FORD rack, SD1 pump, hoses and the shortened steering shaft - but the pump pulley fouls the rack when everything is installed!

Now I'm looking at putting in an electric pump, so you can turn off the pump for serious driving. The rack on the car has really bad bump steer. Going over train tracks, the steering wheel twitches violently. Now it would seem you have to match the distance between the inner tie rod ball joints and the lower front 'A' arm distance to get rid of bump steer. Adam's wedge measures 630mm between the A arm pivots, and the manual and PAS FORD racks measure 710mm between the inner BJs. The SD1 and Jag XJ40 are 660mm, with ford Escort 590mm . (I have the measurements for another 12 racks!).

Does anyone have first hand experience of what happens if you run a PAS rack with the pump off? Or does anyone have any other rack measurements - as I might as well try to find one that is spot on.

-Jim

[dickymint]

jon@127 said:

Dicky, do you mean to tell us that your SEAC has manual steering?

Yep, It is much lighter on the steering than the 350i (also non PAS). i put it down to the fact that the SEAC is Kevlar. Just need to prove this some day on a weigh bridge.

[shpub]

jchase said:

Does anyone have first hand experience of what happens if you run a PAS rack with the pump off? Or does anyone have any other rack measurements - as I might as well try to find one that is spot on. -Jim

It gets almost impossible to move. The rack ratios are different IIRC.

[jcornish]

jchase said:

Does anyone have first hand experience of what happens if you run a PAS rack with the pump off?

I wouldn't try to run a PAS rack without hydraulic pressure if I were you. PAS racks have a torsion bar (basically a rotary spring) between the steering column and the rack pinion. The bar drives a valve regulating fluid flow to the rack piston, providing the assistance. Normally the spring only winds up very slightly before fluid flows, helping you to turn the steering.

If you switched off the pump it would be similar to PAS failure and the torsion bar would wind up until you reached the mechanical backup. As well as causing high steering efforts this would leave you with a big on-centre compliance, only 7 or 8 degrees of handwheel deadband but enough to ruin precision when driving straight ahead or changing direction.

Continuing to run the pump but at a slightly lower flow rate might be one way forward.

[leorest]

jchase said:

Does anyone have first hand experience of what happens if you run a PAS rack with the pump off? Or does anyone have any other rack measurements - as I might as well try to find one that is spot on.

Once when parking I was just commenting on how I thought the level of assistance was very low when I stalled it and realised exactly how much assistance was there! I would imagine in an emergency you might just be able to make it round a corner if the pump/belt failed but I wouldn't like to try it!