My winter project this year is going to be a borgesen power steering conversion. I do plan on connecting with Bergman for the needed parts and advice, but I figured that I would begin to gather advice and document the progress here. I have a 1973 scamp with a stroked 440, tti long tube headers, flaming river 16:1 (one year old), trick flow 240 heads, QA1 k-frame, front disc brake conversion from dr diff, powermaster small starter, ar engineering alternator mounts, not spool engine mounts. Other than ordering a kit from Bergman, what other preparations are needed? Anything to watch out for?
Any wisdom that you can share would be greatly appreciated. Winter is almost here in Idaho.
Time for a big block power steering conversion. Wisdom appreciated
- Thread starter Kent mosby
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Kent, I'd probably look at one of them under dash electric assist kits. That would save all the room under the hood. Just something to think about.
abodyjoe
Well-Known Member
really buying the kit from Bergman the only issue i ran into with my small block was the pulley didn't line up. lucky for me my buddy restores chevelles and had a 70 Chevelle pulley that fit and lined up perfectly.
the only other issue that may come up for some is having to make your own line. in my application i had to make my lines. the kit came with everything to do it but would have been a pain in the *** if my buddy didn't have a specific tool to do it.
the only other issue that may come up for some is having to make your own line. in my application i had to make my lines. the kit came with everything to do it but would have been a pain in the *** if my buddy didn't have a specific tool to do it.
I have never seen one of these kits. Any references? I will search by references help.
After some research.......
I will look into the EPAS and Flaming River units
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It's certainly worth looking into. Might not be your cup of tea, but you never know.
I would love to not have to move the engine mounts, remove headers remove steering box, install new brackets and find pulleys. I have not read any negatives about these setups but I will sit down today, watch some football and research further. I have a torn rotator tendon that cannot be repaired without a complete replacement. This, power steering is needed.
I ordered the Epas kit for A-body mopars. The kit is well made and yet it is not just a bolt in process. Since you have a-bodies from 3 different generations, maybe more and different configurations, Automatics on column, on floor, manual transmission etc. as well as different modifications, It is impossible to make it bolt on. My 73 scamp was an original 6 cyl, column shift automatic with power steering. Now it has an RB 512ci with a Qa1 k-frame, 16:1 flaming river manual steering box, floor shifter and a column I bought that I don't remember its source. Suffice it to say, my setup required some modifications from the limited instructions. The column was cut at 14 inches instead of 13 3/4 to allow for me to keep the mounting bolts. Then the parts that mounts the column under the dash needed to be adjusted a couple times to get the space for the motor. Once that was done, it fit right under the dash and I did not even need to lower the parking brake lever. More to come.
The second issue that I had to overcome was the firewall plate. It did not match at all. Yet I took my old forewall plate out and separated it. Then I placed the bearing in between the 2 halves of the old plate. IT was very secure so I went with it. The only issue is that the lower shaft does not engage the bearing. To solve that I used a 1.5 inch piece from the old column to allow centering of the shaft in the bearing. Pretty easy for that
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there is no easy place to mount the control box so I just made a bar that mounts on the column attachment. Nothing is visible unless you look underneath. (what a mess my wiring is, another day). I can still open the vent but you have to bend the door a bit .
Finally, I took it for a test drive in 39 degree weather without a heater. What a difference it makes. No more issues with my torn rotator cuff tendons. I can't say if it is the best modification yet as there have been so many. We will see how it goes but I love it during the 10 minutes of driving today.
Well HOT dang!
love the write up.
definitely food for thought as i'm headed in that direction though with a B motor. so it's a coin flip between upgrading to borg or figuring out "something else".
totally an aside, but what radiator is that? the install looks super clean.
definitely food for thought as i'm headed in that direction though with a B motor. so it's a coin flip between upgrading to borg or figuring out "something else".
totally an aside, but what radiator is that? the install looks super clean.
MOP754:66-74 B,E Body Challenger Aluminum Performance Radiator MT 17x26 Inch Cold Case Radiators. Only minor mods needed. I wanted a big radiator for the RB motor.
Since I did not have any belts of pulleys for the pump. This was a great way to go. Plus I did not have to do anything to the engine bay, Well almost nothing.
nice. thank you much.
i'm about to swap my 68 dart from 273/904 PS, AC to a 400/727. naturally i want to retain PS so i'm kind of just gathering info on that and gravitating toward toward the borg swap with an eye on figuring out the AC as well.
currently has the OG radiator, but like you i worry that it may not be enough for what i've got cooking so i figured in the getting of ducks in rows it would probably be of interest to think about that as well. so far yours looks about the best aftermarket set up i've seen.
apologies for taking your thread on a side quest.
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