Time to "upgrade" to Saginaw pump?

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MopaR&D

MopaR&D

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After getting my Duster running again after sitting for 2 years I noticed the P/S pump (Federal) was leaking quite a bit, even more than it used to. Well today I went for a drive and the pressure line blew off the pump at the fitting; metal part of the hose had broken right at the flare, probably from my dumb @$$ pulling on it to move the pump around. I've never been a fan of that pump especially how it cuts assist at higher RPMs. I'm thinking now is the time to upgrade?

I don't want to go with a parts-store reman'd pump those are crap; I put one on my Jeep and it had a dead spot around the straight-ahead part of the steering wheel's travel. Grabbed one off another XJ at the junkyard and immediately the assist felt more smooth and a bit stronger and no more dead spots. Are there any later-model (1980s or 90s) Mopar cars, trucks, vans etc. that I can grab the Saginaw pump and brackets off of at my local junkyard? Most of the vehicles they have are from the 1980s to early-2000s, once in a while there will be an older 1970s car or truck but not often. Heck I saw the article about rebuilding a Saginaw pump, I'll do that myself if I have to. Also thinking about putting a filter in the system, I'm guessing those go on the return line?
 
I think you can buy a brand new Saginaw pump, from Classic Industries and other vendors. It definitely helps the steering keep up with quick inputs compared to the Federal..
 
mvh said:
I think you can buy a brand new Saginaw pump, from Classic Industries and other vendors. It definitely helps the steering keep up with quick inputs compared to the Federal..
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Nice that's good to know I'll be hopefully hitting the autocross in a month or two I'll need the quick steering. Driving around with no assist sucked on slow tight turns.

I checked Classic Industries they want $200 for a brand-new Mopar Saginaw pump, ouch... I'll try out 3-4 junkyard pieces at $18 a pop before I do that. I basically just need to know if the brackets are different between different kinds of vehicles.
 
mvh said:
It definitely helps the steering keep up with quick inputs compared to the Federal..
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This is what I found as well; the Federal just can't recover fast enough from a quick turns. But for me it was not at high rpm so much as at low-Speed, like a hard left followed by a hard right, in first or second gear at say 2000 rpm, or below 30 mph. Coming back thru center, with one side of the car on the bump-stop, it would just quit.
I liked the design of this Federal pump and I tried real hard to get it to work.
The rebuilt-Federal that I tried, did the same thing.
An old hi-mileage Saginaw I threw on, didn't do that.So I'm a Saginaw man since 2000. Still using that 70s pump.I'm guessing it has over 300,000 miles on it in total, by now.
The SBM Federal brackets didn't fit the Saginaw.And slanty Saginaw brackets didn't fit the SBM.
Happy HotRodding
 
Should’ve able to get a Saginaw pump on anything 73-up mopar. Small block, big block and slants all have different brackets though do get it for whatever motor you have.
 
I changed to a Saginaw mostly due to the fact that it's much easier to find parts for them at your local auto parts store.

Want to say mine was for a Chevy Caprice or something along those lines...

As said above, be sure to get the correct brackets for your particular motor.
 
abodyjoe said:
Should’ve able to get a Saginaw pump on anything 73-up mopar. Small block, big block and slants all have different brackets though do get it for whatever motor you have.
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Heck yeah shouldn't be hard then I have a small block (Magnum short block with LA top end and front timing cover/accessories).

@BigBlockMopar it's nice when you're driving down the freeway at high speed but if you're in a situation where the RPMs are varying a lot (like on a road course or autocross) the pump will just "shut off" above 3500 RPM or so and it's a very sudden spike in effort. So if I'm in mid-turn and I hit that point where the pump cuts out it's difficult to keep control of the steering wheel. Pretty sketchy too when I'm doing a burnout or especially donuts lol.

I also already have a Firm Feel Stage 2 power steering box I bought new about 9 years ago so the steering feel with assist is already 1000% better than stock.
 
So we got our token Spring Colorado Snowstorm last night but I'm gonna try to hit the junkyard today since I won't really have time during the week...
 
Alright I grabbed a pump off a 1990 Ramcharger along with the bracket that bolts it to the timing cover and rear of the pump but i'm guessing there's another bracket that holds the front of the pump and allows it to move for belt tension? I'll get a pic up shortly. No other brackets or even bolts could be found and that was the only vehicle I could find old enough with an LA engine.
 
Here's what I got... might have to just get a bracket set online?

20190330_142451.jpg


20190330_142456.jpg
 
I used a CVF Bracket, the nice thing for me was it raised the pump up to clear the 72-down biscuit mount K frame.
 
I got the brackets locally by a classic Mopar parts reseller, overpriced but I have it now instead of late next week and still much cheaper than aftermarket; I just got my Duster running again after sitting for 2 years and having to let it sit another 2 weeks would kill me. Now I just need some new hoses from the parts store and we should be good to go, you'll know if I run into any issues... thanks guys!
 
Well I've run into several issues now... First off, the pump I grabbed uses O-ring type fittings for the pressure line as opposed to the double-flare on my Duster, I went around to a few shops (hydraulic supply and NAPA auto parts) and they didn't have any type of adapter that would work. I started trying to look for adapters or having a pressure hose with custom ends made but what about just swapping out the fitting inside the pump? Does anyone know when Mopar switched to the O-ring fittings? I might be able to go back to the JY and try to find another pump just to rip the fitting out if it's the type I need, or just exchange the whole damn pump I suppose.

Also I was told by the guy I bought the brackets from that the pulleys should swap over; well they don't. Shaft diameter on the Saginaw is much larger than the Federal, I wanted to swap over my old Federal pulley because it's larger diameter and I don't want to ruin my pump having my engine revving to 6000 RPM as opposed to about 3500 in the old Ramcharger it came out of.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Larger driven pulley spins slower, takes longer to make boost.
You might be saying the same thing, but it's hard to figure out from what you actually said.
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Yes that's what I want, I haven't measured them but the Federal pulley is about the same diameter as the crank pulley whereas the Saginaw's is about an inch smaller diameter, I'm concerned about overdriving the Saginaw pump revving up to 6000+ RPM. I also didn't have any issues with my Federal pump spinning too slowly with said larger pulley.

Tomorrow I'll run to my local hardware store and see if their collection of fittings include O-ring-to-flare adapters.

EDIT: Found this... Borgeson GM Inverted Flare Adapter Fitting Sets 925122
 
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