Power steering

[buicfrank]

It just seems that is hard to steer. I will be getting the brakes fixed in March and will have the front end looked at again. Its just a personal thing I wanted to do. Thanks to all who replied. Frank

 

[JPSmit]

It just seems that is hard to steer. I will be getting the brakes fixed in March and will have the front end looked at again. Its just a personal thing I wanted to do. Thanks to all who replied. Frank

and your car - your choice - I would be very very interested in the solution you find

 

[algot1901]

here is a response from a longtime Met owner, "Yes but it requires rebuilding the entire car, making it a Hot Rod...."

 

[algot1901]

From another Met owner "Yes but it requires rebuilding the entire car, making it a Hot Rod..."
I just do not understand why anyone would take a collecter car and turn it into a rod and destroy whatever value it had, here in the states most 2 door cars are gone and the four doors have been picked clean of usable parts so now the rodders are after the old trucks. I think the only ones who are winning in this game of mods are the part dealers.

 

[Bayless]

As JP said, "your car, your choice." If it were mine, however, and found it "hard to steer," I would rather try to determine why and maybe eliminate the cause.

 

[waltesefalcon]

Frank, are you running steel belted radials or bias plys? I've found that my old pickup is much easier to crank the wheel with bias plus on it.

 

[PAUL161]

They were designed for nylon tires with around 30 lbs of air pressure, if one puts on radials with the softer tire compound and lower air pressure, the steering will be much stiffer, especially on a hard surface. Reducing the size of the steering wheel will only add to the problem. Power steering would certainly help the ladies ease in driving the car.

 

[PAUL161]

Personally, I don't consider just adding power steering to a car Hot Rodding it. The same as adding conveniences for a handicapped person, regardless of what the handicap is. If it was me, I'd go for the electric-assist power steering and give your wife a break! Evidently, she likes the car. JMHO. PJ

 

[LarryK]

You can pick up Kia electric steering columns for around $100-$150 at breaker yards, craigslist and ebay. Lot cheaper than those advertised. Might be a little fabrication and cutting for connectors. Friend was installing on a 56 Chevy.

 

[billspohn]

The reasons for wanting PS on old British cars is usually either medical limitations or owners used to power steering and unwilling to put up with anything that doesn't go lock to lock using one finger.

I drove this for years - 3200 lbs, big block Chrysler V8 , manual steering (they used a rack out of an MG Magnette) and a bitch to park as steering at near zero speed was pretty stiff). No problem at reasonable speed though. I think comfort standards have changed a lot.

 

[LarryK]

If the tires are under inflated or non-radial they can be stiffer to turn, but even with rack and pinion if you are not moving just a bit while turning it can be tough. Just inch along while turning and both hands on the wheel, pulling down on wheel takes less energy than pushing up.

 

[oldjagman]

It just seems that is hard to steer. I will be getting the brakes fixed in March and will have the front end looked at again. Its just a personal thing I wanted to do. Thanks to all who replied. Frank

I believe back in the day these cars had cross ply tyres which would result in a much lighter steering than radials. If you have radial tyres fitted you may need to add a few extra psi. Try them at 28psi and see if it helps. Could be a cheap fix. You mentioned you fitted 'a smaller steering wheel for the wife', this will only add to the problem of a heavy steering. Ever wondered why all old cars, especially large heavy ones had very big steering wheels ? This was factored in with the gearing of the steering set up at the factory.

 

[PAUL161]

Corvettes didn't have power steering until 1963, it was a big complaint, they kept upping the horsepower, adding more weight to the front end and people had a very difficult time parking them, most of the lady owners dumped them and went to another make. Chevy had to do something as they were losing a lot of corvette customers, who went to Fords!

 

[LarryK]

I started with my Dad's 63 Mercury Monterey Custom 390 4bbl, auto, 4:11 gears, easy park all power. Mom had a 1957 Jag 140 coupe 4-speed no power anything except motor. Merc did 0-90 quick and that was it. Jag did 142, with a slow 0-60 but steering was ok, except to park. My first car was a 1957 Chevy 283, powerslide with no anything else, but steering wheel was big, I mean big, you still had to hang on it to park. Today, I have 4 recirculating ball steering, two with power, 4 with rack and pinion, one no power. They are all hard to park, between weight and able to see. So, to me power is just something else to fix.