I've been scavenging parts for a long overdue upgrade to power steering and power brakes on my '63 but decided I'd better run it by the gurus here before jumping into it. Here's the way the truck sits today...
Strong running 230 cid L6 with HEI, stock intake, stock exhaust, stock 4 wheel drum brakes, stock steering, new brake lines front to rear.
The parts I've scavenged from a '79 P/up...
power steering gear / pitman arm, power steering pump, front spindles, 12 bolt rear axle, vaccuum booster / master cylinder, combination valve, all A/C parts from under the hood, gas pedal.
Parts I've acquired from other sources...
Power steering pump bracket, ball joints ('79), tie rod ends ('79), inner & outer wheel bearings / grease seals ('79), brake calipers / pads.
I still need to order the power steering adapter kit from Chevy Duty or CPP, but I am just about ready to start this project. I've rebuilt the steering gear and pump, cleaned and painted all of the parts and gone over this all in my head a couple of hundred times while sitting in the garage staring at the truck. The P/S upgrade seems pretty straight forward from what I've read and hopefully will just entail mounting the new gear and pump, adjusting the column length and then hooking up the pump to the gear. The plan for the brakes is to install the booster / MC from the '79 along with the front spindles. I'm thinking that I'll have the original axles re-drilled for 5 bolt and take the self adjusting brake hookup off the '79 rear axle instead of swapping axles. I know that there are folks that fequent this site that have done this or something similar...anything special to watch out for or words of advice?
