The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1972 c50 steering upgrades

Ok so in middle of fixing a turn signal switch I got hung up on the upper steering column bearing. which was a minor hassle to track replacement down but classicpartsdotcom was the place I found the 1972 steering column bearing cuz I was told it was discontinued and had to do sum searching for replacement. So got that ordered and now waiting.... and since I'm already in the steering I figured since I had some parts collected for upgrading to power steering maybe I should jump into it. I was just looking at the power steering pump & mounting bracket I got from salvage yard off another 1972 c50 but there was no engine in it so how it mounted to engine idk..... but the power steering pump, bracket , gear box and lines were still there so I jumped on it and brought home for like 50bucks for a future power steering upgrade. Now that I'm here already I figured maybe it's time Haha but my issue with this upgrade is how the bracket mounts???? I'll post pics of what I got now and the power steering pump goodies I got and maybe some awesome input can be thrown my way???? Thanks mike

[img]http://http://s1320.photobucket.com/user/mike-mike2010/media/20180711_111533_zpsvbozhdln.jpg.html?filters[user]=145192724&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=11[/img]

These forums are so hard to post pics to.... I feel like you have to have a degree in computer engineering to make it work

300kb max for a photo is what is tells me ...... how do you change the photo to smaller ..... geez loueeeeeez everything I do I perform some sort of trouble shooting!!! Even asking for help/advise.....

Mike, if you can work a piece of carp like Photobucket you can use our photo hosting program. If you haven’t done so yet please read the Image Posting Policy in the left margin of this page. There are 4-5 options for resizing your photos. Yes, it’s not easy unless your very computer literate (which I’m not) but it can be done.

Mike,

I am going to do a similar thing here with my 70 C50. My truck came without power steering and with a 292 six. When I got it had supposedly a 454 from a late model Chevy pickup (low deck block). Well, I ran the numbers and it is a 396/402 from a 72 Chevelle. So that is coming out. Probably going to take some money from my brothers wallet for that. LOL.

I have just acquired a truck 427 (tall deck) with the correct front motor mount and with power steering pump and bracket installed. I can post pictures when that gets here.

You should know, that there is probably 3 mounts at a minimum, there could be more. Six, small block and then big block. But, small and big might be the same. Not sure. Been years since I was around these daily.

Anyway, will post pics when the 427 gets here.

BaconFarms

Well I know I have a 350ci in mine for sure, now the truck I got power steering goodies from not sure on engine , it was gone already but steering stuff was left behind maybe
they already had steering stuff and just wanted engine who knows .... but yeah my mounting bracket seems to be for a different engine, I'm thinking it's a big block mount because I think it bolts to the end of the head and my small block head is thinner so the bolting holes on mount dont line up to my sbc head.... anyone need a mounting bracket ? it's up for trade for the one I need !!!! Lol. I'll try to post picture of what I got.......

Here is my goodies

Close up of ps pump and bracket

My original manual gear box on truck...

My engines' alternator setup now.... I know installing ps, alternator has to be mounted lower down on engine correct? And ps mounts to where my alternator is now?

My "new" ps gear box...

And one other thing that all I have is here say information on.... this old guy at salvage yard told me these older trucks had a few different options s for steering: manual steering, power steering, and assisted power steering... he explained to me the differance between p.s. and a.p.s. is the a.p.s. has a hydraulic cylinder plumbed from p.s. gear box which helps move wheels easily when stopped and the regular p.s you just by pass(loop the lower fittings on p.s. gear box)cylinder option. And instead of just looping it I was gonna add a p.s inline cooling condenser to keep fluid cool. Does this sound right?

And btw getting photos on here via smart phone not computer in my case was a hassle had to take picture and send to my dad phone thru email so I could resize first the sent to dad phone and looked at message and save to vz media then could upload it resized that way..... very technical step by step lol but it worked finally

Your "smart phone" should allow you to choose photo size.
Determine what setting you need for under 300 KB photos.
Change to that setting, when needed for us.

Check before you get to far into this PS swap that both boxes are the same length from the rag joint down. I remember some of the PS gear boxes being longer making the steering column shorter.

Mike B

"Mike B" I think it's the right size, the p.s gear box is longer then manual gear box because of the power fittings section but the shaft coming out of that end is shorter then the shaft coming from manual gear box end that hooks to steering column end. Hopefully you can make sense of this jibberish Haha but I will be aware of this once i jump into it lol cuz I'm still figuring the p.s pump mounting bracket deal

But I'm pretty sure its gonna fit I did do some measuring of this when I first got it cuz I noticed they were a lil different (the power box and manual box ) but it has been a while the parts been sitting around waiting on me to throw some time their way

On my '72 C50 with 350 SBC and factory power steering, there are NO hydraulic hose connections to the steering sector (box), the hoses run from the PS pump to a hydraulic ram, the ram is bolted to the axle on one end and the tie rod on the other. This system was used on Corvettes up to 1966 that I know of. I wonder if the rebuild kit for the Corvette ram would work for the C50? Ecklers' Corvettes used to sell rebuild kits for them, about $40. I also have a '67 GMC V5500 (same as a C50) that is not power steering, it appears to have the same steering sector as the '72 with power steering, fwiw.

The power steering pump on my '72 with 350 SBC has the power steering located under the alternator, with a single sheave pulley on the pump. The pump also does not have a reservoir on the pump, the reservoir is mounted on the core support behind the drivers side headlight, it connects to the pump via a ~1" rubber hose. The power steering pump has a pressure and return line going down to a hydraulic ram which has a spool valve the spool valve is operated by the regular tie rod, it senses the tie rod movement and directs hydraulic pressure to the ram. the ram is connected to the tie rod on one end and to the front axle beam on the other. My power steering ram started leaking so I took the PS pump belt off, I am looking for a rebuild kit for the PS ram. I was told an AC DELCO 36-351650 was correct, but applications table list Ford and Mercury products only. Anyone out there rebuilt one of these ram systems? A part number for the kit would be greatly appreciated!

Good luck!