The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks power steering conversion

has anyone tried the power steering conversion using the adapter kit for the 68-72 steering box?

Did one on my '62 C-10 last year. Got the kit from Americal Classic Truck Parts in Aubrey TX. The only problems were the fact that the '62 has a boxed frame, so that sort of complicated drilling for the adapter plate, and the fact that the kit did not include the hydraulic lines, which I fished out of a junk yard. Everthing turned out very good. Shop around for the kits, as I found the price and the completeness of the kit varied considerably from one supplier to another.

other than drilling the frame for the adapter plate, were any other modifications required to the truck? did the stock linkage bolt up to the replacement steering box?

I put an IDIDIT steering colum in when I did the power steering upgrade, so when I ordered the colum, it came with later model borgeson (sp?) joint instead of the stock rag joint. As far as other mods, I had a center saddle front motor mount that I had to trim to get the power steering pump on. My new power steering box did not line up perfectly with the old steering colum, and I am told that a rag joint should not be used to take the place of a univeral joint, so I probably would have had to replace the stock rag joint with a borgeson anyhow. Don't let the steering colum details stop you, it's not a big deal, it's just finding the right parts which are out there. Maybe if you called IDIDIT (they have solid sales folks) they would have all the new parts you need for the conversion. If you go with a borgeson joint, get the one that has the vibration damper built into it. OH, and I'll lay odds that once you get that power steering in, you will also be replacing the original 17" steering wheel for a smaller one. Also, don't be like me and not know how to bleed a new power steering unit. Power steering on my truck meant going from a truck that I really did not want to drive much to a truck that I really enjoy. Good luck.

Thanks to everyone for the information. Knowing how makes doing easy.

I have done the power steering conversion on several '60-'66 Chevy/GMC trucks, both 2wd and 4x4, as well as, 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton. It is a relatively straight-forward conversion. The key, in my opinion, is to have all of the items necessary for the conversion or you will hav your truck down longer than necessary and make several hasty trips to the local autoparts store or web searches for the a few vital items.

Complete kits are available online. I sell a complete kit, born out of the frustration of gathering the parts from several sources and hoping everything plays well together. If you need some technical support, here is a good write-up on the process:

http://www.persh.org/pickup/steering.htm

If you need additional information, please feel free to contact me and I will assist you with the process.

I hope this information is helpful and keep us posted on your progress.