F.A.Q.

Q: Steering Column Has Play

Steering column has play, is there a fix for a worn out column?

A: The steering play can be coming from a couple of places: the rubber/fiber flex joint or the gear box. The joint is simple to replace and most auto parts stock it their misc section. You’ll have to pull the column. To check this joint, make sure the car isn’t running (if you have power steering) and have someone turn the wheel back and forth about a quarter turn. If the joint is bad you’ll see the upper half move than the lower half. If it’s the gear box is sloppy, you’ll see the input shaft moving a lot and the output (pitman arm) almost still. There is an adjustment on the top of the box that can remove a little of the sloop. You can recognize it as a standard screw slot with a locknut. Loosen the locknut and tighten the screw until you feel a slight resistance. Re-tighten the locknut and see if it feels better. It may be necessary to do both to really tighten the steering. If this doesn’t help, look for a new gearbox. Hope this helps.

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Q: Steering gearbox’s for 1967

What is the correct steering gearbox’s for ’67?

A: Power steering: Box ratio, 17.5 to 1 (not the same as Overall Steering Ratio, which is not given, but probably 21 or 22 to 1). Housing assembly part number: 5691674 *

Quote from service manual (supplement):

Standard steering: Box ratio, 24 to 1 (overall, about 28 to 1). Housing assembly part numbers:

6 cyl wo A/C      5679271 *
6 cyl with A/C     7801592
8 cyl all              7801592

The * means that the part is common with Pontiac and Tempest models. Note that there were no optional gear ratios.

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Q: Power Steering Gear Box

I have a 68. Box is leaking, I’m going to change it,Is there a better box I can go to,Better ratio and such?

A: First off you can easily replace seals in your box, its not that big of a deal. I however do like the newer style steering boxes, I have a Z28 and a Trans AM box on each of my 1968 Birds. The output shaft and frame bolts on old and new are identical and the steering box looks the same externally. Lock to lock turns are now about 2.3 and 2.5 turns on each car. These boxes are also higher effort and provide good road “feel”.

The are however some differences in modern and old boxes. If you get a 76-78 Z28 box(probably same for Trans AM), the imperial hose fittings(existing ones) will still work, after these years, the new metric style hose fittings with O-ring is used, you can get new hoses made up.

The other difference is the diameter of the input shaft, my Trans AM box had a smaller diameter input shaft and I used a coupling from an old manual gearbox we had and it mated perfectly to the flex coupling on the car.

A: Best Gear box is the 78-81 with WS-6 package. All 79 silver anniversary cars had this . Another clue is 4wd disc brakes. No external marking to differenciate the box so make sure its still in the orginal car before you pay big bucks for one. I ve seen them go for as much as$150. 2.2 turns lock to lock and an awsome road feel. Well worth the effort. I ve had one since 1980. Also will Work on 64-72 A body but the turning radius is compromised

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Q: Power Steering Pulleys for 1968

I am trying to determine the proper double drive pulleys that were used for the power steering opition on a 1968, 350, with a 4 speed manual transmission. If anyone has a factory stock power steering setup I would appreciate it you could tell me the approximate diameter of the pulleys for the harmonic dampner, water pump, alternator and power steering.

A:

1968 - all V/8 exc.A.C.,P.S.     9796059 Pulley- 1 grv, 8" dia.

1969 - F/8 H.T., A.C.            9796061 Pulley- 2 grv, 6.25" dia.(exc. Var. Pitch Fan)

1969 - all V/8 A.C.         9796062 Pulley- 2 grv, 7.18" dia.(with Var. Pitch Fan)

ALTERNATOR PULLEYS
---------------------------
1962-72- all V/8     1949357 2.75 dia, 1 groove (exc. 62 amp.alt.)

POWER STEERING PUMP PULLEYS
---------------------------
1967-70- all V/8 P.S. exc. A.C., RAV          9786900
1967-70- all V/8 P.S. w/A.C. exc. RAV        9786901

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Q: Power Steering Conversion

I am interested in putting power steering in my 1968 Firebird 400. What is the best approach? Is there a later model Firebird that has a steering box, pump, brackets, etc. that will directly bolt up?

A: Use all the engine mounted hardware from a 1968 Pontiac V-8 Each year is different in the pulleys,brackets etc. Best gearbox to use is one from a 78-81 Trans Am with WS-6 suspension option. Next best one is any Trans AM(69-81) The WS-6 has 2.2 turns lock to lock and gives a real nice road feel.It is a high effort box so doesnt give the steering the mushy feel.You must replace the relief valve located behind the pressure port in the ps pump as the Trans Am box requires more pressure. There are some quick ratio A body gearboxes but stay away from them as the internal stops are differnt.Any gearbox that you use must have the pitman arm replaced with the correct curved 1968 one.These are avaliable in repro form for about $90. Its not cheap to do it right but what is.

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Q: Pitman Arm

Can anyone help me ?

I have just taken delivery of a pretty good but (almost) completely dismantled (by someone else) 1969 Firebird 400 convertible.

The car is from the USA and is left-hand-drive at the moment. As far as I know it is original.

Because we drive on the left side of the road here in Australia I may have to convert the car to right-hand-drive but that’s another story.

Anyway the problem is the Pitman Arm.

I was told by someone that the Pitman Arm should be flat and straight. The Pitman Arm in my car is curved like a banana and also has a curved step in it. This means that the drivers side of the drag-link is closer to the ground that the passengers side.

Is this what the original arm should look like ? If not what does it look like ?

Any help/opinions would be appreciated

A: I had a similar problem with my 1968 400 convertable. The shop had a guide that showed a straight pitman arm so I bought one from Classic Industries. Unfortunately, it was the wrong part. Mine too was curved and stepped. I found one for around $99 at Ames Performance Engineering that worked great.

I was told that these are hard to find and that I might have to just rebuild my old one. I felt lucky to have found one!

Ames Performance Engineering is in Marlborough NH and can be reached at 603-876-3345 or fax at 603-876-4645.

A: The Pitman arm in my 1969 Firebird is also curved. The one in my 1967 is straight. I don’t think it matters which one you use as long as you have clearance around the stock exhaust manifolds/pipes. If you run long branch manifolds or headers then you won’t have any problems with either setup. (someone correct me if I’m wrong!)

A: I’m sorry, I seem to have missed the mark with my reply. As you see I described the Pitman on my 1969 race car, but as this has a much modified front end, I couldn’t be 100% sure. I got my 1969 convertible back today, and the pitman arm is the same bent shape.

Now I will try and be more helpful. I have always disliked converting cars LHD to RHD or vice/versa. I believe that there is more “potential” danger than the original system. But having said that, if you “must” convert, then I would suggest that you stay away from the chain system and the angle box system. The only safe (safest) way is to use say, a pre HQ box (HT-HG etc) and possibly other componants from various Holdens.

I think you will find that they had some very similar pieces and you can select enough parts to make it work. Also the US Ford pick-ups use the same Saginaw steering box as the Chev pick-ups but it mounts on the other side of the frame rail, so there is another possibility.

If the car is very disassembled, maybe you could use a complete front sub frame from an HQ-HZ ! May sound silly , but think about it. All your steering, brakes, suspension is there. All you then would need is to change the pedal box and dash,and column of course. I hope this is more helpful, I’m sorry it is so long, but it is the biggest swap there is.

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Q: Pitman Arm Installation

I just received a new pitman arm from Ames today. I know how to remove it, but how do you install it without misalignment to the steering gear? There doesn’t seem to be any marking on the new arm I can see.

A: the pitman arm has a spline cut in such a way that it could be put on in 4 different positions 80 degrees apart , if you pull the old one off and don’t move any thing Just put the new one on and it will be correct, If starting with every thing off and out. Center your steering wheel, turn all the way in one direction turn back the other direction counting turns then center is half of that, straighten tires, And the correct placement will be apparent in this general area. An alignment may be necessary as wheel center when tires are straight may be off, besides an alignment is a good idea any time front end parts are replaced. good luck

A: Results: I installed the new Pitman Arm on my 1968 yesterday. It took about 20 minutes after jacking up the car and removing the driver side wheel.

The new arm is made by a company in Modesto, CA. called Rare Parts. Ames stocks them and sells them for $100. Rare Parts will sell it to you for around $140! Ames was the cheapest place I could find one. No problem installing the part, except it caused my steering wheel to be off center by about 10 degrees. Now I have to pull it and re-center it.

I did make a significant difference on the handling. No more wandering, nice and stiff. Upon removal of the old arm, the center pin that bolts to the center link fell out. That tells you how worn it was.

A: I would NOT remove and move the steering wheel to center it, as the steering gearbox has a centerpoint! Get the alignment checked, you’ll need the toe adjustment set to center the wheel properly.

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