Power Steering - When you don't have it, you really miss it
When I first bought my mustang, the steering was about as accurate as shooting soggy garlic bread from a bow. I can still remember about 2-3" of play in the steering linkage before the wheels actually "caught." This made it very interesting to "tease" the car around corners. Couple that with a noisy/leaky power steering pump, and before long I just got fed up with the entire system and gave it the boot.
Total Control Products Manual Rack and Pinion
First time I dove into fixing up the mustang I bought this nice manual rack setup from Total Control Products. It was actually a really nice piece, and I had no trouble getting it installed. Steering was super-responsive and not a hitch of any noise. Only problem was trying to park the thing in a parking lot. It definitely took some persuading to do before the car would go where you wanted it to go. But you put any speed behind it and it was smooth as butter. Once I did my deconstruction, this part is living a new life somewhere in Australia now.
Original Power Steering Tank
Here you can see the original power steering tank and what's left of the original hard line. The original hard line snaked all the way down next to the alternater, but I had a hard time finding a fitting to fit the OEM fitting, so I just broke the line off here till I can up with something. That and I got tired of it getting in the way everytime I turned around.
First order of business was to find a fitting to fit the OEM pump. The threads where M16x1 - Teflon style. So I ended up taking a o-ring style M16x1 to AN-6 fitting and cut off the o-ring spot and made it look like the OEM side. Basically I made me an OEM M16x1 teflon style fitting. I failed to get a picture of it, cause I was in a rush to get some liquid in the car. Sorry.
First order of business was to find a fitting to fit the OEM pump. The threads where M16x1 - Teflon style. So I ended up taking a o-ring style M16x1 to AN-6 fitting and cut off the o-ring spot and made it look like the OEM side. Basically I made me an OEM M16x1 teflon style fitting. I failed to get a picture of it, cause I was in a rush to get some liquid in the car. Sorry.
New tank - Tank to Pump line
Since I was going with AN flex lines, I pick up this nice Canton racing tank to complement the rest of the aluminum tanks in the engine bay. That and since the tank had threaded bungs I could put whatever port I want on it. Here the fluid flows to the left to the power steering pump. I saved the original spring clamps to keep the OEM look.
From here the pump pressurizes the liquid and shoots it horizontally to the right and down to the power steering rack. Here I used a 45 degree fitting to get the hose going in the right direction.
From here the pump pressurizes the liquid and shoots it horizontally to the right and down to the power steering rack. Here I used a 45 degree fitting to get the hose going in the right direction.
Around the block and towards the Rack
Here you can see the pressure line turn beside the block and shoot towards the power steering rack. I used a single rubber hose clamp to give support and keep things nice and tight. BTW, if you have notice, I used these rubber hose clamps throughout the car. Keeps everything linked together.
Power Steering Rack
Now this is where the good stuff happens. The Pressure line drops in on the right, does its magic, and then it's returned out the rear port and back to the power steering tank. Here I found some 5/8" to 6-AN and 9/16" to 6-AN teflon style fittings. It was kinda a pain in the rear to get teflon washers for these ports, but I got some nice ones from Summit Racing just to keep everything liquid tight.
Return to the Tank
So heading back from the power steering rack I reused a stud from the oil pan to keep everything nice and tight under the motor. Now once I made the bend I was thinking about using a few zip-ties to hold the hose next to the metal water hose, but after a few minutes of staring at it I knew I could do better. So I welded a couple of tabs to the metal water line (luckily it was steel), painted it and added just two more hose clamps make everything nice and clean. I ended up with another 45 degree fitting to the bottom of the power steering tank to finish everything off while keeping all the hoses away from the belts. Then it was just a couple of pints of fluid and it was good to go.
