Today I made some progress on the power steering installation. I jacked up the front of the car, put it on jackstands, then unbolted and removed the left header. It came out really easily, especially with the steering box removed. I received the new rag joint from Muscle Car Central this afternoon, so I installed that on the new box, Then I checked the flange on the steering column to make sure it was clocked so the rag joint would line up with it. The three mounting bolts had been painted and were looking pretty bad, so I bead blasted them and gave them the black oxide coating treatment. They look a lot better now, even though no one will see them once they're installed, but it satisfied my OCD. Since there was no putting it off, I crawled under the car and got the new box up in position, rag joint pins engaged in the steering column, and got the mounting bolts installed. I had to tweak the brake line that goes to the rear brakes to get it to clear the box, then torqued the bolts down. The fiddly part was getting the bolts and retainer plate that fastens the rag joint to the column flange installed. Getting wrenches up there with little room to work took a while, but I got them tightened up eventually.
After that, I let the car back down and worked on getting the lines from the pump to the box cut to length and installed. I had to move the fitting for the return line from the lower part of the reservoir back up to the side so it didn't rub on the subframe, so I had to loosen up the pump again and slide it in to get room to work. I got both lines cut, the ends installed and the lines installed to the pump and steering box, so I'm getting closer. Went ahead and tensioned the belt and tightened up the pump, so with everything installed, I can add power steering fluid any time.
By then it was nearly 5:00PM, I was sweaty and tired from crawling all over the car, (never thought I'd be doing that at 75 years old) so I closed up and went to the house. I'm sure I'm going to feel all that tomorrow, so I took some Aleve, which really helps when I overdo it.
Getting the header back in looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm figuring on removing the left motor mount bolt so I can lift the engine, and also removing the clutch Z-bar for more room. That was what I had to do before, but I'm not sure just how it's going to go back in now. If I have to, I think I can remove the right side motor mount bolt, pick up the front of the motor and shift it to the right to get enough clearance. I'll see how it goes.
Back to watching 2001: A Space Odyssey on the tube, well the LED actually.