Restarting My '70 Nova Project

[alexpops]

Hats off to you. Between ABSOLUTELY hating electric gremlins and the trend towards more & more electrical/electronic components in the late 70's ... I finally quit working on cars for a living in 1980. You have WAY more patience than me.

 

[BravoXray]

Been working collecting parts to install power steering on the Nova. I decided to go with a Type II style pump instead of the Saginaw pump, and so far it's been a challenge getting it mounted, and devising a way to adjust the belt tension. I bought a March mounting kit and have had to modify the bracket to the pump and reservoir can be mounted in the correct orientation and allow for a range of adjustment. The instructions with the mount show the pump in a completely different position than where it lands, and the adjuster link is too long to work as pictured. So, I worked this afternoon fabricating a lever that bolts to the pump, and will allow the adjuster to work, although in a different location. I bought a couple of 3/8" ID X 1/2" wide spacers to go on each end of the adjuster to get it positioned correctly, so I think I have the pump and mount figured out. I think I pressed the pulley on the pump, because there are holes in the pulley for access to the pivot bolt. I'm waiting on the hose, fittings and a couple of adapters for the ports on the steering box to come from Summit Racing. I also have the steering box, the Pitman arm, and the nut and washer, so I should be ready to get it all installed soon.

 

[MossRoad]

Power steering? BAAAA!

I recall throwing my Novas around corners and just letting go of the wheel and watching it spin violently back way past center. The good old days of 'keep your thumbs out of there'.

 

[BravoXray]

I've been working on the power steering conversion for the last couple of weeks. After getting the pump mounted up, I discovered that I had put the part that the pump mounts to in the wrong orientation. It can go either way, but it has an offset, so when it was installed, the pulley wouldn't extend far enough forward to line up with the crank pulley. Well rats! I had to grind clearance to allow the pump to pivot into the proper position, and when I turned it over, I had to grind clearance on that side too. Once that was done, I got the spacers for the adjuster link, and it all lined up as it should. Once I got the belt and put it on and adjusted, the pump was really close to the A-arm bolt, closer than I was comfortable with, about 3/8". Sooooo, I was looking through the Jones Racing catalog that came with the pump assembly, and they had a billet aluminum bracket that is slotted to allow belt adjustment. That looked like a much better solution, so I ordered one off Amazon. Once I got it, it looked like it would do the job, so I mounted it and the pump on the engine. Now, the pump pulley was too far forward, by ~1/4". Well rats again! Being the persistent person I am, I figured that if I used thinner spacers than the 1/2" thick ones they supplied with the bracket, I could get it to line up. After some precise as possible measurements were made, I fired up the lathe and made the correct thickness spacers, 6mm, from a piece of 1" aluminum bar stock I had. With these, using thinner washers on the bolts and grinding a little off the bolt heads, I got it all to clear the boss for a freeze plug when it slides for adjustment. Being so close to the block, I couldn't get a wrench in between the block and the bracket, so I bought a 1/2" Kobalt combination wrench that was in the clearance bin at Lowes and ground it thin enough the fit. Now I can use a shorter belt to get more clearance from the A-arm bolt.
Yesterday, I pulled the old steering box off, and it was a really tight fit to get it out. There is no way the power box will go in unless I loosen or maybe remove the header. Also, the power box uses a different rag joint to connect to the steering column, so I ordered one of those too. I have the hoses partially assembled, I put on the ends that connect to the pump. Once the box is in, I can measure, cut and install the other ends. It's been so hot here lately, I can only work in the shop for a couple of hours, so the conversion is going slow, but it's supposed to cool off next week, so hopefully I can get it wrapped up soon. I have a 1" shorter belt than the one in the picture, that will move the pump in another 1/2" away from the A-arm bolt, giving me plenty of clearance.