Power steering conversion

Hi all nearly got my v8 p6 1973 ready for the road however was just turning it round in the road the other day an wondered how easy it would be to fit power steering to it anyone done this conversion or am i best leaving alone an build some muscles instead

cheers

Richard

Apart from drilling three holes to mount the reservoir on the inner wing it's a bolt on conversion. You'll need the box, trackrod, pump and brackets, the hoses, a front pulley, and a nice new belt. There's also a special mounting nut for the box, that needs a stud fitting in place of a bolt on the manual steeering box.Well worth doing IMHO. Try and get a complete kit that's been removed from the donor car without having any of the hoses disconnected.

actually, the most difficult part of the job is sourcing a full power steering wiper system. The non power cars have the motor on the drivers side with an arm linkage, the power cars have it on the passenger side with a spiral cable drive. For some reason, these are much more difficult to get hold of than the steering bits.

That said, with decent tyres properly inflated, you may find the manual steering is quite acceptable once you're over the surprise. It's much more responsive through the twisty bits and not that herculean in a car park, just as long as you use the full size steering wheel.

Chris

chrisyork said:

actually, the most difficult part of the job is sourcing a full power steering wiper system. The non power cars have the motor on the drivers side with an arm linkage, the power cars have it on the passenger side with a spiral cable drive.

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hawkit12 said:

my v8 p6 1973

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It should already have the cable wiper system. It's only early cars that have the link system.

Nice one think i'll just see how it goes when i get the mot an do a few miles getting excited only had it the best part of a year an thanks to you guys on here got most of the gremlins sorted
cheers all
Richard

no joy getting hold of a kit to convert my heavy P6 to power steering but was at NEC show and have started to think about the electric power assist system they showed . seems it can be used on a P6..hmm. contacted Rimmer's but they want over £1k when parts are available so as a pensioner that way out of my league.
well i live in hope . :?

It all rather depends on how much of the work you're prepared to do yourself.

The actual power steering steering box is still available new for around the £300 mark.

Things have moved on somewhat since this thread started. Today, I wouldn't consider using the rest of the Rover hardware of engine driven pump, pipework, reservoir etc. Instead I would fit an electric pump with integral reservoir from a car buit around the turn of the millenium. It doesn't really matter what the donor is, as all systems work on the same pressure. I've seen people use pumps ex Vauxhall Astra and from various Peugeots.

The really difficult bit remains sourcing a passenger side wiper motor set up if your car doesn't already have it. You need the entire system, motor, mountings, cable drive and tubes and wiper wheelboxes. Something from another car won't do....

Then you need to source suitable feed and return hoses and couplers between the pump and steering box. Much easier than you might think. Look in yellow pages for a hydraulic hose specialist. They are very likely to be willing to visit you and do the work on your driveway. This is because their main market is earth moving equipment, which invariably breaks on site and not in a workshop. So they have vans tooled up with everything they need aimed at going to the machinery and fixing it on site.

Chris

Personally, I'd retrofit a column mounted EPAS (electric) system. That way there's no hydraulics involved and everything looks standard.

It's something I'm in the process of investigating at the moment, it should be possible for a lot less than £1K.

I'm not certain but I seem to remember the PAS system is higher geared too, so the EPAS wouldn't be the same. Is it 3.5 instead of 4.5. lock to lock on the V8? I'm sorry I read about this years ago now.

That's a big difference. The car will feel particularly more agile in town at junctions but perhaps less precise at speed.

I used an electric pump with remote filler from a scrap Saxo and put it under the front valance, the filler by the inner wing. Just two wires to worry about + & - . use a wiper kit form a V8 and get a more powerful alternator.

PeterZRH said:

I'm not certain but I seem to remember the PAS system is higher geared too, so the EPAS wouldn't be the same. Is it 3.5 instead of 4.5. lock to lock on the V8? I'm sorry I read about this years ago now.

That's a big difference. The car will feel particularly more agile in town at junctions but perhaps less precise at speed.

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The beauty of the EPAS system is that it's very adjustable. With the fitting of a speed sensor, to the propshaft for example, you can even make it speed sensitive!

I'd love to see it done but too deep for my pockets.

I returned home today with The Duchess, my 1970 P6B, with newly installed electric power steering - EPAS, which has TOTALLY transformed the driving experience. Not only is the steering MUCH easier - I can easily park and manoeuvre but the road feel remains (it is speed sensitive) and a completely unexpected bonus of improved cornering with more precise road position. I have done many modifications to create The Duchess as she is, but this one makes her a dream to drive.

Good to hear this works well. Be interesting to drive that and a Rover PAS car back to back.

The installation was done by Litesteer in Sussex. I have attached a photo of the finished work inside the glove box.

that last comment and EPAS from Fry seems interesting though too far away to consider.( sussex) you have not mentioned prices? would they sell a kit? bit more info may be interesting. e.g. do we lose drivers glove box area? ( not a worry) assume it fits in UNDER the glove box lid! potentially it could sell well to manual car owner such as me assuming within budget ..hence self fitting. combined with an uprated anti roll bar ( these are available i am told but not cheap) would no doubt give these cars a much more modern handling and better driving experience .