After 3 weeks without my car due a the power steering failure, I'm finally back on the road. It's been a very annoying 3 weeks:
Week 1 - looking at all the numerous options for replacement - pump part numbers seem to be different for each year - Do I match the pump to the engine year, or the car - or the replacement steering box (2.5 turns)?
Discover that no-one in the UK stocks pumps, so decide to order from US myself. After a lengthy discussion with NPD, decide to go for a 79 pump to match the car and some 79 mounting brackets. Will get custom hoses made to fit pump/steering box combination
Week 2 - pulled old pump and brakets off the car. Managed to bend pulley when trying to remove it, so had to place another order to the US - another £40 shipping charge I could have done without. New pump and brackets arrive - pump has been dropped and bent the return tube
Main bracket doesn't fit the pump
Pulley shaft is press fit - I've ordered a keyway pulley
. Phoned JEGS to change order, thankfully got there in time and was able to change the order. Had to go from a nice billet ally one to basic chrome due to lack of options on pressfit pulleys
Whislt preparing to swap the steering box decided to double check what I had - turned out I'd be swapping like for like. Glad I checked before removing the old one!! Still means I shelled out for a replacement box that I didn't need
Week 3 - Modified bracket to fit pump - fits OK. Need to modify 2nd part of mounting bracket, as it is designed for manifolds, whereas I have headers. Welded additional bits on to suit, then spent three nights of the week preping and repainting the brackets.
Verify all hose fittings and order new braded hose and ally ends (£££ ouch)
Weekend arrives all bits present and correct, ready to fit. Bolt main bracket and pump to engine -
Bolt 2nd bracket to engine - Er it don't fit.
Where the main bracket has been modified to move the pump to fit, the pump now hits the other bracket and they can't be used
Plan B, dig out old brackets and work out how to repair them. One end was a tiny piece where the main support bolt goes through. Managed to grind out a bit of surface area to weld with using my Dremel, and then welded a washer on top for added strength. Didn't come out too bad.
Then the other bracket - this was an adjustable bit (slotted), and didn't look so easy to sort out. Then realised there was also a slotted bit in the other bracket - You don't need 2 slots, so I just made up a basic flat bracket with the holes in the right place. Added a support gusset that ties into the 1st header bolt (to stop the vibration that I believe caused the failure) Quickly painted and dried it (using a heat gun so I could get the job done in the day :redneck: ) and bolted it all up - It fits and the pulley lined up with no adjustments needed
With bracket completed, I now had to remove the pulley again to be able to remove/refit new brackets. At least I know where I went wrong when I bent the last one.
Then to the hoses. Main pressure hose on OK
Return host on OK at 'box, but difficult to get on pump due to bent inlet pipe
Then to flushing, filling and burping fluid. Instructions say to remove return hose and put in bucket. Put fluid in reservoir and turn over engine to pump through system. Instructions didn't say that if the return hose is off and you put fluid in, it just flows straight out of the bottom
£5 of fluid on the drive. OK - plugged inlet pipe and flushed system. With the amount of fluid in the bucket, I think I over did it
Tried to put return line back on, but as soon as plug removed fluid comes out, goes all over pipe (and drive), making an already hard to fit pipe even harder as it's slippery
Finally got it all on and secured. Found out that with all the leakages, I didn't have enough fluid left to top the pump up properly, so had to go and buy some more.
At last though, it's all together, it all works. No leaks, no funny noises, no vibrations. Got to work without trouble this morning, and no leaks to be seen. I'll see if I can get some pics to post later today.
