Hi guys,
I finally got all my parts together for my steering swap, and about ready to get started. I had manual before. I know you guys get sick of hearing questions about this swap for the hundredth time, but help me out one last time. My Cardone box from 87 IROC Z is installed as is the new rag joint. Steering column is in. I have the Lee inserts but have not installed them yet.
NOW, haha.
1. Does the "check valve" which I understand comes in the Cardone box, have to be removed? If I left it what would be the problems?

2. If I put the Lee inserts in my new box, do I just attach the new 69 Camaro hoses, even though their fittings are different from the Cardone box fittings?

3. If I decide to NOT use the Leee inserts, do I have to cut the ends off of my new 69 Camaro hoses and have new fittings installed that are compatible with the 3rd Gen box fittings? If so, would the 69 Camaro hoses still be long enough to attach said fittings? And if so, what size/type fittings would I have to have put on my hoses? And can I attach the fittings myself without the use of hose clamps?

I know this has been beat to death, and I've read postings by the ton. Now that I have the parts, don't want to screw up and ruin any threads or have any leaks.

Thanks much for walking me through this.
RJ

4.

Use the inserts and stock 69 camaros hoses.

Unless the motor is out of the car (so you have more room to work), take the box out and "pre-start" the fittings one time so the threads can get to know eachother.

Jim,
So everything will tighten up OK? What about the check valve, I've seen differing opinions on that. Do I just leave it alone, or what?
Thanks
RJ

If mine (done 5 years ago) came with a check valve, the thing is still in there. Not sure of that is good or bad though. Mine's not a good example, I have zero power assist if the car's not rolling at least a little bit.

There is plenty written here on that valve though.

Yes, I read much of that, but differing opinions. I don't really want to remove it if not necessary. I bought the Z-28 deep groove pulleys. Is the power steering pulley a press on pulley? Mine has a keyway, but it won't slide right on. Seems pretty tight.
The pump I got from Ground UP sure fits the bracket much better than that AC Delco pump from Rick's did.
Thanks Jim
RJ

Just FYI, I had the problem of not enough boost with my third gen box. I bought a rebuilt "high performance" pump from the ebay seller treborsparts for $40. It was reworked for more flow and pressure, but bolts right into the stock '68 pump housing. I don't know the guy, not an ad, but it works great for me. The item number was 360014180758, it's still showing for a couple more weeks. I'm sure he has more since he seems to sell lots of P/S parts.

Is the power steering pulley a press on pulley? Mine has a keyway, but it won't slide right on. Seems pretty tight.Remove the key and trial fit, key may be too tall and need some filing.

Pulley is a press fit onto the shaft.

I left the check valve in on my 3g box.
Performs as expected and then some.

And I second 'treborsparts', bought my reman saginaw pump, OEM brackets and OEM pulley from him.

Thanks guys, i'll leave the check valve alone, if there is one. As for the pulley, I'll look at the key etc. i just read though that prior to 75 all the power steering pulleys were NOT press on, and that frequently the paint or powdercoat was too thick and needed to be removed inside the hole in order for the pulley to slide on. Then the nut held it tight in place.
rj

I'm pretty sure that's who I bought my 1st gen box from, but it was awhile ago now.

Jim

I removed the check-valve and don't blame you for not wanting to go there. It was a littlebit of a pain and high potential to have pieces fall in the gear box. If you call Lee manuf. they can tell you for sure if their inserts will fit with the valve in place. My observation was that it would interfere but appears like I'm wrong about that since others left it in. Possibly the check valve assembly may have more play to slide up/down than I originally thought but it looked to me like it would interfere since was occupying the same cylindrical orifice as the lower portion of insert would go into.

I know others have been successful w/stock fittings but I didn't like the slop in one and my high-pressure side leaked so I got the proper metric fittings from Lee and cut and reflared my hoses which had plenty of tubing/room to do that and could be done while still connected at the other end w/o problem. Mr. Lee said that it would be a pain to flare these tubes but I found it to be a very simple process. If you don't feel comfortable doing it you could ask a hose shop what they'd charge if you brought them in. My opinion is that if you have an opportunity to do it right for minimial added effort than do it in the first place and don't mismatch thread types. Like I said though, that's just my perspective and others have used the stock fittings for this swap w/o issue.

I took mine out for a ride the other day and was very impressed with the feel. Very reponsive yet tight and every move you made resulted in the proper reaction (unlike original). However, one issue I still need to work on is returning to center (which others have had issues as well). It wants to and does move that way but w/o enough force to bring it back. I had my alignment done according to the highly recommended specs here but still doesn't retun back to center at this point w/o some help. I also rebuilt the entire front suspension so possibly may need to get broken in so moves w/less effort - not sure at this point.

Good Luck w/your swap.

Thanks for all that input. greatly appreciated.
I'm having an issue now, seems to be never ending. I have a post under engines you might want to check out. i bought 69 Z-28 deep groove pulleys for my 350, and the crank pulley is 3/8" or so difference in depth, so the belts are way off. I'm wondering if a Z-28 motor uses a different thickness harmonic balancer than a 350 motor, hence the differences in crank pulley depth. Do you know anything about this???
Thanks
RJ

Hi guys, Well I FINALLY got the 3rd gen box up and running for the most part. I used the Rick's hoses and they bolted up perfect, once I realized that the hoses run from the steering box, down under the left motor mount along the oil pan, then back up to the pump. I thought they went straight to the pump until I looked at the AIM diagram.
Also used the Lee inserts. They went in very easily, almost by hand. That scared me a bit, but when I tightened up the hoses and all, there were no leaks anywhere. About the first thing that went right!!!
Also the power steering pulley went on alright. Had to sand off some of the paint inside the pulley hole. Then it went on enough that I could pull it on the rest of the way with the nut. Doesn't line up too well with the crank pulley though, Will have to tweak the bracket some, I guess.
Still haven't solved the mystery about why the Z-28 deep groove crank pulley I bought from Ground UP doesn't fit. If you lay it and the old crank pulley side by side on the floor, the Z pulley is 3/8" taller than the other one, so belts don't line up. Had to use my old lo-perf crank pulley with the new deep groove water pump and power steering pulleys. Not the way I wanted it to work.
On the CRG website under pulleys, they show two completely different set of part numbers for the Z-28 and the 350. I've read that ALL 69 pulleys are deep groove, so why do they sell Z-28 deep groove pulleys??
RJ