Hey all,

I just got done with my power steering install a few weeks ago and used a pump with brackets I got at a swap meet and all was well for a little while. The pump has a small hairline crack that wasn't noticeable at first inspection. To make a long story short, my big block power steering pump is no more good, but I have a few lying around for small block projects in years past. Will the small block pump work fine on the big block, or do they make different ones for a reason? I know they will bolt up, but I'm just curious if there is something different internally that would make the one for the small block bite the dust in no time.

Thanks,

Spencer

Oops - replied to the wrong thread.

No one has ever been able to tell me the difference either ! I say if you have a small block one and the belts will line up, try it ! Post back how it works, or if you find a difference !

Any update on this?

I cannot imagine why the pumps would be different other than mounting brackets. There are different pump shaft diameters and front bearing designs, but if everything lines up properly you can use the pump.

TTFN
Mat

I don't have a lot of information on F-car pump assemblies but I can provide a few guidelines. For the most part, the actual pumps (the cast iron part with the guts that actually pump oil) are the same regardless of engine. When you add a sheet metal reservoir the pump becomes a pump assembly. The F-car pumps were all fairly low pressure (950 psi) until 1970. In 1970 all of the A and F-car pumps were set at 1400 psi pressure relief.) Looking at my limited F-car information, I don't see any difference between big blocks, SS, or any other options or models.

Sometimes a big block versus small block versus a 6 cylinder might have required a different reservoir on one particular engine. For the most part, Saginaw and the car division people always tried to design one pump assembly that would fit all engine types so as not to confuse the assembly plant people.

Sometimes the return line spout on the back of the pump assembly may have had to point in a specific direction for one particular engine. Therefore, a unique pump assembly. The A-car big block pump assemblies had remote reservoirs for several years, therefore it was a unique pump assembly.

The mounting points on the pump housings and the driveshafts were all the same for all pumps. (Note, all pumps changed in 1975 to interference fit pulleys. All pumps changed in 1980 to metric fasteners and metric o-ring outlet ports.)

So my answer is that there is a very good chance that the Camaro big block pump and reservoir is the same as the small block. However, I don't have any hard information.

JIML82