power steering

[superted]

Hi help needed,would anyone know if a power steering box out of a 53 chevrolet car would fit in me 53 pontiac catilina it's got no power at the moment with radial tyres you need musles like popeye to turn the steering wheel the item is on ebay 160206421508 is the number thanks superted

[Larry]

The Hollander Interchange Manual shows that the '53 steering gear assembly is only interchangeable between '53 and '54 Chevrolets, nothing else.

It does show that a '53 power steering pump interchanges with a '54 and '55 Pontiac vane-type pump, but that doesn't help because it doesn't even mention a '53 Pontiac.

All this proves one point... it ain't gonna be easy to rig up PS in your '53 Pontiac mixing and matching from other GM cars. That being said, there may still turnout to be a lot of common items, but why take the chances and do it the hard way.

There have got to be a number of '53- certainly '54- Pontiacs with PS available as doners that you can get everything from in one package. The only thing I would be careful of is that there must be some difference between the '53 and '54 PS systems because Hollander skips all references to '53.

I've had a number of '54 Pontiacs and they all had PS and it worked great. They were pretty simple systems, but you will need everything. Our '49-'52 Technical Advisor, John Harvey, will probably have some more insight into this also.

Please keep us informed on how you progress with this project.

[50scars]

53 and 54 Pontiac used the same power steering gear box assembly. You want to take the whole steering column, not just try to get the box to fit. You need the pitman arm, too, but the tie rods are the same power and non-power steering. Since both years use the same steering gear, it appearantly does not matter which pump you get. The tough thing to get is the double sheeve pulley engine damper, which is common to the 53 and 54, and 6 is different than the 8. Finding the brackets is going to be fun, too. I'd be willing to bet that if you are fabricating brackets, you can use any pump you want to, as long as the pressures it developes are not so high as to blow out the seals in your steering box.
Good luck. Please keep us posted on what you do. I have a 54 steering column I would love to install in my 51.

[superted]

Hi all and thanks for that information.Got to say that there is not any doner cars over here in the uk if there was i would be out with me spanners.will have to keep looking on e bay you never know what will show up . as for fitting a diffrent pump fat man fabrications make a adjustable pressure valve for power steering it's used for ford power racks with chevy pumps to fine tune the amount of damping and steering feel if thats of any help in a make it fit situation thanks ted

[Larry]

Before going any cut and paste route, it would be better to still hunt around for the proper '53-54 complete set-up.

Drop an e-mail message to our English Technical Advisor, Graham Webber. He and his son, Simon, know just about every piece of Pontiac stuff over by you. They also have good contacts stateside and know a lot about the shipping process.

Be sure to post a "Wanted" ad in our classifieds under Parts Wanted too.

Now we know why you want power steering... a big un-powered Pontiac in your narrow streets must be a bear!

Keep us posted on your progress, and let us know if we can be of help if you locate a unit over here.

Perhaps you just need a "steering assist" as shown in the photo below.

[superted]

Everybody gets out of the way when i am on the move they get all polite for some reason must a nostelga thing!! i will try graham to see what he knows thanks again Ted

[50scars]

Super Ted:

If you don't mind a little cut and try, US Fords used a system for years and years where they had a ram that attached to the left frame rail, and the middle of the tie rod. Actually the tie rod was different for power steerintg than for non-power, because it had the attaching hole for the ram, but a good certified welder can fix that problem for you. It was used of all Fords from 54 into at least the late 60s, and on Granadas and Fairmonts until they quit making them in 85. Power steering was available as a dealer installed option on those cars.

[superted]

Thanks for that i will try to get some information on that system just in case i can't find a pontiac one Ted