Re: Caster Adjustment Question

[adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)]

" From: Matt Haas <mhaas@xxxxxxx>
" 
" Unless the nose is sitting a mile high, those rubber wedges are probably in 
" the springs because the springs are shot. Take them out and if the nose 
" droops (60's cars typically have the nose a little higher than the rear), 
" you need new springs.

good advice.  when i got my american the rear springs were so sagged
it needed high-lift shackles just to level it!

" Once you've gone through all the checks and made any needed repairs and 
" find you still can't live with the steering, you can switch the steering 
" box out (or have the guts in yours changed) and/or play with pump pressure 
" to increase road feel and responsiveness. GM offered quick ratio boxes in 
" the late 70's and early 80's in some F (Camaro/Firebird) and A/G (Malibu, 
" El Camino, RWD Cutlass) body cars that should bolt in. You can also get new 
" boxes from companies like AGR (Summit Racing carries them) or buy 
" remanufactured quick ratio boxes (you should be able to pick up a 
" remanufactured box at an auto parts store). If you swap the box out, 
" replace the hoses and either flush or rebuild the pump to make sure all the 
" trash is out of the system.

pretty much covers it.  i'll just add a couple of things:
one of the things that controls 'feel' is a torsion bar in the ps gear
valve assembly.  thinner = more flexible = number feel, thicker = less
flexible = better feel.  t-bars range from 0.165" to .210"; '60s cars
tend to be on the small end.  the boxes matt mentions are .195" or
.204" iirc.

amcs have a pretty wide turning angle, and i'm not sure if those gm
boxes matt mentions have appropriate turning stops.  one box that
does, and has the fastest 2.5 turns lock-to-lock ratio, is the
early-'90s grand cherokee unit.  it has metric hose connectors, but
iirc they're inserts which could be r&r with your old sae ones, or
you could have hybrid hoses made.  this box has a .195" t-bar.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                       and think what none thought