Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options?

Posted By: itali83

Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/02/09 01:51 AM

I'm converting my power steering car to manual and like to know what my options for an adapter are. I know flaming river makes an adapter but for almost 200 bucks, I'd like to figure something out other than that. Has anyone found another pre made adapter, or made their own? If so how did you do it and how did it attach to the original shaft? Thanks in advance!

Posted By: 383man

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/02/09 02:12 AM

I bought this one from Mancini for $119. about 2 years ago. I believe it is made by Firm Feel. And it works great on my 63. Ron

Posted By: cogen80

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my opti - 03/02/09 02:17 AM

i like the flaming river one the best

Posted By: itali83

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my opti - 03/02/09 05:49 PM

anyone else!

Posted By: challenger70

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my opti - 03/02/09 06:23 PM

Those are the only 2 I found when I was looking, I think the flaming river is a nicer looking piece and went with that.

Posted By: STLDuster

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/02/09 06:26 PM

I bought one from mancini last year, along with a Mancini 20:1 Worm gear. They really didn't fit together and I actually regret buying it. It was a major pain; I wish I would have bought a Firm Feel Adapter.

Posted By: topside

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/02/09 10:04 PM

From time to time they come up on eBay for around $75, and they're also available from Mopar.

Posted By: Silver70

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/02/09 10:11 PM

For 200 bucks I'd be changing the column!

Posted By: max

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 12:36 AM

several years ago i went the other direction from manual to power on my 70 Challenger.

my father and i took the column out and then on the bench we took the shaft out of the column and there was a couple of crash pins that we knocked out. slid the shaft up to the next set of holes and put another set of pins back in.

so in reality the stock shaft was used for both manual and power steering set ups.

Posted By: itali83

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 12:40 AM

Quote:

several years ago i went the other direction from manual to power on my 70 Challenger.

my father and i took the column out and then on the bench we took the shaft out of the column and there was a couple of crash pins that we knocked out. slid the shaft up to the next set of holes and put another set of pins back in.

so in reality the stock shaft was used for both manual and power steering set ups.

You know, now that you say that, I have the column completely apart. And I see the the shaft is in two pieces and has what looks like white plastic, nylon maybe, that is holding the two halves together and I was wondering what that was for. So the column will collaps in the unfortunite event of a head on collision? So you are saying that the two halves of the steering shaft are the same, just bonded together in different places depending on the steering box? I'd like to go that route if possible and safe.

Posted By: 69L78Nova

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 01:18 AM

Go to the junkyard and get one out of a B-van. I know theres actually one sitting down at my local u-pull-it yard

Posted By: max

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 01:37 AM

Quote:

Quote:

several years ago i went the other direction from manual to power on my 70 Challenger.

my father and i took the column out and then on the bench we took the shaft out of the column and there was a couple of crash pins that we knocked out. slid the shaft up to the next set of holes and put another set of pins back in.

so in reality the stock shaft was used for both manual and power steering set ups.

You know, now that you say that, I have the column completely apart. And I see the the shaft is in two pieces and has what looks like white plastic, nylon maybe, that is holding the two halves together and I was wondering what that was for. So the column will collaps in the unfortunite event of a head on collision? So you are saying that the two halves of the steering shaft are the same, just bonded together in different places depending on the steering box? I'd like to go that route if possible and safe.

it has been a good while since we did that but i believe they were nylon and yes they are there in case of a head on collision so the shaft will collapes.

i don't know if every column is the same but i'm thinking the one in my Challenger had 2 sets of holes and we just slid the shaft to the upper set of holes and repined it.

i just don't remember right off hand what we used to repin the shaft.

Posted By: itali83

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 03:02 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

several years ago i went the other direction from manual to power on my 70 Challenger.

my father and i took the column out and then on the bench we took the shaft out of the column and there was a couple of crash pins that we knocked out. slid the shaft up to the next set of holes and put another set of pins back in.

so in reality the stock shaft was used for both manual and power steering set ups.

You know, now that you say that, I have the column completely apart. And I see the the shaft is in two pieces and has what looks like white plastic, nylon maybe, that is holding the two halves together and I was wondering what that was for. So the column will collaps in the unfortunite event of a head on collision? So you are saying that the two halves of the steering shaft are the same, just bonded together in different places depending on the steering box? I'd like to go that route if possible and safe.

it has been a good while since we did that but i believe they were nylon and yes they are there in case of a head on collision so the shaft will collapes.

i don't know if every column is the same but i'm thinking the one in my Challenger had 2 sets of holes and we just slid the shaft to the upper set of holes and repined it.

i just don't remember right off hand what we used to repin the shaft.

Try and remember what you did because this sounds like a plan to me. I'd like to figure something out that will work the same way god forbid I get in an accident with this car the steering column will collapse like it should. Thanks again.

Posted By: Classof70Chally

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 03:20 AM

As far as repinning the shaft goes just go to the hardware store and find the appropriate sized Nylon machine screw and nut. It will be strong enough to hold everything together but will shear when need be in an accident!

Posted By: 71 FJ6 Charger

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 03:51 AM

I just did this conversion to my 71 Charger. YOu will seperate the shafts approximatley 3.5" apart.You dont have to put any nylon screws back in at all,it should be tight enough.Remember,you had to BEAT them apart,atleast 9 times out of 10.For piece of mind,scratch it up and put some JB Weld on it,it will still collapse. If I did it again,I would extend it 3 3/4"(same length as the adaptors),if it is too long,you can beat it back in. If you are too short,you gotta take ALL back apart and do it again. 3.5" on the heavy side(meaning a tad longer)will have you safely down into the coupler. Make sure you have the coupler for the manual box,as they are different,also put your pin back in the coupler to keep the shaft from coming out,(like it's going to anyway,not!).Here is a pic,you can see by the surface rust how much I brought it out. Good luck!

Posted By: 71 FJ6 Charger

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 03:55 AM

Cost me a 6 pak of Dortmunders!

Posted By: IMGTX

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 06:49 AM

Just an FYI.

1. They are not all the same shafts. They are not supposed to be "adjustable". There is a specific upper and lower shaft for each body style. There may be some cross platform swapping but you have to have the length chart to make comarisions. Stretching or shortening a shaft at the least will reduce the ability to collapse in an accident or make it easier to misalign and bind or come apart if the shafts are not long enough.

2. They are not nylon shear pins. I though they were until I saw pictures of a shaft Julesthewiperman disassembled. They are injection points for a nylon binder that rests in a groove around the inner shaft.

That being said you can probably or shorten the shaft and never have a problem as long as you don't have a serious accident. I would be much more concerned about lengthening it if I did not know exactly how much overlap the two shafts still had.

Play at your own risk but remember there will be others in the car and in the cars around you.

I suggest the van adapter if you can find it as a cheap alternative.

Posted By: 71 FJ6 Charger

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 07:30 AM

You would end up with about half of what you start with. I see your points,but I dont see how it would'nt collapse like a manual column rod would. The manual rod is only that much longer.
I also see what you mean about the length differences model to model,I did my 70 Dart a few years back and it was of course shorter than the one in the Charger I just did.
I considered welding a piece in,but felt better going this route,20 years ago maybe... Those adaptors are just outrageous cash.Even the van ones anymore,if you find them.

Posted By: itali83

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 11:45 AM

Thanks guys, I'm defintly going to look at everything and make a decision on safety. I'm doing a ground up restoration and another 200 bucks is nothing in the big scheme of things, but if I can make it safe for less, I'm defintly going to go that route.

What is this van adapter people are talking about? I'm not familliar with this.
Thanks again!

Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 01:40 PM

I think with the van adaptor the coupler from a manual steer colum is still needed.

Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 01:43 PM

http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/steering/13.html

Posted By: itali83

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 02:10 PM

Thanks, up here in the northeast, trying to find a car over 10 years old in a junkyard and the owners just laugh at you. Things rot out so bad they just crush everything way before they get old. I doubt I'd be able to find a late 80's van forget about a 70's van. I'll keep my eyes out though and thanks for the link. I'm going to look at the safety of making my shaft longer that way you won't see an adapter under the hood and it'll look cleaner. Thanks again guys!! I knew there had to be another option to paying almost 200 bucks to flaming river.

Posted By: AdamR

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my opti - 03/03/09 02:10 PM

Quote:

i like the flaming river one the best

It does away with the factory joint and gives you a nice U joint instead.

Posted By: 71 FJ6 Charger

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 03:27 PM

Quote:

Thanks guys, I'm defintly going to look at everything and make a decision on safety. I'm doing a ground up restoration and another 200 bucks is nothing in the big scheme of things,
Quote:

Well why did'nt you say that in the first place!?
You're right,what is a wimpy $200 when you're spending 10's of thousands. Jeez! No brainer there. Buy a unit and be done.Could have put it on in the time it took to reply to all these posts.

Posted By: dirtybee

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my opti - 03/03/09 03:42 PM

if it's going on a restored car it won't be "correct" with an adapter. i just stretched my steering shaft and picked up a manual pot coupler for $20. if the column is already out

... it's a fairly simple procedure and looks better in my opinion.

Posted By: itali83

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my opti - 03/03/09 05:03 PM

Quote:

if it's going on a restored car it won't be "correct" with an adapter. i just stretched my steering shaft and picked up a manual pot coupler for $20. if the column is already out ... it's a fairly simple procedure and looks better in my opinion.

What did you do to secure the shaft back together? and where did you buy the manual coupler? Thanks

Posted By: itali83

Re: Power to Manual steering adapters, what are my options? - 03/03/09 05:05 PM

Well why did'nt you say that in the first place!?
You're right,what is a wimpy $200 when you're spending 10's of thousands. Jeez! No brainer there. Buy a unit and be done.Could have put it on in the time it took to reply to all these posts.

Well, yes I'm spending a lot of money on this car, BUT, rebuilding something for 20ish compared to 200ish just makes sence. Plus I don't really like the look of an adapter. I guess I was just looking for options before I bought one. Thanks for all the replies and info!