Swapping OUT a Firm Feel steering chuck for a Borgeson in a 1970 Charger

[Kern Dog]

Sometime in the past 22 years, I lost the foam gasket that fits between the firewall and the steering column plate. I had some foam so I made one. I decided to glue it to the plate so it won't slip out of place. I'm hoping that this helps cut down on interior noise a little bit.

[472 R/T SE]

Im a plug & play type so this sort of info rocks.

[Kern Dog]

The power steering pump is in and the lines are connected. The steering gear underneath was bolted up and greased. I even greased the lower ball joints.
I went to install the steering column and found that it was too short. Starting in 1967, cars had to be built with collapsible steering columns. The pictures below show what the inner shafts look like:

[Kern Dog]

Look at the arrows. They show the plastic pins that preserve the length of the steering shafts. These get brittle and break sometimes. When that happens, the shafts can compress or expand from each other. In my case, they compressed. I just took a pipe wrench and tapped up with a hammer to extend it.

[Kern Dog]

I measured my "Jigsaw" Charger to get an idea of the proper length.

[Kern Dog]

The column was now 1/2" too long but that was better...I just tapped it back in a bit and installed the column by myself. Usually this is a pisser to do but with new parts, it slid together easily. Everything bolted up nicely. I lifted the car and started it up. They suggest to turn the wheel with the tires off the ground to get the fluid through the system. I had to top it off and used almost a full quart of GM spec AC-Delco power steering fluid.
I took a breaker bar and cranked down the pitman arm nut again and lowered the car down to drive it.
Immediately, I noticed the much easier turning of the wheel. It went from 2 3/4 turns lock to lock up to 3 1/2. I expected it to turn easier but this was much more than I expected. For comparison, if a stock Mopar box were at a 0 and the old setup I had (Firm Feel Stage 3 with Fast Ratio arms) were 100, this Borgeson steering effort is about a 35. It isn't Steer with your pinky finger and it isn't Armstrong steering either.
Another observation....steering feels linear through the entire range. My old setup had that dead spot in the middle that became super stiff once the slop was taken up and the tires start to steer. That "edge" was a shitty thing to deal with and I'm glad it is gone. This feels like a good handling daily driver where you turn the wheel and the car just responds. There are no creaks or squeaks from the steering column like before. I suspect that the high effort from before may have resulted in some flexing the dash and column while steering. The firewall foam pad I put in must have helped a bit because the car felt smoother and quieter. The coupler is packed with grease so it probably soaks up some vibrations. I did put a zerk fitting in the coupler.

I did have to pull the steering wheel and adapter to get the wheel centered. I must have accidently set the coupler in place a bit to the right. No biggie. All is well now.

[b5blue]

  Did you torque the mounting bolts to spec? Are you using an in line filter? Did you know you can use Permatex thread locker on the steering shafts to heal the busted binding plugs? You just goop a bunch on the joint area while sliding it in and out and tape it to the correct length and let it dry. (I paid big bucks for a vintage Mopar column shaft repair kit and basically that is what was in the box.)
  My Charger is fairly quite and I noticed a slight line pressure buzz or squish sound at idle that wasn't there with the old stuff. Radio or A/C fan washes it out. From what you describe your system was getting pretty crappy so good deal. I had a re-manufactured pump and box installed about 27 years ago that still worked fairly well. This new system feels like my old 1989 XJ Cherokee steering did. (A good thing.)

[Kern Dog]

I did not tighten to spec. I always do with engine work and wheels but never seem to remember to do it to other things. I did use Locktite though. I have a buddy that thinks that he is smart for following torque values....then he crushed and wasted 2 sets of front wheel bearings by torqueing them in FOOT lbs, not inch pounds!
No inline filter. I've never used one in any power steering application.
My steering shafts are very stiff to move, they don't slide easily. Thanks for that suggestion though. It may apply for a future build.
There is no noise from the pump or box from what I can tell.

[XH29N0G]

Kern Dog,

Thank you so much for posting this.  I made this swap a few years ago, and I would have really liked to have had something like this available.  You are doing us, forbbodiesonly, and wherever else you post these things, a great service.

[Kern Dog]

Thank you. I enjoy reporting on these types of projects. I make mistakes and sometimes take a slight detour or three along the way. Often times, a member sees that I am making a mistake and chimes in to steer me right. That is one of the reasons that online forums are great.
The setup at FBBO works better to tell the story because I can insert pictures between text like captions for pictures. I'm still thankful to have this forum to get the word out. I've seen some car forum guys post about their projects in a similar way. I like detailed explanations before I start a project.

[375instroke]

Any advantage to the 1-1/8" over the 1-1/4"?  I have a cop car box now, which is 1-1/4, and uses a much cheaper and easier to find pitman arm.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Nice write up.  Deserves a stickie at the top.  This is a real relevant modification

[Kern Dog]

Any advantage to the 1-1/8" over the 1-1/4"?  I have a cop car box now, which is 1-1/4, and uses a much cheaper and easier to find pitman arm.

I don't know. The 1972 and older cars had the 1 1/8" sector except C body cars. 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Nice write up!

How is the alignment from the box to the column? I had to shim mine on an A body so wondering if the alignment on the B body is any better.

[Kern Dog]

There is a very slight angle difference between the steering shaft and coupler but nothing dramatic. I thought I had a picture of it but I can't find it. I currently have the k member and engine out for a rebuild so I can't snap another picture right away.

[armor64]

awesome work KD, this swap is definitely on my shortlist of future upgrades, fantastic reference images!

[Kern Dog]

Thank you. I often look for helpful threads when I'm ready to start a project that I've never done before. There was a thread here that was a huge help to me....It was about how to use a commonly available Bosch 5 pin relay to use in place of the factory headlight door relay in '70 Chargers.