hi, im just started to get used to my car after its restoration, but I hate the heavy steering. Its not power steering so i know its going to be heavy but not as heavy as it is. Is there anything I can do to make it lighter? Also the steering shaft from the steering wheel to the first CV joint makes a deep grinding noise when turning, is this a problem?
regards
luke

 

There should be no grinding when you turn the wheel, so that may be why it is very stiff. I run manual steering with 17x8 rims on the front, and it is stiff, but once you are over 5 miles per hour or so, it is virtually identical to power steering in terms of stiffness.

There is an adjustment on the front of the rack, but if you loosen it too much, you will get a bad vibration in the rack. I would track down the source of your noise first, and fix that and see if that doesn't remedy the problem.

 

Ithink the shaft is rubbing on the firewall somehow, ill take a closer look soon. What kind of form is the adjustment, is it on the rack itself?

cheers doc

 

It is a nut and bolt that is a pressure adjustment against the rack itself.

 

cheers doc

 

hey doc, ive been thinking about getting the rack, hoses, pump for power steering off of a donor car. It looks like a straight forward swap, but where does the pump usually bolt to the block and what belt does the pump run off?

also what is my block engine number for these 944's, its an 84' N/A model.

cheers
luke

 

To swap to power steering, you would have to get all the lines, pump, tie rod assemblies, and steering shaft. The problem, is you also need the lower balance shaft front housing from a power steering car, and install that on your engine, because it has the PS mount. Manual steering did not have that mount. This means you will have to pull the balance shaft and timing belt and rear belt cover to replace the housing.

 

ok still tempting, although i like my new arnold muscles from my manual steering haha.

cheers doc