604 Power Steering gear into a 505

[Pug_405_Mi16]

Hi,

I have all the relevent gear for the power steering which has just come out of a 604 a mate of mine and I are wrecking. I thought I might try to fit this gear to a 505 which I am just starting to do up.

Is this possible ? Will it fit ? and work ?

Cheers

Ben

 

[nJm]

I am very interested in this sort of thing too. I have been thinking about fitting power steering to my 505 GR, but I'd need to buy all the parts from a wreckers...

any one know an approx cost? (think i might have asked this before).

 

[Pug_405_Mi16]

Dont know how much it would cost nick....I am getting mine for free

Ummm and I have found out 604 power steering will fit a 505....so it should be sweet approve

Ben

 

[nJm]

let me know how you go with it, I'd love to know if you think its worth getting it!

I thought I'd learnt to live without powersteering until I had to do a parallel park the other day in busy traffic... dead

 

[davemcbean]

nJm:
I thought I'd learnt to live without powersteering until I had to do a parallel park the other day in busy traffic... dead

Personally I don't have a problem with the weight of the manual steering 504/505 if well greased and wheel aligned, but what I do have a problem with is the fact that you can't turn fast enough on very fast tight corners, like in motorkhanas or on tight switchbacks like the top of Macquarie Pass, Mt Buffalo, etc, etc. This is where the 505/604 power steering excels. The steering is just the right ratio (17:1). It's not too twitchy, not too slow, and provides just the right amount of feel. It's bloody brilliant. It's rated at 3.4 turns lock to lock, which some may think is not that quick, but what you have to remember is that being a RWD car, the front wheels are allowed to turn alot further than a FWD car, so it's more equivalent to 3 turns lock to lock on a FWD car.

In my opinion, it's a pity that the car is too heavy to use the power steering rack ratio, without having all the associated hydraulic system on it. Apparently you can get away with it on lightened rally cars with a largish steering wheel, but on most normal 504s/505s it's too heavy to use without the hydraulics. Thank goodness the nice rack makes up for the extra complication (..well pretty much).

Those of you who've never driven a 203/403 or late 404 are really missing out on experiencing fantastic steering. It's not slow, it feels great, and it's not heavy (well, not with 165mm tyres).

Dave

 

[davemcbean]

davemcbean:

Those of you who've never driven a 203/403 or late 404 are really missing out on experiencing fantastic steering. It's not slow, it feels great, and it's not heavy (well, not with 165mm tyres).

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the 16.5 inch bus driver's steering wheel helps alot to make it light.

Dave

 

[nJm]

Hi Dave,
I've found it the same, its nicely weighted for driving, but you can't take twisty corners fast enough due to the slow steering, and I've personally found parallel parking a bit hard, but I've previously driven modern Mitsubishi Magna's and Honda's etc which have ridiculously light power steering

 

[Pug_405_Mi16]

Well I think I will still put it in...what the heck ! I have the stuff to do it

I have got used to power steering and I miss it wink

Ben

 

[pugrambo]

the non assisted 604 rack i found wasn't too bad in a 504 untill you had to park the car and with 215 tyres on it you needed muscles behind your ears nearly
but then i drove a mates XD falcon that had a GT non assisted steering box fitted from a GT falcon with 235 tyres on the front now that car was just about impossible to park
what made that car just that little bit more interesting was that it had a lock diff and ceramic clutch as well
a 5min drive in that car and you felt muscles that you never thought you had before
with the 604 rack in the 504 if you run around 3 deg neg camber on the front you will find that parking is made a little better as well

 

[Pug_405_Mi16]

I will fit the pump as well as just the rack...thus the steering should be nice and light !!

Ben