went power steering using the Borgeson conversion, now need set up help.

[DrDragon]

There's no room for the Z-bar with the bigger Borgeson power steering box. I don't see a need for hydraulic clutch but how about cable like a 90 mustang?
Anyone go this route? What pedal assembly to use? fork? This is for a 390 with T10.

[lalessi1]

A hydraulic set up can be had relatively easily. I am using a set up that I am not really happy with so I am in the "redesign phase" now. I have a hydraulic throw out bearing and a McLeod early Mustang Hydraulic conversion kit. Pricey and a PITA! Wilwood makes an inexpensive .75" master and they also make a PULL type slave cylinder. Easy to install and fairly cheap. If you are interested in that type of set up I can help with the details. My understanding is that cable actuated clutches are prone to fail and are limited to smaller clutches, but I have no experience with them so that may not be true. Factory pedal assembly, fork and pedal and throw out bearing can be used with a hydraulic arrangement as I envision it now.

[rar1947]

I?m running an FE with a manual trans (4 speed toploader imposter) and modified the Z bar slightly to clear. I have log style manifolds so you may have more clearance issues with headers. What headers are you running?  Not sure if it worked but I tried to post a link to the thread that talks about my z bar modification.


http://57fordsforever.com/smf/index.php?topic=5833.0

[DrDragon]

The headers are from FPA out of Washington. I reworked the z bar and I now have clearance. The only issue is the clutch return spring is riding on the set up and won't work over time. That's a small issue I hope. As far as a cable set up I used one for years in a 90 Mustang with a built 5.0 and TKO with no problems. I'm thinking of going with that TKO in this car so the pedal quadrant would be the issue there I would think.

[lalessi1]

The headers are from FPA out of Washington. I reworked the z bar and I now have clearance. The only issue is the clutch return spring is riding on the set up and won't work over time. That's a small issue I hope. As far as a cable set up I used one for years in a 90 Mustang with a built 5.0 and TKO with no problems. I'm thinking of going with that TKO in this car so the pedal quadrant would be the issue there I would think.

Any details on how you reworked the z bar would be appreciated. Maybe that is what I should do...

[DrDragon]

I'll take pics today. Cutting and welding.

[DrDragon]

Hope this helps.

[DrDragon]

These changes below were mainly for the header clearance but they worked well for the pump. This will give you a better picture of what was done. I can't get credit for this, the guy that owned it before me made these changes. I only had to make minor changes because of the larger pump.
One is the arm on the Z bar was cut and moved inward about an inch and twisted slightly to line up with the clutch arm.
The other picture is where the pivot ball mounted on the engine was cut for the headers.

[lalessi1]

Thanks for the pics and explanation. I found my z bar and brackets and will try to put the stuff in the car.

[hiball3985]

Thanks for the pics and explanation. I found my z bar and brackets and will try to put the stuff in the car.

Lynn, I'm sure you know that the Z bars are prone to tearing were the arms are welded, I add gussets to mine, I've even had to do that on my early Mustangs.

[DrDragon]

Mine is mated to a T10 with a butter clutch. When I upgrade to a TKO and Ram clutch I'll use a cable setup.

[lalessi1]

I have a Mcleod RST twin disc clutch, very light pedal. My engine makes over 550 ft-lbs of torque.

[DrDragon]

Sat down and slid the steering column rod into the coupler supplied by Borgeson and the column is 1 1/4" to the right of center. So I'll call them tomorrow and see if there's a fix.

[rar1947]

My box wasn?t centered in the column either. Borgeson said to shim the box as needed. However I don?t think it was over an inch off. I just used a washer and shim on the bottom two bolts to get everything aligned. My only real complaint with going to power steering was that lack off returnability to center while driving. They say this is an alignment issue but I have FATMAN tubular upper A arms that is supposed to help this but there wasn?t much of a change. I had it aligned at a reputable shop and he said it was maxed out(probably more so than factory recommended tolerances).  I need to take it back as my steering box isn?t perfectly centered so I?ll have them adjust tie rods to center the box and see if that helps. Will be interesting to see how yours returns to center once you have it on the road again.

[Tom S]

Sat down and slid the steering column rod into the coupler supplied by Borgeson and the column is 1 1/4" to the right of center. So I'll call them tomorrow and see if there's a fix.

My Borg box is mated to, unfortunately IMO, a Flaming River steering column with a u-joint. Other than the alternative of shimming the box that's probably what you need to get your column centered.