steering wheels is the thread, but I think we would all like to know about this here power steering black magic thing you talk about ! whats the set up? how does it drive? feel etc.
steering wheels
Hi MJR,
Well, I took the power steering set up from a 1992 Alfa 75, everything, pump, bracket, hoses, steering rack, and steering column.
All metal components have been zinc plated to prevent rusting and to enhance the look, with a little jiggling the column fits perfectly.
The car drives and responds really well, road feel is good and menouvers well too!
My car is being rebuilt at the moment with the Ron simmons suspension set up, so I have yet to know how she handles!
Paul UK
Well, I took the power steering set up from a 1992 Alfa 75, everything, pump, bracket, hoses, steering rack, and steering column.
All metal components have been zinc plated to prevent rusting and to enhance the look, with a little jiggling the column fits perfectly.
The car drives and responds really well, road feel is good and menouvers well too!
My car is being rebuilt at the moment with the Ron simmons suspension set up, so I have yet to know how she handles!
Paul UK
steering wheels
yes, everything was from and Alfa 75 3.0L, just plug and play, no modifications required. Give it a go and let me know what you think.
Paul UK
Paul UK
steering wheels
I think the power steering set up gives the GTV6 a new lease of life 
Im an assertive driver and I need every advantage I can get!
Paul UK
Im an assertive driver and I need every advantage I can get!
Paul UK
Paul I am going to post a somewhat different point of view here so please accept my indulgence. I've known you too long to even accidentally piss you off.
Power steering by its very NATURE is not and never can be as sensitively responsive as a simple manual rack. It's main benefits are low speed parking assistance especially if you have a heavy cast iron Chevy V8 under the bonnet or you have huge fat tyres on the front (or both.)
So parking assistance has very little to do with chassis performance of a sports machine like a GTV6 at speed when steering response and sharpness is what is required. Some designs try to cater for this by having progressively less assistance with an increase in speed. Whislt these types are better, inherent problems remain.
In summary. If you want and need parking assistance by all means do it . If you are willing to put up with more load on steering during these time for the benefit of steering response at speed, then leave it out.
If you are driving a front wheel drive Alfa then power steer is virtually not an option but you are on the wrong site..haha
Just to add a little confusion, you can run a power rack MANUALLY by not hooking up the steering pump but you must run an oil reservoir-ask JK for the lowdown. Personally I wouldn't due to its weight.
Why am I so clear on this issue? It's because I have fitted exactly this rack to the familly Alfetta sedan and for a town car it works really well but my GTV6 retains the manual rack and I can tell you from personal experience that the diffrence between the chalk and cheese.
Power steering by its very NATURE is not and never can be as sensitively responsive as a simple manual rack. It's main benefits are low speed parking assistance especially if you have a heavy cast iron Chevy V8 under the bonnet or you have huge fat tyres on the front (or both.)
So parking assistance has very little to do with chassis performance of a sports machine like a GTV6 at speed when steering response and sharpness is what is required. Some designs try to cater for this by having progressively less assistance with an increase in speed. Whislt these types are better, inherent problems remain.
In summary. If you want and need parking assistance by all means do it . If you are willing to put up with more load on steering during these time for the benefit of steering response at speed, then leave it out.
If you are driving a front wheel drive Alfa then power steer is virtually not an option but you are on the wrong site..haha
Just to add a little confusion, you can run a power rack MANUALLY by not hooking up the steering pump but you must run an oil reservoir-ask JK for the lowdown. Personally I wouldn't due to its weight.
Why am I so clear on this issue? It's because I have fitted exactly this rack to the familly Alfetta sedan and for a town car it works really well but my GTV6 retains the manual rack and I can tell you from personal experience that the diffrence between the chalk and cheese.
Transaxle Alfas Haul More Arse
Whoa, here, here!! 
Well said MD, i was tempted, but knew it wasnt my place.
You hit it on the head so to speak.
Well if its just for getting around town, why not.
I remember when i was interstate afew years ago, i was walking to my car with bags of shopping and i notice a husband and wife parked right near my car in a rental car. Staring at it they were, they said they were from New Zealand and how they have a gtv6 also.....then the guy said-"I'm gonna put powersteering in her so the wife can drive her!" I nearly died, looked at them both and said "It will never be the same" but each to their own i thought.
I've driven afew cars without powersteering, and the alfa has still been the lightest still.
I've driven a Bathurst edition Toyota MR2 , and i could not believe how heavy and wooden the steering was on that thing!!
The car is tiny! How would a little japanese pilot this i thought!
Well said MD, i was tempted, but knew it wasnt my place.
You hit it on the head so to speak.
Well if its just for getting around town, why not.
I remember when i was interstate afew years ago, i was walking to my car with bags of shopping and i notice a husband and wife parked right near my car in a rental car. Staring at it they were, they said they were from New Zealand and how they have a gtv6 also.....then the guy said-"I'm gonna put powersteering in her so the wife can drive her!" I nearly died, looked at them both and said "It will never be the same" but each to their own i thought. I've driven afew cars without powersteering, and the alfa has still been the lightest still.
I've driven a Bathurst edition Toyota MR2 , and i could not believe how heavy and wooden the steering was on that thing!!
The car is tiny! How would a little japanese pilot this i thought!
Selling 1985 GTV6.
Ecu and injectors, lightened.....plays music.
power steering
Yo MD,
hows trix? I know you are right, but you forget where I live. The UK is full of shitty little roads with loads of bends and rutts. You wouldnt piss me off by expressing your opinion, every one is entitled.
I very rarely do any motorway driving, so around town only really!
Anyway, I like it........
Paul UK.
hows trix? I know you are right, but you forget where I live. The UK is full of shitty little roads with loads of bends and rutts. You wouldnt piss me off by expressing your opinion, every one is entitled.
I very rarely do any motorway driving, so around town only really!
Anyway, I like it........
Paul UK.
I'm about to do part of this conversion myself, install a power rack w/o assistance. I suppose I'll have to partly fill the thing with grease and it'll work like a manual rack with 3.2 turns instead of the std manual 3.6 turns. This will go in the 75Turbo which has very light steering anyway. 3.2 turns coupled with a smaller (35cm) steering wheel should be ok (the 3liter has p/s 3.2 turns and the same 35cm wheel being very heavy).
Jim K.
Jim K.
Hey Ol` man...I have a Combi Westfalia Steering wheel for you...Its 550mm diameter and still has that knob for grandads on it......JimGreek wrote:I'm about to do part of this conversion myself, install a power rack w/o assistance. I suppose I'll have to partly fill the thing with grease and it'll work like a manual rack with 3.2 turns instead of the std manual 3.6 turns. This will go in the 75Turbo which has very light steering anyway. 3.2 turns coupled with a smaller (35cm) steering wheel should be ok (the 3liter has p/s 3.2 turns and the same 35cm wheel being very heavy).
Jim K.
French cars are shit and shit expensive to service and bloody awful and unreliable and expensive and friends don't let friends drive french cars and you wait years for parts.
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scott.venables
- Gold
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Nov 01, 2006 11:00 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
Is there any reason to run an oil reservoir on a converted rack?
I'm converting the PS rack to manual for my 75 V6, and have just packed it with grease, though I think I might add some Semifluid or thick gear oil as well. It has all the ports blocked off and all internal seals removed. Shouldn't this be enough?
Cheers, Scott
I'm converting the PS rack to manual for my 75 V6, and have just packed it with grease, though I think I might add some Semifluid or thick gear oil as well. It has all the ports blocked off and all internal seals removed. Shouldn't this be enough?
Cheers, Scott
dont want to start a shit fight as i havent been on here for a while. i too have the power steering conversion from a 75 v6 on my race car. i also have adapted the indicater stalks and light switches from the 75. fit up great. i have no complaints at all and have found that not only is the ratio quicker lock to lock but more importantly quicker in the sense that because it is lighter i am physically able to move the wheel faster from position to position compared to the manual rack. i mean would you rather throw a 5kg brick or a 2kg. the key here is consistency and lap after lap power steering takes nothing out of the arms and you are left to worry about more imporatnt things. i here what you guys are saying but if you need to feel what the car from the steering wheel it is my believe that it is already too late. i mean if you are going fast enough and you feel understeer on the wheel it is too late. but hey i guess you can say you felt what the wheel was doing when you lost it. ok dont wana start a shit war here but unless can honestly tell me you want to turn a 9 or 10 inch wide slick by hand ( a 6 inch wheel is hard enough in standard form) you have to be kidding me. and as for the extra power it takes to run a power steering pump, i just want to say that if the 3-5hp or whatever it is is gonA make you lose that drag race, then you are looking too much into it. most modern race cars run power steering and to be honest the alfa guys are the only guys i speak to that convert power to manual steering. could you imagine a wrx guy converting to manual steering. c'mon now. the only reason for manual steering is cost, or because your car didnt come with it. if it werent for those 2 things everybody would run it and thats just being honest. ok sorry for rambling guys and not starting an argument here just my opinion. cheers
patzo_3l
3l gtv6 turbo 85'
2006 147 gta selespeed
1990 75 twinspark
1998 spider
2.0l gtv 85'
33 1.7ie
3l gtv6 turbo 85'
2006 147 gta selespeed
1990 75 twinspark
1998 spider
2.0l gtv 85'
33 1.7ie
The last time I got into this debate it ran pretty much the same course. The for it /against it camps had formed.
Jim, I actually ran the power rack in a "manual" mode for several months without the pump assist by filling the reservoir with steering fluid. They work well and no problems. I later finished the job.
Garth, thanks. You wear your pants the right way round with the fly on the front.
patzo, you are a real enthusiast and you have your own prefrences so who am I to tell you what that should be?
What I would like for those who are still sitting on the fence about this is to do the Elk test in a car with power steer and do the same test without power steer using the same size tyres. Move the steering wheel to 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock and back to centre as quickly as you can. Which car changes direction for the same amount of turn and time?
What you should find is that with a manual rack, the car will change direction immediately like a bicycle does. With power steering, the time that it takes to "think" about it, you are already back in the 12 o;clock position and the car has changed very little direction, if any.
If you do this test correctly and with honesty, I wont have to make another post and slap you around.. hahaa
Jim, I actually ran the power rack in a "manual" mode for several months without the pump assist by filling the reservoir with steering fluid. They work well and no problems. I later finished the job.
Garth, thanks. You wear your pants the right way round with the fly on the front.
patzo, you are a real enthusiast and you have your own prefrences so who am I to tell you what that should be?
What I would like for those who are still sitting on the fence about this is to do the Elk test in a car with power steer and do the same test without power steer using the same size tyres. Move the steering wheel to 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock and back to centre as quickly as you can. Which car changes direction for the same amount of turn and time?
What you should find is that with a manual rack, the car will change direction immediately like a bicycle does. With power steering, the time that it takes to "think" about it, you are already back in the 12 o;clock position and the car has changed very little direction, if any.
If you do this test correctly and with honesty, I wont have to make another post and slap you around.. hahaa
Transaxle Alfas Haul More Arse