So replaced the stock steering gearbox with a quicker ratio seems really quick & new rag joint 9yrs ago then sold the car.... I recently bought the car back!..well now its hard to steer to the left, fine to the right and it does seem like it has a deminished turning radius. Well the receipts are long gone & decals fell off the gearbox. So using the google machine I see a 69 chevelle ss396 seems like a direct replacement with 2.5-3 turns lock to lock Cardone 27-6509 and can re-use my stock lines. Anybody using this gearbox? is it just a drop in?
Ha Das Rotteriler, 9 years ago I bought & just sold a 78 TA, made a 467 roller motor, 11sec car out of it, already regret selling it, but I've only got a 2 car garage, 1965 house & 98 boat, not enough time
I did the 69Chevelle SS396 swap also (its been about 5 years). The gear box works great and is a straight forward swap (lines and rag joint). You will notice a difference between the original Buick one finger (granny) variable ratio steering box feel and that of the Chevelle box that is straight ratio (a little more effort required). Hector's rebuilt gear box may be more tuned to the light effort Buick driving feel if that's your preference. Either way you go with these two solutions should be a good fit!!
I bought the 69 ss gear box at o’reilys Was around $130 w exchange. Direct fit. Haven’t gotten to drive car yet but make sure u flush the unit once installed to clear any assembly or testing fluid from the unit
You never know what ratio you may get from from big supply houses so check what you get carefully If you want to be sure to get a nice pro tour steering setup, consider using one of the 95 to 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee (JGC) boxes. These are made by Saginaw and bolt on to our GS power steering pitman arm. Aside from being affordable, from the wreckers they have a 12.7 quick ratio with the correct stops set at 43 Deg 45 Min for our A body cars. They also have a better road feel (20-26 effort valving) and can be used with the 70 up 1450 psi higher pressure GM pump that comes on our cars. You will have to use a Dorman 31011 rag joint and metric adaptor fittings, but thats not a biggie. Alternately if your hoses are old consider a hydraulic shop to supply you new ones with custom connections. The Desired JGC Box codes 95 JH 96 KD 97 WK 98 WK Tom
I used 18mm to -6AN, Earls 961956, (as shown in the pic above) for the high press box side connection and a Napa 16 mm, O ring return tube connection end (PSH73417) for the return hose. Tom
I installed a reconditioned SS396 box from NAPA. Much better than stock. It started leaking after 10 years and I simply replaced it with another one from NAPA last year.
