Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Tony Hoffer · Moderator

swapping power steering for manual.. whats involved?

John D · 2K+ Club

I did the inverse on my '65, and the only item different was the pitman arm.

The GM steering boxes appear to all share the same physical mounting provisions, and coupling to the steering shaft.

Tony Hoffer · Moderator

In looking around there is a Saginaw 122 that has a 3/4"-36 spline input shaft. and a Saginaw 525 that has a 3/4 30 spline input.. I think the 525 is the replacement and you have to get a different rag joint to make it work on an older car.. Can anyone confirm this?

Derek69SS · Founding Member

3/4-30 is what all the newer boxes have, and the rag joint does need to be changed.
For the conversion, an 80s Chevy 2WD truck ragjoint will work.

Pushrod · Active Member

I think the steering arms on the spindles may be different.......manual to power and vise versa at least they where on my car when i went from manual steer drums to power steer disc.

Lost in the 60s · President

Pushrod wrote:
I think the steering arms on the spindles may be different.......manual to power and vise versa at least they where on my car when i went from manual steer drums to power steer disc.

Yes, drum to disc is a different arm. If you already have disc, Tony, they should be OK. The bolt hole was smaller on the drum and could actually be drilled out to work on disc. I did that on my '66. I may have an OEM manual box here, if you want to mock it up.