I bought my 1970 cougar last year and have been enjoying the hell out of it. It is a base model 1970 with no ps or pb. Virtually no options what so ever according to the marti report. It was restored in the 90’s and is starting to show its age again as the paint is fading and its starting to have other issues. According to the marti report it originally had the the 351w engine but now it has a 351c so somewhere along the line this was swapped out. Anyway, my question is how difficult is it to add power steering to these cars? Now I have done some homework and even purchased the entire power steering setup from a local mustang grave yard near here. I was able to get the power steering pump and hoses, the steering box, the piston and the bar it attaches to (not sure of the name), the control valve, tie rod ends and even a 3 slot pulley for the belt. I have pictures and the 1970 repair manual but it doesn’t say anywhere about doing a conversion. I guess my questions is will all this bolt on/or take the place of whats there or is there retrofitting that has to be done in order to make this all fit?
Anyone ever done this and had luck?
Thanks in advance for the answers. Hoping to tackle this project soon.
I know the center link is different between the power and manual steering cars. I don’t remember if the tie rod ends are the same for both or not. Everything else should bolt up.
Did you have the assist cylinder and control valve rebuilt? If not, you will not be happy with the used parts as they will leak all over the place.
A 70 with a Windsor? I thought they only came with Clevelands in 70… I guess I learned something today.
Enjoy the steering upgrade!
Oh, and you will also need the bracket that bolts to the frame rail that the assist rod attaches to…or is it the power valve…I don’t remember which it is right now.
I swapped mine over to a borgeson power steering unit. Less hoses and less touchy assist, but it has it’s trade offs like header and clutch z bar issues.
No, I ended up converting to a hydraulic clutch set up. Take my advice and buy a kit. Do not piece it together like I originally did. Spend the money up front and save yourself dropping the trans 7 times due to leaks in the system. One of the most frustrating things I did during my resto.
I also had to modify my JBL shortie header on the drivers side for some clearance.
The borgeson unit with Saginaw pump works flawlessly and I love the way it assists without being overly touchy while driving.
I have done this conversion on a 67 GT and I think the process is the same on a 70. First of all, it is all bolt on. There are no modifications of any parts. Your list sounds like it is fairly complete but I will go through everything so you can tell if you are missing anything.
Starting with the center link, this is different for power steering. Attached to the center link is the hydraulic ram and the control valve,
The hydraulic ram connects to the frame using a frame bracket,
The control valve has two short power steering hoses that connect to the hydraulic ram. There are two more hoses (the pressure hose and the return hose) that connect the control valve to the power steering pump. These two hoses are held away from the exhaust manifold by an isolator block ( this is a piece of rubber with two holes in it and a metal bracket),
The power steering pump is mounted to the engine with the power steering pump bracket.
Next is the power steering belt and a crankshaft pulley.
If you have all these parts, it is just a matter of installing everything. be sure to route the hoses properly or they will burn through by touching the exhaust manifold. You must be careful to connect the small hoses between the control valve and the ram in the correct spots as they will fit in the wrong place.
I nearly forgot a step. The control valve also connects to the pitman arm on the steering box. The steering box is geared differently on many power steering cars vs manual. But sometimes the one on the manual steering car is the same as the one used for power steering.
Wow guys thanks for the great info!! After looking at everything I think I have complete setup. The one thing I might be missing is the isolator block so I might have to find that. I wil dig into this project soon and cant wait for it to be done. Will probably have the ram and control valve rebuilt or get some reman ones first though.
69xr7ragtop, I was surprised this came with the Windsor as well. I did a bit of research and found out that there was a supply shortage for certain engines that year so some cars came with the windsors but still had the same vin code. Makes it fun when you are trying to buy parts and they ask for vin code instead of engine type…
Thanks again for all the info. I look forward to being part of the community…
Easy… You will will need a new idler arm as PS requires a unique application. When you get stuck and think you may be missing something or doing something wrong the guys here will have pics for you. I would puta kit in the control valve and ram cylinder. Arebuilt pump can be had most anywhere for under $60 exch. Use NAPA type F ATF as it is a little thicker. No question is dumb so do not hesitate to ask!
Finally was able to get started on this conversion. Mind you this is coming from a mechanically inclined non-mechanic so it has been a learning process. I started by removing all the manual steering components and comparing them to what I had for the conversion. The first thing I noticed was the idler-arm was in pretty rough shape and it was a little bit different than the one on the car. The next thing was the tie rods were shot, both inner and outers so had to add that to the list. The hoses that came with the used kit that I bought were all dry rotted so more $ to spend.
Once I got the new tie rods and idler-arm I started to assemble it. everything was going great until I realized the arm from the steering box would not connect to the center link. Easy enough, I had another steering box with the correct arm on it, I could just change the arms right? After attempting to remove the arm for an hour I realized it would be easier to just switch out the boxes. I soon realized ford must have put the steering box in before the motor as there was no way this was coming out without unbolting the header or moving the motor out of the way. So, instead of trying to remove 4 impossible to reach bolts on the header, I removed two motor mount bolts, jacked up the motor and was FINALLY able to swap out the boxes.
So as of now, I have the bottom done, the power steering pump mounted and just have to hook up the hoses and put the belts on. I will probably be able to get that done tonight and will update the results in a day or two. This 3 hour project has been a several day endeavor but will be worth it when its done.
Thanks again for all the info guys, it has been a BIG help…
Finally was able to get started on this conversion. Mind you this is coming from a mechanically inclined non-mechanic so it has been a learning process. I started by removing all the manual steering components and comparing them to what I had for the conversion. The first thing I noticed was the idler-arm was in pretty rough shape and it was a little bit different than the one on the car. The next thing was the tie rods were shot, both inner and outers so had to add that to the list. The hoses that came with the used kit that I bought were all dry rotted so more $ to spend.
Once I got the new tie rods and idler-arm I started to assemble it. everything was going great until I realized the arm from the steering box would not connect to the center link. Easy enough, I had another steering box with the correct arm on it, I could just change the arms right? After attempting to remove the arm for an hour I realized it would be easier to just switch out the boxes. I soon realized ford must have put the steering box in before the motor as there was no way this was coming out without unbolting the header or moving the motor out of the way. So, instead of trying to remove 4 impossible to reach bolts on the header, I removed two motor mount bolts, jacked up the motor and was FINALLY able to swap out the boxes.
So as of now, I have the bottom done, the power steering pump mounted and just have to hook up the hoses and put the belts on. I will probably be able to get that done tonight and will update the results in a day or two. This 3 hour project has been a several day endeavor but will be worth it when its done.
Thanks again for all the info guys, it has been a BIG help…
[/qu
Hopefully this doesn’t turn out like Gilligan’s Island 3 hour tour that lasted for years for you! Haha
You did a good thing changing the box, reason being is that although they look the same (and yes, they use a different Pitman arm), they are different ratio’s. The MS box is 19:1 and the PS box is 16:1. Reason being is the higher the ratio, the easier it is to turn. 19:1 was necessary so that manual steering would not be more of a bear to turn than it is. A 16:1 is “faster” (good), but harder to turn (but not with power assist!).
Thanks for the info. I am glad I changed it for sure. Here is a copy of my Marti report. It does say Windsor motor but not sure if this is accurate. What do you think?
Interesting. I don’t know how they would have known it was a Windsor, maybe it was because of the production date (which is early '70). I think the changeover to the 351C was after a certain date but it probably wasn’t a binary sort of thing. Reason I was saying the Marti would not be able to say W or C was that the engines have the same code regardless. I was wrong on that score but still wonder on what basis Marti knew and reported it.
Good luck with the conversion, looks like a great car.
FWIW, 16:1 manual steering was available from the factory (both my Cougars have it.) From what I understand it wasn’t a separate option, but part of the “Competition Handling” package. (Although apparently documented exceptions exist, whether by assembly-line mistake or just using what was available.)
At any rate, you’ll definitely be happier with the 16:1 ratio if you car had 19:1 before. Post the info from the tag on the steering box, and we can tell you which it is.
Good luck! (and nice looking car, BTW.)
I was told by the guy I bought it from that it had a 351c from the factory so I was very surprised when I saw that on the Marti Report as well. The guy I bought it from did however tell me that he knew the engine was changed in the mind 90’s during a restoration and wasn’t the original motor but it was correct for the car and period.
I will get the code off the steering box I took off tonight and post it up here. I probably wont be needing it anymore so if anyone wants it and will pay for shipping let me know…
