Power steering on Inline 6 170

[Gsav69]

Hey folks. I have a 66 U13 Roadster with the 6 cylinder and i'd like to add power steering. The pulleys get tricky and oddly expensive. I found someone who only swapped the 1 groove water pump pulley for a 2 groove and simply ran a belt from the water pump to the power steering pump. I like this as an option but recognize this could cause unnecessary wear to the water pump. Ive also seen folks do an addon pulley to the i6 harmonic balancer, add a 2 groove water pump pulley and then run the belt around the 3. Can i trouble folks to give me the pros and cons around how they did it pr any advice. I know I'm giving up some power but that's not going to be a concern for where I'm using the truck. Thanks in advance.

 

[DirtDonk]

Can't say from experience, but it seems like it would not usually cause any extra wear and tear on the water pump. Yes, it's an extra load, but if it's in the opposing direction, it almost negates the wear and tear from a tight belt on an alternator. Seems to me anyway.
Don't know the specifics for steering pumps on six-cylinder engines though.

Paul

 

[bmbm]

Probably some of the members on fordsix.com have added ps to the 170 and many over there have parts to sell. Also the vintageinlines.com has or had some pulleys and harmonic balancers for sale. Ford offered ps on the 200 and 170? so parts are around somewhere. Also I seem to recall bcbroncos.com offering a pump bracket for the 200 at one time. Don't get a ps setup from a 250 it is different.

 

[bmbm]

Some info here:

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/threads/power-steering-170-200-inline-6.172704/

 

[bmbm]

https://www.vintageinlines.com/product-page/crankshaft-pulley-w-ac-or-ps-6-cylinder-200-1g-bolt-on

 

[bmbm]

https://www.vintageinlines.com/product-page/billet-water-pump-pulley-1v-or-2v

 

[Viperwolf1]

You just have to scour the old wrecking yards and find stuff that fits or is close enough that you can modify it to fit.

 

[thegreatjustino]

Find a set of pulleys from a 170 engine in a falcon.

 

[Gsav69]

Thanks guys. I'm probably going to get flamed but I'm considering whether I should buy a kit with the retractable lower shaft or just modify the stock one. I want power steering but a purist who wants this to be back to original may want to go back to manual someday and I wasn't sure if the lower shaft needed to be modified in both instances or if the kits being sold with retractable shafts replaced the lower shaft without modification. In essence, if I could save the original parts for future owners, I would.

 

[DirtDonk]

No, both ways require modifying the stock shaft.
The only ways I can think of to save it for future restoration, would be too remove the shaft, source another one maybe that’s not in good condition, modify that one, then install whatever you want. Or buy a whole new steering column and start from scratch.
There may be ways around this, but I can’t think of one.

The final alternative is to leave it manual steering.

 

[Gsav69]

No, both ways require modifying the stock shaft.
The only ways I can think of to save it for future restoration, would be too remove the shaft, source another one maybe that’s not in good condition, modify that one, then install whatever you want. Or buy a whole new steering column and start from scratch.
There may be ways around this, but I can’t think of one.

The final alternative is to leave it manual steering.

Thank you bud. It's going power steerijg for sure but maybe I'll sniff out a lower shaft to have in stock. If anyone has ot knows of a lower shaft that will work on a 66 manual box, please reach out or.send details.

 

[DirtDonk]

There’s no lower or upper shaft on a 66. Up to ‘73 they were one long spear between the steering box and the back of the steering wheel.
Not too far from your chest as a matter fact!

 

[thegreatjustino]

Thank you bud. It's going power steerijg for sure but maybe I'll sniff out a lower shaft to have in stock. If anyone has ot knows of a lower shaft that will work on a 66 manual box, please reach out or.send details.

Remove the stock one piece shaft and install an OEM power steering two piece shaft. That or buy the new upper and lower shafts Tom's sells.

 

[bronco italiano]

Contact Steerman cycle (https://www.steermancycle.com/shop/). He makes the best electric steering setup I have seen. Even bought one for my Highboy.
He may be able to do one for your bronco

 

[bigjhoov]

I've done this conversion on a couple of 200's with a factory bracket from a car like mustang, fairlane, etc. I just reused the manual steering shaft and cut in a couple of steering joints to adapt it to the new box and correct the shaft angle. I can try to get some additional pics if you like. I think that I ran my belt from crank, to water pulley, to steering pump.

 

[bmbm]

https://tomsoffroad.com/parts/66-77-ford-bronco-6-cylinder-saginaw-power-steering-pump-brackets

This would be better than the stock bracket and the old Thompson ps pump.

 

[Gsav69]

Thanks again guys. I ordered the borgeson kit for the inline 6 and found a water pump pulley on ebay. I'm going to replicate the setup this dude did and figure out the shaft portion while i wait for the parts to show up.

Will keep everyone posted.