Swapping OUT a Firm Feel steering chuck for a Borgeson in a 1970 Charger

[Kern Dog]

I installed a Firm Feel Stage 3 steering box in my '70 Charger some time in 2005. In 2006. I added the Fast Ratio Idler and Pitman arms.
The stock steering ratio of all Mopar RWD car chucks is 15.7 to 1. The Fast Ratio arms changes that to approximately 12 to 1.
Over the years, this FF box has loosened up a bit and I had to adjust the sector gear. Each time, it seemed okay for awhile but then I'd get that free play in the 11:00 to 1:00 range like in the pictures below.

[Kern Dog]

There will always be more free play with the engine off but when running, the P/S pump is supposed to reduce some of that center free travel.
Unfortunately, this unit has too much movement left to right before the tires respond. The coupler is not worn out. I can see the steering shaft and coupler turn the steering box input shaft several degrees before the Pitman arm starts to move.
I can't blame Firm Feel entirely, although this unit only has about 14,000 miles on it. At least it does not leak.
The problems are due to a few things. First and foremost is the actual design of the unit. It was first released sometime in the late 50s.... a time where the buying public found effortless steering to be highly desirable.  No American car manufacturer gave a dang about great handling back then. Sadly, this design remained unchanged well into the 70s until some units were given special attention and different internal parts. These Firm Feel units were used in Police and Taxicabs from what I recall. Many years later, a company sprung up and adopted that name, "Firm Feel" and started offering rebuilt steering boxes with improved feel.
No matter what though, the basic design of this unit is 1950s tech. There will always be some free play in the center. The Stage 3 option makes the steering effort much harder than stock. Adding the Fast Ratio arms also increases the effort needed to turn the wheel. These two things are great BUT they really highlight the slop in the middle. For comparison, a stock steering box is so easy to turn, you almost can't feel where the slop ends and when the tires start to turn. With the way I had mine, there was way too much easy turning before the wheels started to steer.
I decided to order a Borgeson steering kit from Bergman Auto Craft.

[Kern Dog]

The kit I ordered was $895 with FREE shipping. I got the small sector size with their hybrid coupler to skip cutting my column shaft. It came with hydraulic metric adapters, the coupler and the guts for it.

The unit comes powder coated in black and looks very nice. The size is amazing how small it is. It does look only slightly larger than a manual unit.

[Kern Dog]

The Borgeson is built with a 14 to 1 ratio. Because of that, I'll be returning to the shorter, stock ratio Idler and Pitman arms. Using the Fast Ratio arms would change the Borgeson to approx 10 to 1...that would be way too much!
I weighed the Borgeson along with the coupler, the fittings and steering arms.... 29 1/2 lbs.

[Kern Dog]

The Firm Feel chuck with Fast Ratio arms....

43 1/2 lbs!

[Kern Dog]

The stock Mopar box input shafts have a Master Spline index to indicate center of travel. You just line up the coupler and you're set.
With the Borgeson, there is no master spline. Because of this, you have to establish the center yourself. The shaft makes 3 5/8 turns. Half of that is 1 13/16, essentially 1 3/4 turns and a little bit more. Finding center is crucial because you want an equal amount of turns left and right. Also, there is a noticeable amount of increased effort required to turn the shaft as you are near the center. In other words, turn the shaft full left. For the first revolution, it turns easy. as you're going into the 13/16 of the turn to get to center, the shaft gets harder to turn. From center and to the right it stays hard to turn until another 13/16 of a turn, then gets easy for the last full revolution. I'm guessing that it isn't as noticeable with the pump adding assist but my guess is that it is there to give a better feel.
I took a paint pen to mark center on the input and Pitman shafts.

[Kern Dog]

Removal of the Firm Feel unit wasn't too bad. I'm an optimist so I thought I could get it out without pulling the header.
Uhhh, no.
First, I pulled the torsion bar and used a screw jack to lift the left side of the engine. It was annoying...it looked like the box should just slide right out. It is so weird how it seems like it should just pop right out but something interferes.
Also...What the heck is with this enormous size? They built this thing in 1957 and never thought to downsize it?

[Kern Dog]

Yeah, I pulled the header and from there, the steering box came out as easy as if I pulled it off of a shelf.

[Kern Dog]

I was able to pull the header with the spark plugs and starter in place. That surprised me.

I've always had crappy luck with the stock coupler. Fitting it to the steering box has never been easy. For me, 95% of the time, I have to tap the coupler onto the steering box using a hammer. There is limited room down there too. Because of this, I end up hitting the thin steel seal retainer and deform it.
I've heard some guys claim that their coupler just slides right on. Whuut? I've had that happen only a few times and never with this car. Years ago, I bought one of those neoprene boot type seals so I'll be reusing it for the Borgeson swap.

[Kern Dog]

I've parted out several cars here through the years and unfortunately, I didn't mark every part. I have several Idler and Pitman arms here that would work but I don't know if they are for A-B or even E body models. They all are small sector and they all measure about the same center to center.

[Kern Dog]

With the Firm Feel chuck out, I am going to clean up the area a bit before installing the Borgeson. I'll repaint the header too.

[b5blue]

What pump do you have? I converted from Federal after consulting Bergman.

[Kern Dog]

Sorry, I meant to cover that part.
Peter told me that a Saginaw pump is fine. The Federal and TRW pumps were often inadequate but the Saginaw usually puts out enough pressure. There was a trend toward reducing the boost in a Saginaw by adding shims to a valve inside. Peter said that if the car doesn't steer right, try removing the valve and see if there are shims in place. If so, remove them all. I'll do this before I even start the car. I need to call him to see what fluid to use. I have used ATF, ATF+4, real Power Steering fluid and even a splash of brake fluid in the past to slow a leak.

[timmycharger]

Nice write up and photos. Thanks! 

[b5blue]

Lucas has a high quality power steering fluid that I'm using. Walmart has the best price. 

[Kern Dog]

Nice write up and photos. Thanks! 

Thank you, Tim.
I have a thread at FBBO as well. Their software allows to insert pictures in a manner where you can essentially "caption" each one to tell the story better.
I am grateful though to have this forum as well to tell the story.

I went out to get a few supplies, I'll go out to the shop in a few moments to resume the work.
I'm going to add a Zerk fitting to the coupler so I had to get some of those along with an appropriate drill bits. I tried to buy that Mopar Long Fiber grease but the dealer nearby said that it was discontinued and the only remaining cartridge is in Illinois.
I read in the Mopar Action magazine that any fluid is okay to use but to step it up a little, I bought some ATF+4 synthetic.
My local speed shop wanted $22 for a can of VHT High temp header paint. Twenty Two dollars ? ? ?  The O'Rielleys had it for $15.

[Kern Dog]

First up, I put the fittings on the steering box. In retrospect, I could have put them in with the box in place...there is that much more room now.
The Borgeson box is in. The bolts were cleaned and slathered with red Locktite.

[Kern Dog]

With the smaller size of the steering box and with the torsion bar out of the way, the header slipped right up and into place. LOOK at the clearance now. Too bad I had to dent the tubes to clear the huge stock steering box.

[Kern Dog]

Next was the steering column. This is the original one from the car. Where the steering shaft goes into the column housing on the firewall side, there was nothing to "center" the shaft on the opening. I looked at a few other columns that I had in my stash and it seems like some sort of bearing is supposed to be there. I found one that fit and placed a few small tack welds around the perimeter to hold it in  place. It isn't factory correct but the shaft is centered and should stay that way.
I drilled a 7/32" hole in the new coupler and screwed in a 1/4" Zerk fitting. New shoes and spring and some chassis grease....and the column is ready to go back in. I'll get the Wife to help with that.

[b5blue]

  I just centered the shaft using the oversized holes on the floor board plate. I've an aftermarket power steering cooler to add are you using one? What about a filter, mine will act as a coupler on the return hose from the cooler. (When I add it.)

[Kern Dog]

I've had an inline cooler in the car for many years. I got it from a mid 80s Diplomat Police car.

[Kern Dog]

I pulled the pump. This is the one that some call the "Canned Ham" because it resembles one...

[Kern Dog]

The port where the pressure hose attaches is held in place with a 1" hex nut. Behind it is the spool valve.

[Kern Dog]

The spool valve often has thin washers behind the head of the 7/16" bolt like this one.

[Kern Dog]

Mine did not. I just put it back in, cleaned the pump then painted it.

[Kern Dog]

Sometime in the past 22 years, I lost the foam gasket that fits between the firewall and the steering column plate. I had some foam so I made one. I decided to glue it to the plate so it won't slip out of place. I'm hoping that this helps cut down on interior noise a little bit.

[472 R/T SE]

Im a plug & play type so this sort of info rocks.

[Kern Dog]

The power steering pump is in and the lines are connected. The steering gear underneath was bolted up and greased. I even greased the lower ball joints.
I went to install the steering column and found that it was too short. Starting in 1967, cars had to be built with collapsible steering columns. The pictures below show what the inner shafts look like:

[Kern Dog]

Look at the arrows. They show the plastic pins that preserve the length of the steering shafts. These get brittle and break sometimes. When that happens, the shafts can compress or expand from each other. In my case, they compressed. I just took a pipe wrench and tapped up with a hammer to extend it.

[Kern Dog]

I measured my "Jigsaw" Charger to get an idea of the proper length.

[Kern Dog]

The column was now 1/2" too long but that was better...I just tapped it back in a bit and installed the column by myself. Usually this is a pisser to do but with new parts, it slid together easily. Everything bolted up nicely. I lifted the car and started it up. They suggest to turn the wheel with the tires off the ground to get the fluid through the system. I had to top it off and used almost a full quart of GM spec AC-Delco power steering fluid.
I took a breaker bar and cranked down the pitman arm nut again and lowered the car down to drive it.
Immediately, I noticed the much easier turning of the wheel. It went from 2 3/4 turns lock to lock up to 3 1/2. I expected it to turn easier but this was much more than I expected. For comparison, if a stock Mopar box were at a 0 and the old setup I had (Firm Feel Stage 3 with Fast Ratio arms) were 100, this Borgeson steering effort is about a 35. It isn't Steer with your pinky finger and it isn't Armstrong steering either.
Another observation....steering feels linear through the entire range. My old setup had that dead spot in the middle that became super stiff once the slop was taken up and the tires start to steer. That "edge" was a shitty thing to deal with and I'm glad it is gone. This feels like a good handling daily driver where you turn the wheel and the car just responds. There are no creaks or squeaks from the steering column like before. I suspect that the high effort from before may have resulted in some flexing the dash and column while steering. The firewall foam pad I put in must have helped a bit because the car felt smoother and quieter. The coupler is packed with grease so it probably soaks up some vibrations. I did put a zerk fitting in the coupler.

I did have to pull the steering wheel and adapter to get the wheel centered. I must have accidently set the coupler in place a bit to the right. No biggie. All is well now.

[b5blue]

  Did you torque the mounting bolts to spec? Are you using an in line filter? Did you know you can use Permatex thread locker on the steering shafts to heal the busted binding plugs? You just goop a bunch on the joint area while sliding it in and out and tape it to the correct length and let it dry. (I paid big bucks for a vintage Mopar column shaft repair kit and basically that is what was in the box.)
  My Charger is fairly quite and I noticed a slight line pressure buzz or squish sound at idle that wasn't there with the old stuff. Radio or A/C fan washes it out. From what you describe your system was getting pretty crappy so good deal. I had a re-manufactured pump and box installed about 27 years ago that still worked fairly well. This new system feels like my old 1989 XJ Cherokee steering did. (A good thing.)

[Kern Dog]

I did not tighten to spec. I always do with engine work and wheels but never seem to remember to do it to other things. I did use Locktite though. I have a buddy that thinks that he is smart for following torque values....then he crushed and wasted 2 sets of front wheel bearings by torqueing them in FOOT lbs, not inch pounds!
No inline filter. I've never used one in any power steering application.
My steering shafts are very stiff to move, they don't slide easily. Thanks for that suggestion though. It may apply for a future build.
There is no noise from the pump or box from what I can tell.

[XH29N0G]

Kern Dog,

Thank you so much for posting this.  I made this swap a few years ago, and I would have really liked to have had something like this available.  You are doing us, forbbodiesonly, and wherever else you post these things, a great service.

[Kern Dog]

Thank you. I enjoy reporting on these types of projects. I make mistakes and sometimes take a slight detour or three along the way. Often times, a member sees that I am making a mistake and chimes in to steer me right. That is one of the reasons that online forums are great.
The setup at FBBO works better to tell the story because I can insert pictures between text like captions for pictures. I'm still thankful to have this forum to get the word out. I've seen some car forum guys post about their projects in a similar way. I like detailed explanations before I start a project.

[375instroke]

Any advantage to the 1-1/8" over the 1-1/4"?  I have a cop car box now, which is 1-1/4, and uses a much cheaper and easier to find pitman arm.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Nice write up.  Deserves a stickie at the top.  This is a real relevant modification

[Kern Dog]

Any advantage to the 1-1/8" over the 1-1/4"?  I have a cop car box now, which is 1-1/4, and uses a much cheaper and easier to find pitman arm.

I don't know. The 1972 and older cars had the 1 1/8" sector except C body cars. 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Nice write up!

How is the alignment from the box to the column? I had to shim mine on an A body so wondering if the alignment on the B body is any better.

[Kern Dog]

There is a very slight angle difference between the steering shaft and coupler but nothing dramatic. I thought I had a picture of it but I can't find it. I currently have the k member and engine out for a rebuild so I can't snap another picture right away.

[armor64]

awesome work KD, this swap is definitely on my shortlist of future upgrades, fantastic reference images!

[Kern Dog]

Thank you. I often look for helpful threads when I'm ready to start a project that I've never done before. There was a thread here that was a huge help to me....It was about how to use a commonly available Bosch 5 pin relay to use in place of the factory headlight door relay in '70 Chargers.