In many ways, Corvettes in the 1970’s were built with cutting-edge technology, but when it comes to the power steering system it was lacking.  Especially as the system aged, the loose and wandering steering took a lot of fun away from the car.  Many Corvette owners will look at spending a lot of money to replace these worn and leaking parts, but the reality, from experience, is that these rebuilds will only make the car slightly better.  To make the car fun to drive, there is only one choice for an upgrade.  The Borgeson power steering upgrade is available for factory manual steering cars and factory power steering cars.  This will transform your Corvette into a car you want to drive every day and once again enjoy the twisties.

Summit Racing has many of the kits available in stock and most will receive them the day after the parts are ordered.  Here is a link to the unit we ordered.  Borgeson Universal 999032 – Borgeson Corvette Power Steering Kits

Installation Tips

Reading on the installation of the Borgeson power steering upgrade could give the average DIY mechanic some chills and scares.  So many people talk about the steering column not wanting to collapse.  These cars are 40 plus years old and they need some help!  We took a bit of time to spray all the items we were going to remove or move with a penetrating oil and let it soak for a week.  That little bit of preparation made for a great experience for us installing this system.  We were able to tap our steering column in without issue, and because we did not want to remove the column, we even tapped it in farther than needed and pulled it back out.

Fitment

The Borgeson power steering box is a touch larger than the stock steering gearbox.  That really has no issue with anything in the engine compartment other than the routing of one single rear brake line.  In our case, we were able to move that line outward slightly by bending it by hand.

While our engine was out of the car for the installation, we were still very careful to double check the clocking of all the steering components to ensure our wheel would be straight and in the center of the steering capabilities of the car.  After installation, it is recommended that the car gets an alignment as this system can take a bit more castor than the factory recommends.  More caster means the car will track straight easier and the car will respond better to quick turns.

Overall

There is no reason to struggle with keeping your Corvette in stock form.  Unless your car is of museum quality, upgrade the car to allow it to drive better for your safety.  There is so much of a noticeable difference in drive quality that one could pay 5 times the kits worth and still be thrilled that they installed it in their car.  For the money, this is one of the best upgrades one could do to their C2 and C3 Corvette.

4 COMMENTS

  1. im working on a 1971 stingray none power steering none tilt colum was told that it was a striat shaft to steering wheel no collapse one piece rod my question is when ya taped the steering shaft was the only thing that moved right or do have to loosen whole colum itself was yours tilt steering colum if so that explains why it can be pushed back not the none tilt

    • Ours was a power steering tilt model. I believe all of them were collapsible due for regulations if there was an accident.

  2. iI WISH THAT WAS THE CASE I TORE UP MY STEERING COLUM I HERD FROM STEERING COLUM Specialist IN FLORIDA THAT ALL NONE TILT ARE STRAIT SHAFT FROM GEAR BOX TO STEERING WHEEL ON THIS MODEL ONLY TILT WAS COLLAPSIBLE IM ONE COLUM LATE FINDING THAT OUT THANKS TO BORGESON WRONG LITERATURE INSTRUCTIONS MANUAL THEY SEEM NOT TO CARE FOR THE FACT THEY SAID THEY GET BACK WITH ME NEVER DID GOING TO LET SUMMIT RACING KNOW THE FACTS ON THAT PRODUCT HOPEFULLY I CAN SAVE SOME ONE ELSE FROM TEARING THERE RARE STUFF UP p.s hade to buy another steering colum to match the quality of the one i had cost me $875 sir

    • Wow, sorry to hear that. I will say the Borgeson instructions and even the tech line sucks. We had an issue with the line leaking and brass parts not fitting and they told us to pound sand. Basically, I needed to take the part that would not fit to a machine shop so it would fit. Borgeson said they cannot control the quality of the bushings or guaranty they would fit. LOL…

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