Anyone converted their 'rado to manual steering?

[MillSpeed 0]

Just wondering if anyone's done this? I'm in the process of turbo'ing my G60 and I'm trying to clean the front of the engine up as much as possible by using a standard 8v alternator, brackets and pulleys. I'm trying to decide whether I should attempt to track down all of the bracketry necessary to retain the power steering or just fit the manual rack I've got in the parts cave and have one less thing to go wrong (plus one less thing for the engine to turn). Plus I've had the crank, flywheel and crank pulley race balanced so bolting on a power steering drive pulley is probably going to upset things a bit. The steering on my Mk2 GTI was quite light but obviously the corrado is a lot fatter. Is there anyone out there running thier rado's minus power steering and if so, how are you finding it?

[Henny 0]

I suppose that if you're running what started life as a G60, you could just get hold of a MKII GTI non-p/s rack and bolt that in... The steering will be heavy, but shouldn't be that much heavier than it would be in the golf (there's not THAT much difference in weight between the two...)

 

Interesting idea... Most people who drove my MKI 16V used to moan that the steering was mega heavy (MKI GTI quick rack with a 16V engine above it meant heavier than standard steering) but I lived with that for 3 years with no problems.... just ended up with more muscles in my arms! :lol: 8)

[MillSpeed 0]

Think I'm gonna give it a try and see how it feels, seeing as I've got a manual rack in stock. Do you know if the shaft that connects the steering column to the rack is the same length in manual and P/S cars?

[Henny 0]

dunno, but I'd assume so 'cos you can convert a non-P/S GTI to P/S by simply fitting the pump, rack and pipework, so it must be the same for those... and according to that thread I started a couple of weeks ago, the P/S rack off a MKII should be able to be used on a G60 Corrado... :|

 

Good luck! 8)

[VEEDUBBED 0]

Also take into account what kind of steering wheel you have fitted,if you still have the original wheel you may be ok but if you've fitted an aftermarket smaller steering wheel you'll be in trouble whilst parking,u-turns etc,i've tried it myself when i changed the rack about a week ago and the steering was awful heavy...

[Henny 0]

VEEDUBBED, ah, but that was a P/S rack without the pump running wasn't it? A non-P/S rack has different gearing to make it lighter... ;)