How To: Power steering relocation
 

Note: This is my first write up and I hope this is as informative and instructional as I hope it is.

I had wanted to relocate my power steering and all I could find was this thread: https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/power-steering-relocation-write-up-664495/
And it's a bit of a pain to locate a 84-85 P/S bracket and it's even more of a pain to work with the cast iron.

I had my bracket off from removing my A/C and started looking at it. I figured out I could modify the stock bracket a bit to work on the lower position on the motor and aluminum is alot easier to work with than cast iron.
Tools:
Grinder/cutoff wheel
Hacksaw
Drill
Visegrips (to remove stud)

1. This is the line where I decided to cut the bracket in half.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6...300129edit.jpg

2. And here you can see the line again and the point where I marked to drill out. I chose this spot to make the two bottom holes on the stock bracket esentially moved to the upper part.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6...300130edit.jpg

3. Cut in half.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6...300131edit.jpg

4. (From left to right)
a.I had to grind here to clear the stock oil cooler lines,
b.My first hole was a little to the right and corrected to the left.
c.The hole I enlarged to accept the larger stud on the engine.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6...300132edit.jpg

5. I had mounted the bracket and realized I forgot to check the angle of the bracket (so the pulleys are all straight and aligned with the main) before I drilled the first two holes. I drilled the new one and filled in the rest with JB weld putty to return some more structural integrity (Note: It did hold fine even with the larger hole, I was just being careful.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6...300134edit.jpg

6. Red: There is a threaded stud that has to be removed to allow the bracket to fully sit.
Blue (L): I added a washer and larger nut to allow this side to sit flush across the two bolts.
Blue (R): This is just the right side stud.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6...300136edit.jpg

I'll be glad to field any questions or criticism. :)

i was going to make a bracket for the same purpose. nice work!

any finished product photos?

Not yet. Ran out of light today. I could probably get some shots Monday.

Um, why? I relocated my pump to the shed then sold it.

Because I like my P/S and some other people might too?

but why relocate it? Good write up though.

it would make getting to the spark plugs easier. My man hands and the lack of space makes it difficult to change the plugs.

I guess if it only takes you a couple hours to make this mod it may be worth it... but I've done more useless things when I was bored. Regardless, I'm curious to see the final result.

btw how long did it take to cut that bracket? lol

^That's why he didn't go with the cast iron FB PS brackets. Hacksaw + cast iron = grab a chair, this'll take a while.

I was wondering why relocate it? I wouldn't really think it'd make access that much better. My "relocation" was just an incidental comment.

Oh right, I neglected to mention that I needed the room for intercooler piping. My bad.

I think it took me about 20mins alternating between the cutoff wheel and the hacksaw. Of course, if someone has a band saw or a larger cutoff wheel the time can be considerably shorter.

run into any routing problems as far as the lines are concerned?

Wow, that must've took a while!


Please do not do this!
Most epoxies have great tensile strength, but they have terrible compression strength.
You really did not "return some more structural integrity".
The JB Weld is eventually going to crumble and fall apart with the heat and vibration of the engine.


-Ted

Thanks for the tip about the JB weld. Since I have all that spare aluminum, I might just make a replacement plug, if anything just to fill up the hole.

As far as the lines go, the hard lines seem to connect alright but the one small hose that connects to the reservoir is going to need to be replaced. The stock one is too long and would kink if I try to bend it.

Alright, got some pictures of how low it sits with everything in.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6...300138edit.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6...300139edit.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6...300141edit.jpg

nice fit

Excellent idea. I was trying to figure out a way to put my air/ water intercooler in the space where the battery and leading coils used to be (relocated them). My intercooler piping would probably work with this mod.

Reted nailed it with the jb weld issue. I would suggest that you pick up another bracket from a forum member for cheap and use the one you have now as a template for the new one, so you don't have to worry about breakage down the road.

i wounder if its possible to relocate an alternater... my sway bar is hitting it

drop it and get a smaller belt?

Before I put it in I went ahead and cut a plug from the left over aluminum and wedged it into the space where the JB weld used to be.

If you have no power steering or AC you can mount the alternator over there, Pineapple racing sold a kit a while ago, but I don't think it's available any more.

That's a STRUT BAR that it's hitting, a sway bar is a completely different thing.

holly crap jason. this is awesome!

thank you good sir, i spent a good part of the day doing this fabrication and it works GREAT!!!.
i had to move my intercooler piping up a little bit but other than that it fits like a glove. I feels so good to be able to take a turn with one hand!!!.. i followed your directions step by step and it works perfect. thanks alot man, really do appreciate it

No prob. Glad someone posted back about this. :)

You had to move the piping up though? I suppose I might have a bit more curve right there. I did this to get more clearance for my piping in the first place. lol.

Good Job, I'm impressed

I pulled the belt to the PS in hopes of eliminating it for the space but I didn't like how it drove. This looks very promising, tho - and I'm glad to hear all of the positive feedback from others. I look forward to going further with this one! Good work and thanks for sharing!

That won't give you anything even close to the feeling of a properly de-powered power steering rack. For one, it'll be MUCH heavier to steer, plus there's going to be a bit of slop in the middle due to the spring in the pinion shaft. These can be reasonably easily addressed and it'll feel much, much better than it did when you took the belt off.

Dragon, I've done this mod-albeit a bit differently (I notched/slotted the forward hole). Do you have a part number on that belt you used for the p.s. set up? No biggie if you don't. I'll just have to use the string method.

very nice!!!

I think the first pic shows the spacer I made (washers w/teeth) for the forward hole. The second shows the notching in the bracket. I used a digital level to properly align the pulleys.

Ah, good ideas. As for the alignment of the pulley, with my method it was straight on with no need for adjustment.

Sorry, don't have a part number for the belt.. I went with the string method as well. :lol: I moved the pulley to the middle of the up/down, measured that and that gave me a good length that once I moved the pulley up it would get good tension.

I just did this mod and it worked out great. I needed room for intercooler piping and this was the best solution. The belt size was 17365 from Auto Zone. 17 wide and 36.5" long.

I am also going to try this mod out considering I have an extra ps bracket and would like room for my pipes. Dragon stated he had a hard line that might or need replacing. Any one have more info on this? Do I need to replace/mod any lines?

I did not have to move or replace any lines.

Thanks. I just did it but I have done it a bit differently. I moved it back one belt. So I only have two belts totals. One for the alternator and then one for the power steering. I just replaced the return line that goes to the power steering fluid resovior and used a longer one. I will try to post pictures up soon of my setup.

This could be my best mod I have done on my car. My worst mod was to put on a manual steering rack. I am too weak and could not drift all too well.

this is great I'm going to do this since my front mount makes me loose the power steering until I read this mod

Fc engine with FD upper,.Front mount intercooler.
Power steering dropped about 3-4 inches using stock mounting points,and brackets...Done by???..ME!

Wow, I always wondered how I could possibly fabricate or modify the p/s rack... I wish that I would have had the knowledge of this thread about a year ago. (Before I made my intercooler set-up.)

how did i ever miss this? i never even really thought about simply cutting the bracket and moving it down, makes it much easier to live with power steering and have room for intercooler lines..

Great Write up, works great if you ask me...... thanks man.

I did my relocation By EYE..everything was pretty well there and its Kind of Screwproof..you can't Fugg it up.,(that bad)
after all,you just need the belt to Run the Pump,by the belt,.it doesn't need any Excess Tension.it is just spinning a Pulley,That is It.Pure and simple.
The only thing you have to "watch out for" is not aligning the Pulleys.They will work good If they are out a Touch,BUT if they are out of Whack Severely then you will run into Belt breakage/ premature wearing issues.Using the Studs and bolt locations on the Side of the engine make the aligning of the Pump relatively the same as the old pump only lower,.That is why I used the Original Stud and mount holes.

I <3 fb brackets. Also a plasma cutter is key. Well for cast iron.

so to do this mod I will have to take out my ac right? Because my ac pump will be in the way of lowering the bracket.

Yes, this requires removing or somehow relocating your AC. Removal would be what everyone above did.

and as for the belt the ac belt is used for it then? im about to go buy a smaller belt but if the ac one is a direct fit i might as well use it...

I never had A/C so I didn't even factor it in.
The PS belt: I just measured the distance around the pulleys and got that size at Napa.

ok kool i got it but i installed the new belt and but tension on it and it kinda moved the bracket towards the main pulley! should be normal right?

I'd rather keep the A/C and delete the power steering. With as light as this car is, it's not really necessary anyhow.

I will archive this if nobody has any more input though.

anyone know the size of the holes??