Power Steering yes or no?

[Jack21]

I have power steering and I love it. Makes the car a joy to drive, and a breeze to park. Not that expensive, and the cost is worth it.

The trick is choosing the right parts for your intended use.

1) PS Rack. Although the CR is an MII front suspension setup, the MII power rack is not the rack to use. The MII weighs about 60 lb., and a late '79 - up weighs about 20 lb.

AGR Racing re-manufactures racks and pumps for sport use, and Summit carries them. The "Standard" ratio is a standard late '79-up Mustang power rack with high effort valving. Ratio is about 20:1, and turns lock to lock is a little over 3. Standard ratio for Cobra use in anything but Gymkana is way plenty, and the high effort valving gives good road feel. They also have a fast ratio version with a 15:1 ratio with a little over 2 turns lock to lock. For Mustangs in the twisties, this might work out OK. For a Cobra, I think it would overcontrol.

The CR frame (this is undocumented) is slotted on the passengers side to accept either MII, or late Mustang rack, so this is a bolt in.

2) Am using a 14" Lecarra steering wheel. Looks good, drives good, adds a touch of class, amd makes the car a little easier to get into, and out of.

3) PS Pump. AGR remanufactures low drag, low loss PS pumps for a variety of applications, and Summit carries them. They make both Ford, and Saginaw pumps. ( I don't want to call them Chevy pumps because Ford Pickups and Vans that use recirculating ball steering boxes use Saginaw pumps. My PS bracket )out of a pickup) for Saginaw pump has Ford P/N stamped on it. I used the Saginaw pump, and chromed the case for "Cool" eye candy. Had I Ford brackets, would have used Ford pump.

In street rodding, using MII power racks with Saginaw pumps is the bane of all street rodders. RB's Antique Automotive sells a Saginaw pump pressure relief valve for $39,95 that makes the line pressure more Ford friendly. Used one, works as advertized.

4) Used a March PS pulley for a Sag pump. Itlooks good, and works trouble free.

5) Lines. This is the Mickey Mouse Part. High side line. Used parts house GM line for the pump, and cut off the hose at the pump end. Used parts house Mustang line, and cut off the hose at the rack end. Measured distance between the two ends (~8") and had a hydraulics shop (Fork lift truck repair) make a a high side connecter line. 3/8" on the pump, and 5'16" on the rack.

Return line required Ford parts rack return fitting properly butchered, a piece of rubber 3/8" fuel injection hose between the Ford rack return line, and the Sag pump inlet, and it all worked!

Filled the reservoir with Mobil 1 syntnetic PS fluid and "Fired 'er up". What a mess. The air trapped in the PS cylinder must be purged and I know of no non-messy way to do it.

But, it's worked perfectly ever since now with 15,000 miles on the Odometer.