TCP Power Rack and Pinion Upgrade

[70427w]

Okay fellow Mach 1 folks...I have officially made the decision to remove the horrible leaky factory power steering and go with the Total Control Products power rack and pinion with pump and chrome steering column with tilt..I am especially excited about adding a tilt wheel set up as I am 6 ft 4 in and have a bit of a contortion issue getting in and out. Has anybody made a similar upgrade on their car? I am just curious if there were any install issues/pitfalls and how to improvise, adapt and overcome. Any thoughts are appreciated..thanks!

[Steven Harris]

This is not an update that I am personally familiar with but I will follow your progress with interest.

If you can document your upgrade and share it with us for the benefit of others to follow.

All the best.

[70427w]

I will keep everyone posted. My plan is to order everything by the end of February and get going no later than mid-march. I will be doing it myself in the trusty garage so I should be able to post plenty of pics and updates..I cant wait!

[70427w]

UPDATE
I was able to work on the Mach today and I made a ton of progress. I have all of the old power steering system out and it really was easier than I thought it would be. The worst part of the whole job was taking the header bolts out..I have a 351W (427 stroker) block with 351C heads and there is just no room to get at those bolts. I ended up removing the master cylinder from the booster to free up some space and after a pint or so of blood oozing out of the knuckles I was able to get the header off..good thing I did because I had what I suspected was a very slight gasket leak and sure enough I found it. With the header out and room to wrench on the rag joint the whole steering gear/steering box removal was a piece of cake..I took everything out in pretty much one big assembly. I hope to have time to remove the steering column in the next couple of weeks and then order up the TCP power rack/pump/tilt wheel column and get cracking on the install. If anyone is considering the power rack and pinion upgrade I would say go for it..I had some trepidation about tackling this myself as visions of rusty bolts, hard to get at bolts and just plain ornery bolts would make this a nightmare but the hardest part is done and it was very straight-forward. Next step is to clean up and paint the area where the old steering box was and wait for the big brown truck to come rumbling down the driveway with all the new stuff. Hopefully the wife will not be here when all the big boxes arrive or the credit card statement for that matter.

[Steven Harris]

Thanks for the update. I will look forward to the next installment.

I remember my 1969 and steering issues along with all that fitment issue as I was running a 390.

Take some pictures to share if you can.