power steering on flathead

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flathead 53

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Any one out there install power steering on A flathead 49/53 ? there is A number of brackets to mount the pump , some are fabricated and others are available from suppliers, IF you want to stay somewhat original you need A three groove crank pulley, one bracket mounts A saginaw pump on drivers side of engine and uses A two groove pulley on the alternator to turn the pump, limited info out there ,anyone that has done it info is welcome ,
 
What about considering electric power steering? All you need is 12 volts. Reasonably easy to install and donor cars are plentiful.
 
I installed electric power steering in a 35 sedan couple of years ago. Hobby member loves it. Really worth looking into. I can PM you supplier who is very reasonable and will give you technical guidance.
 
The truck is all original 53 f-100 ,and rewired 6 volts ,I want to keep the column and column shift, the power steering system I am looking at is from mid fifty, it is the old type ram, with was an option on the 56 f-100, the pump and bracket is the main issue. power steering was an option on 1953 ford cars , they had a three groove crank pulley ,and the correct power steering mount for the pump ,if I can find A three groove crank pulley and the pump mount from A 53 car ,mercury or ford ,I can adapt any power steering pump to it .
 
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flathead 53 said:
Any one out there install power steering on A flathead 49/53 ? there is A number of brackets to mount the pump , some are fabricated and others are available from suppliers, IF you want to stay somewhat original you need A three groove crank pulley, one bracket mounts A saginaw pump on drivers side of engine and uses A two groove pulley on the alternator to turn the pump, limited info out there ,anyone that has done it info is welcome ,
Click to expand...

Facroty power steering was first offered in 1953. I installed the factory PS on my 53' Mercury. Once you have everything in the first picture, it will bolt right in. The only difference between Ford and Mercury is the bracket that mounts to the frame on the passage side.

The hardest part to find is the 3 belt pulley that goes on the front of the crank shaft. When people take the unit off a car, they many time forget to get the pulley. The factory unit did not use a two belt pulley on the generator. The PS belt goes directly to the 3 grove pulley on the crankshaft.

Once installed it works great! You can literally park the car with two fingers.
 

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I did the cylinder heads on a ‘35 Ford with a ‘52 Merc engine.
It had a power steering pump on the left cylinder head between the two center spark plugs.
The pump sat back about in the center of the head. It was run by a small belt off the back of the generator. It had a GM steering gear box. The whole system works very well.
I remember some old Chrysler cars that had a pulley on the back of the generator.
 
I installed the king pins with the needle bearings, instead of bronze bushings. Everyone said they were no good because they would wear faster than the bushings, which makes sense. So I replaced them and wished I had not. They steered a lot easier than the bushings. Just my 2 cents, after all how much do you drive your car, unless its a daily driver, Besides most are driven on smoother roads. Al
 
It steers fine when moving , I have new steering box ,king pins ,tie rod ends , center link , the radial tires make it harder to steer . If I can gather all the parts ,pump ,bracket ,3 groove crank pulley, then I will buy the ram type unit from mid fifty , and convert to power steering . I do drive the truck as much as I can.
 
There is much more to converting from manual steering to power steering. On both cars and trucks in the '50's, Fomoco designed a distinctly different spindle connecting rod which had provisions for mounting the ram cylinder and different mounting arrangement for the power steering idler arm. The trucks also had steering arm stop bumpers mounted on the frame, whereas the manual steering trucks did not have these. A special fluid control valve and drag-link assembly (different from the car units) was designed for the truck spindle connecting rod. The '53 and earlier trucks required a 3-belt crankshaft damper (V8), while the heavy duty series trucks having the overhead valve Lincoln Y-block needed a 2-belt damper. The power-steering pump/reservoir assembly mounted on a system of brackets on driver side of engine at the front and driven by its own dedicated V-belt. The reservoir for the trucks were different from the ones for the cars, but I believe could be swapped for F-1 series trucks with car reservoirs. The heavy-duty trucks with Lincoln Y-block had taller fluid reservoir and fluid cooling hose wrapped several times around the outside of the reservoir can. The pumps for all the cars and trucks themselves were originally the same, and can be replaced with an Eaton pump without any modifications to mounting, but may require some hose fitting modifications. Original reservoir and hardware will mount perfectly upon the top of the Eaton pump. If using the Eaton pump, it may be necessary to swap the original flat style pump pulley with a 1957 or later car "deep-dish" style pulley.
The only thing you don't need to change is the steering column and steering gearbox. This type of system really is not "power-steering". It is a "power-assist" system.
 
The first picture that Merc Cruzer has in his post shows a complete power-assist for a mid '50's CAR. It will not work for a truck. The Truck has a completely different spindle connecting rod arrangement where it is not required to have an idler-arm and frame bracket. Also notice how the control valve/drag-link is screwed on to the end of the CAR pitman-arm-to-idler-arm-connecting-rod. The truck control valve is completely separate from the steering rod. The truck has a completely different type of control valve/drag-link assembly. Tell ya the truth, the car ram cylinder differs from the truck also in that the push-rod end of the CAR ram cylinder connects to the CAR cast-iron idler-arm mounting bracket, while the trucks have a different arrangement for connection to the spindle connecting rod. The truck power cylinder is mounted stationary with the truck front axle. It's a completely different animal.
 
Some of the mainstream repro parts suppliers offer extensive replacement parts for the '50's power assist systems for CARS.
Mac's keeps sending me TRUCK catalogs and I keep throwing them away, cause I don't have an antique truck. But if they don't supply the crankshaft damper setup for your application, your only other alternative is to keep a lookout in epay or find a junkyard that keeps lots of antique trucks in their yard.
 
Daves55Sedan said:
The first picture that Merc Cruzer has in his post shows a complete power-assist for a mid '50's CAR. It will not work for a truck. The Truck has a completely different spindle connecting rod arrangement where it is not required to have an idler-arm and frame bracket. Also notice how the control valve/drag-link is screwed on to the end of the CAR pitman-arm-to-idler-arm-connecting-rod. The truck control valve is completely separate from the steering rod. The truck has a completely different type of control valve/drag-link assembly. Tell ya the truth, the car ram cylinder differs from the truck also in that the push-rod end of the CAR ram cylinder connects to the CAR cast-iron idler-arm mounting bracket, while the trucks have a different arrangement for connection to the spindle connecting rod. The truck power cylinder is mounted stationary with the truck front axle. It's a completely different animal.
Click to expand...

On the upside, the 53' truck had electric wipers, where as the cars still had the Trico vacuum wipers. I always wondered if the truck electric wipers could be used in a car.
 
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I just came across this, might be something you might want to look into:

https://midfifty.com/item.php?INV_ID=1831&PN=Ram-assist-steering

Mid-Fifty F-100 parts

Ram Assist Steering
Fits: 1953-56 Ford F-100 Trucks (Each truck takes 1)
Part Number: 4630 Original Part Number: 5356PSK
Price: $ 969.50 KIT
Quantity

ADD TO CART WISH LIST

All new valves are now made and the kit is better than ever. Original truck did not come with power steering but a power set up was available on the big trucks. This kit is very similar to the big truck set up as well as the power assist used on other cars and trucks of the late 50's and 60's. Good kit for the "almost" stock truck. Made with all new pieces and guaranteed. This system is great for the purist. It bolts to the existing steering system and clears all of the factory components. This will allow the use of the factory steering columns and allow for a stock look without having to suffer with manual steering. Kit includes power cylinder, drag link, heavy duty tie rod, new style tie rod ends, control valve assembly, hoses and all necessary mounting hardware, every thing but pump.
 

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Check with CPP, classic performance products. They have a nice conventional style power steering box and have pumps that can be adapted for the ford.
 
CPP Power Steering unit. Looks very similar to the 53' Lincoln PS unit.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1953-56-Fo...Steering-Gearbox-Conversion-Kit-/283480584172


Kit also includes the correct power steering hose kit to hook the gear box to your power steering pump. The rag joint is designed to work with your factory column, making it a breeze to install. The pitman arm is designed to work with your factory steering parts.


Flathead Pump:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/nvsAAOSwNSxU0aBS/s-l640.jpg


All you will need to find, is the 3 belt pulley for the crank shaft, unless this will work with a longer belt over the generator or water pumps, then you could use the 2 belt pulley, you already have on the truck.
 

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Just info; A 1981 Corvette came in for some A/C work and it has the piston valve set up
as picture Merc cruiser posted. Crank pulley, check with snow plow parts guys. If you
have a lathe or a friend that has one, its easy to machine a longer crank bolt. Back to
the Corvette, we replaced the leaking control valve > Napa had it. sam
 
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