Power steering on TA Camaro

[eb911]

Hi,

Was power steering used on Transam Camaro. If so, from which year ?

Nowadays what would be the best system to use on a Camaro ?

What do you think of PS for racing application ?

Thanks for your inputs.

Eric

[oldtransamdriver]

Eric,

I did not use power steering, and remember it was not used by most drivers.  It was tried early on but there were reliability problems.

My friend Al Ratcliff built a 69 T/A camaro in 76, which I drove a few times, that was eventually changed to power steering in 79.  Remember,
that in later years the T/A races were not as long as in the early days.  Al thought p/s was worth 1-2 seconds in lap time,

Robert Barg

[Jon Mello]

It was tried on Ronnie Bucknum's Sunoco Camaro during the first race of the season in '69. There was some sort of failure of the system (lost belt or something else) during the race so they scrapped the idea for the rest of the season. Jerry Titus used it on his '70 Firebird Trans-Am but he suffered from arthritis in his hands and needed it more than some other drivers might. It was not commonly used back then and the races were much longer than any vintage race happening today but several vintage cars are running it. If you're going to run a power steering system, it ought to be correct GM stuff from '72 and earlier.

[Steve Holmes]

Did the Chaparral Camaros have it?

[eb911]

Thank you.


I have been told the the GM500 GM600 systems are good but do they look like pre 72 systems and do you think they would fit racing application ?

[crazyamc]

I remember reading an interview with Vic Elford somewhere, comparing the '70 Chaparral Camaro to the '71 ARA Javelin...... The Camaro being MUCH easier to drive with power steering and manual brakes; opposite of how the Javelin was set up. Remember, Roy Woods '71 cars were actually re-skinned Penske '70 models. Roy and Mark were fairly tight, and not a lot was changed engineering wise. Mark ran the Girling 'boosted' front brakes.  I have a picture underhood of the Chaparral, and it does have a brake booster.... so maybe the Hall cars evolved through the season?     I can say from first hand experience, with a good amount of caster, manual steering, and a slightly too small of steering wheel just due to rollcage and such, 30 minute vintage races in the Texas heat are tough- one hour enduro..... ? almost need medical help!   Nomex underwear, 2 layer suit, hood, enclosed helmet= oven...     Ken

[eb911]

We have 1 hour races which could be exhausting but apart from that the car is difficult to handle on slow corners due to the heavy steering. Could be much easier with PS. I still did not find the right kit though. My guess is that the smaller the ratio the better it is ?
What do you think ? 2 to 2.5 turns lock to lock is the right choice ?

[crazyamc]

just my opinion- too quick makes it way too easy to "shock" or overdrive the steering response of the soggy bias ply's.... I would say 2.5 to 3 would be plenty fast.  Autocrossing on ultra-modern low aspect ratio stickies would be a different story....  my .02 cents    Ken

[Jon Mello]

The correct GM casting number for the power steering box to use is 5691676 and you should use a p/s pump visually correct to the era. No electric assist or anything like that. Some good steering and suspension info can be found on David Pozzi's website... http://www.pozziracing.com/camaro_steering.htm#PS%20pumps%20and%20brackets

[rmbuilder]

eb911,

We ran P/S on all of Warrens cars. This is Agor Racing car #001, post initial build, at the first firing of the engine in the car. I apologize for the poor photo quality. We have many photos through the build phase , however this most clearly displays the P/S. We substituted a deep groove pulley, with a belt change and that mitigated flipping or throwing of the belts.

Bob

[Jon Mello]

Bob,

Thanks for posting that photo. I guess I am a little confused at what I'm looking at. There appear to be two silver colored items to the driver's side of the water pump pulley. Can you detail which of these two items is the P/S pump? I don't see an alternator. Is it not yet mounted or mounted in a different location other than stock?

[naparsei]

There was at least one Camaro (a '70) that ran/runs in the HT/A group with power steering. The owner commented that the car turned too easily, and was concerned about how the PS was adjusted. He tended to destroy/overheat front tires as a result. YMMV.

[crazyamc]

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Heidts-PS-101-Adjustable-Power-Steering-Valve,14895.html    Hey guys, this "may" be the answer to our problem since most of us in this group would want to or be required to run the older pumps!    Sorry for no brake ducts pics yet Eric- building a house has me going crazy..    Ken

[eb911]

Interesting. Thanks

[yenkomark]

    The University of Pittsburgh Camaro was one of the first to use power steering. Their crew chief passed his design on to Penske . He later worked for John Greenwood's Corvette team.