69 Z28 power steering issue

[20round]

ok, i dismantled my sub-frame several years ago and 2 houses moves ago. now i have been orginizing all my parts only to find i have several power steering units in the same crate. help! whitch is whitch? how can i tell the difference! i have bought all new suspension peices including a new pitman arm. do i understand correctly that a z has a different pitman arm and steering arm on the box? let me know your thoughts... thanks troy

[william]

All 69s used the same p/s gear. Z/28 and Camaro SS will have a pitman arm that is 5.75" c-c. A Z/28 p/s pump will have a deep groove pulley.

[20round]

i have the power steering pump, but the box is what is messing me up. does the z28 also have a different idler arm? i was confused what a pitman arm was. i undestand now that it is the arm on the steering box i thought it was the the other arm, known to me now as the idler arm. is the box a close ratio, what is lock to lock turning rate? let me know your thoughts

[Steve Shauger]

All 1969 camaros equipped with PS had variable ratio steering boxes. The turn to turn is 2.25, for SS and Z28 which was accomplished with longer pitman arm as stated above.

[20round]

do you have a casting number for the steering arm i can look for on these box's? that would save me a lot of screwing around. thanks

[rich69rs]

RPO N44, fast ratio steering, was available on all models, 2.2 turns lock to lock.  A special "faster version" was available for SS and Z28, but still 2.2 turns lock to lock.  For exampley, my base '69 RS Coupe has the non Z28/SS version of N44. 

RPO N44 was achieved by using the "shorter" outer steering arms and the correct "longer" pitman arm.  The "shorter" outer arms are P/N 3954875 (RH) and 3954876 LH.  The long, 5.8" center to center, pitman arm is p/n 3953237.

Also, refer to the following link:  http://www.pozziracing.com/camaro_steering.htm#Steering%20arm%20lengths%20and%20part%20numbers

Following link shows pics of the "shorter" outer steering arms on my 69 RS:  http://www.camaros.org/forum/index.php?topic=1175.0

[rich69rs]

Attached pic shows the "long" (5.8" center to center) pitman arm off of my RS.  Although it is not the best pic, you can clearly see that it is the long pitman arm as opposed to the short (5.25" center to center) pitman arm.

From what I've read, and someone will correct me if I'm wrong, the "faster" version of N44 for Z28 and SS uses the longer pitman arm and shorter outer steering arms, but with a manual steering box that has a different internal ratio than the power steering box on my RS.