Electric Power Steering Conversion ??

[fearless]

Has anyone carried out this mod - Converting from manual steering column to an Electric column from a Corsa B or Corsa C
I've already looked into Corsa PAS rack and Saxo pump but u r unable to get a PAS quick rack at reasonable money

Looking 2 convert rally car with a manual quick rack but use an electric column

Ive heard its been dun 2 a couple of novas before but does anyone have any info 2 assist me ??? :?

[Neil.]

here u go fearless, hope it helps.

If you're prepared to cut into chassis rails, and fiddle about with belts to drive power steering pumps, then I've no doubt it would be possible to install a Corsa engine-driven PAS pump onto a Nova. Not only does that seem like hard work, it saps a good deal of engine power. There is an alternative - many modern cars are now fitted with electric power steering - notably Peugeot's 106, Citroen's Saxo, Renault's Clio, and possibly others I'm not yet aware of.

Before I start, bear in mind that I fitted mine onto a rally car, and mounted the power steering pump INSIDE the car, underneath the co-drivers feet. For a road car, fitting it there might not suit you, particularly as it is quite a noisy little pump. Where you're going to find for it under the bonnet of a 2.0 16V Nova I don't know, but it can at least be mounted anyway up, so it might be feasible. The pump itself is cylindrical, about 12" long, and around 5" diameter.

The parts you need, approximate prices and suppliers are :

Electric power steering pump

from a Peugeot 106. I got mine from 'Power Steering Services' (01299 879281), a new one is about ?220, but you might be lucky as they sometimes have lightly used ones available for about ?160. I rang around a few scrapyards, but when I needed one, nobody had one, but you should expect to pay around ?120 for one. I understand that the electric PAS pump on a Citroen Saxo is the same, I've looked under the bonnet and it appears identical, but don't come complaining to me if it isn't. Make sure you get the wiring harness with the pump, and ideally the mounting bracket, otherwise you'll have to make up your own bracketry.

A set of power steering fluid pipes.

Any competent hydraulic hose supplier will make you these up to suit, and the lengths required will obviously depend on where you site the pump. I was flash and got my pipes supplied in kit form from Nick Runcie, who runs OMM Rally Team in Scotland. He supplied proper Aeroquip hose, and all the unions for ?96 including delivery. If anyone wants the full address and telephone number, I'll find it for them. Incidentally, Nick can supply the complete kit of everything you need for to do the whole job for around ?500.

A power steering fluid reservoir.

The Peugeot system is unusual in that there is only one outlet (i.e. no return flow pipe to the reservoir). If you buy from a scrapyard, try and get hold of the reservoir with its associated pipe when you buy the pump. Otherwise, you can use any reservoir you can find, but you'll have to close off the return pipe. Again, I went over the top, and got a Bailey Motorsport alloy tank for an Escort Cosworth, cut it in half to reduce its height, and welded it back together, then had it anodised.

Power steering fluid

(bit obvious this one).However, make sure you get the right stuff for the Corsa rack - Castrol Dextron for example.

A Corsa power steering rack.

I used a GSi one, obtained from Stu at 'Just Novas' for ?75 including delivery. Tigra ones are the same.

That's all the parts you require, the most important thing in fitting is that the steering arms on the Corsa rack are too long, so have to be shortened by about 1.5 inches each side, and re-threaded to take the track rod ends. I got mine modified by the ever-helpful Ian Godney who runs Godspeed Motorsport (01656 660899), Ian charged me about ?30 to cut and machine the arms. I left it to a professional as he knows exactly how much needs to be removed !

The rack bolts up using the normal Nova bulkhead fixings, and you can use Nova or Corsa track rod ends.

You will have to enlarge the hole in the bulkhead where the steering rack passes through quite significantly to accommodate the valve on the PAS rack, bit of a trial and error job this one. Once the hole is enlarged sufficiently, the Corsa rack will mate up with the standard Nova flexible coupling at the base of the steering column. You'll need a bigger rubber gasket to seal the hole you've now made, I've done mine with silicone sealant, probably the best solution would be to get the correct Corsa gasket.

As I've said, you'll need to find a suitable home for the pump, and it needs substantial brackets to hold it in place, as it's running under high pressure.

Provided you've got the wiring loom and relay that goes with the pump, it's a simple wiring job, just a 12V supply and an earth connection to wire in. I've wired mine so that the pump is running with the ignition switched on, but you might want to do it so that the pump only works when the engine is running. The pump is quite noisy, so if you end up mounting it inside the car you might have to insulate it. However, I haven't checked how hot it gets in running, so bear this in mind as otherwise it might be a fire hazard.

Pipework is fairly straightfoward to install, how you run it will of course depend on where you put the pump. Basically you've got a feed pipe from the fluid reservoir to the pump, then a high pressure outlet from the pump to the bigger of the 2 unions on the rack, then a return pipe from the rack to the pump.

I mounted the reservoir on mine in the area where the wiring loom passes throught the bulkhead on the passenger side. Fill the reservoir with fluid, and then you need to bleed the system of air. As it's an electric pump, you just need to switch the electrics on and off until the pump stops making any 'bubbling' type noises. Make sure you've got no fluid leaks anywhere, and that's the job done.

Obviously you'll need to get the tracking re-set.

The improvement this conversion makes is just amazing, it would be impossible for me to go back to the manual steering now. It took me a couple of days or so to do in total, but this was without knowing exactly what had to be done. Hopefully with the aid of this guide it could be achieved in a day, but I wouldn't suggest you contemplate it unless you're pretty handy with the spanners. The risks of getting something wrong in the steering department are too great to be taken lightly.

hope it helped.

neil

[mikeoxford]

nice cut and paste there ;)

[fearless]

Slight misunderstanding I think !!
Ive already seen this method of PAS conversion

What Im looking at doing is an Electric Steering column conversion from a corsa B or Corsa C- but still using a manual quick rack :- :idea: the problem on a Corsa PAS rack conversion (ie Fluid) is the steering goes heavy/locks up if turned very quickly from lock to lock (ie hairpin/chicane)

The EPS conversion has an electric motor on the actual column and therefore can still use a manual rack

[Neil.]

what u on about mike, i wrote all that out!

[fearless]

Looks very familiar to the artical that Colin Smith wrote !!!