Nova elec power steering

[Lee E]

anyone out there done it?
apart from the ECU what else needs to be modefied? or is it a straight bolt on to the originall mounts?
Many thanks

[Dar]

This is one way of putting powersteering on a Nova. I found this a while back and haven't tryed it myself.

Power Steering on a Nova

The parts you need, approximate prices and suppliers are :

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

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

5. 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.

Good luck to anyone who decides to do the job, it is worth it.

[MARTIN KELSON]

Much easier to fit the electric Corsa B column mate.