Power steering racks and hello again!

[jseabolt]

Hello guys! It's been some time since I posted on this forum. I still have my '80 automatic I repainted Massey Furgeson gray. But it's been 2 years since I've done anything to it. The other day I got it out of my garage and drove it up my driveway a little bit.

I still have the rusty parts car but my green '79 5 speed is gone. I gave it to one of my 124 Spider friends who wanted to restore it. Here's some pics.

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd148/turbofiat/Brava/

I'm drained the coolant and I'm getting ready to start stripping all the emmision stuff off the car and the sorry carburator installed on carbed 79 and 80 models as well as the intake manifold. Poor little 2 liter engine makes only 82 BHP.

I'm going with a set of IDF 40s. I'd like to run a propane or CNG system but as of now petrol is much cheaper and refilling is a problem. Anyone ever done this?

I want to get rid of the air injection pump but it shares the same bracket as the power steering pump. The problem is the power steering pump is non adjustable so the air pump is what sets the belt tension.

So I got a few options. Make a new bracket for the power steering pump. See if the power steering pump bracket can be slotted so I can adjust the belt tension. Or do away with both pumps all together.

I noticed that it is just as easy to steer when the engine is not running as my 124 Spider or Yugo. Someone told me the power and non-power racks have the same turning radius. So that would explain why it's so easy to turn.

Has anyone done away with the power steering pump? My concern is if the fluid lubricates the rack. So it may be nessessary to fill the rack and plug off the fittings in the rack to hold fluid.

[Tas131]

I'm going with a set of IDF 40s. I'd like to run a propane or CNG system but as of now petrol is much cheaper and refilling is a problem. Anyone ever done this?

I'm currently running LPG (Propane/Butane) in my 2 litre, replacing a set of 40IDFs. Now that the price of petrol has dropped, I regret the LPG decision. The power, torque and responsiveness of an IDF equipped 2 litre is addictive. The whole reason for converting to LPG was to supercharge the engine. Unfortunately the blower has been sitting under my computer desk for 3 years. I made a new years resolution this year to do something about it, but I've lost one of the toothed pulleys I purchased for the project, so that puts a bit of a dampener on things. I suppose I've got 10 months left of the year to get things done!

[djape1977]

CNG system is much more expensive and a bit more complicated than LPG so my recomendation is to go for an LPG option

[mirafioriman]

On euro models the power steering is tensioned simply by tightening up the pump, there is no adjustment. I recommend you aquire a euro power steering bracket and just do away with the air pump. If you can post up a clear photo I can compare what you have with my power equipped euro cars. If you are going to do away with the power steering I would recommend changing the rack also. I don't think this is a straightforward swap as I think the crossmembers are different.