upgrade my steering

All the stuff under the car, Transmission, Brakes, Suspension & Steering
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smithhe
Posts: 148
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 2:22 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

upgrade my steering

Post by smithhe »

hello all I am in need of some help, I have searched through the forum and cant really find anything. My 1964 Comet has power steering and over the years the steering has become TERRIBLE, if there is any sort of wind outside then it is almost impossible to steer her and now that its winter I need to start fixing stuff. I wanted to make the switch to a power rack and pinion but seeing as how I spent all my money on a 347/C4 setup to swap in I cant afford it. I have also seen people swap in 65 comet steering setups and im open to that but I wanted to know if anyone knew of any companies that make a kit to swap over the 65 steering or a kit to replace all of the 64 steering parts. Thank you.
1964 Mercury Comet 404 with 347 stroker
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poboyjo65
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Posts: 7037
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:40 pm
Location: Camden, Tenn.

Re: upgrade my steering

Post by poboyjo65 »

I dont know of any kits but you can get all of the parts new. you would need 65 spindles or granada spindles. with a 347 if you haven't already got disc brakes I'd want those as bad as better steering. with that in mind csrp make the best disc kit to be one of the cheapest ones.& they have new spindles in some of the delux kits. then you would need idler & pitman arms & centerlink & tierodends/sleeves. one thing you need to find out which shaft your steering box has, 1'' or 1 /8''. if it was a factory v8 64 it has the big shaft. if it started life as a 6cyl then it should have the 1'' .the 1 1/8'' shaft will need a 68 mustang pitman arm. all of the other steering parts can be ordered as 65-66 mustang parts except the center link & it has to be comet/falcon specific.

here is some good info that our members have gathered;
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=15083
(this thread can be found near the top of the drivetrain section)
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Johno

smithhe
Posts: 148
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 2:22 pm
Location: Southern Maryland

Re: upgrade my steering

Post by smithhe »

awesome thank you very much for the help, I do want to upgrade the brakes as well and ive been eyeing the csrp kit. Ill give them a call and see if I can get spindles with the brakes.
1964 Mercury Comet 404 with 347 stroker
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Groover
Posts: 1795
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2010 11:36 pm
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Re: upgrade my steering

Post by Groover »

Well, before you start, maybe there is a simple/cheap fix for your steering.

I have a 64 with power steering, and while it ain't no Porsche, it handles pretty well for a 50 year old car. If yours wanders in a strong wind, maybe you need to rebuild or adjust your power steering control valve? Maybe an adjustment to your steering box pre-load? maybe your alignment?

Here's a great site to read up on everything, even if you do decide to do the 65 swap.

Best of luck.
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1964 Comet Caliente Convertible
30,000 miles on our rebuild

All Comets start out as dreams...

bigdan
Posts: 555
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:47 am
Location: Eastern TN

Re: upgrade my steering

Post by bigdan »

Check out opentracker racing. They're putting together entire kits now.

Dan
Long time search complete, 65 Cyclone project in progress!

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