My last classic car had manual steering…and at the time I wished I had power steering. Now I have power steering, and kinda wish I didn’t.
The problem is that the pump is leaking for some reason. The fluid level was very low, so I put in almost a pint of fluid. The next day there was a giant puddle of something under the front of the car. You guessed it, nearly a pint of power steering fluid.
Part of the problem seems to be that the engine has a mix of 68 (short water pump) and 69 (long water pump) accessories and brackets. For the pump, it looks like it’s a 68 bracket with some spacers and washers added to make the pulleys line up. That’s not a great plan.
The pump is leaking from the mounting hole on the back of the reservoir. (Next to the ‘notice’ sticker.) I’m not sure, but it looks like there’s a boss inside the reservoir, and an o-ring between it and the sheetmetal of the reservoir. Fill it up above that, and it leaks out there. Not a great design.
The trick now is to figure out the combination of pump and brackets that will work.
