right side cut…
Cut part of the lightning hole to get around the ductwork !
connecting the lines left side to bottom!
The red line is the new route. I’m going to connect to the side bracket cut out
drilled at tight radius and to reset the saw
Cleaned up,
I am, and I'm sure every one else is as well. Thanks for taking the time to document the process. I'm anxious to see how it comes out. As I posted earlier, I opted for the SACC unit, which I'm hoping is a bit easier installation and works about as well. I read that the feel (?) was "totally different" but never quite established if different is better, worse, or just different.
Test fitting is coming next probably with adjustments necessary I guess..
Right now, I have to lay down horizontally because I’m bent out of shape
@Ed Harbur
I was hoping to find documentation like what I’m doing right now about the procedure… It would’ve made the decision easier or maybe harder…
Once everything is done, I’m gonna let somebody with experience with Pantera drive it to assess how the brakes and Powersteering and all the other stuff i did to it came out!
I made a little bit of metal dust! Make sure you put some old bed sheets down…
It’s going to be very hard to get this stuff out of the carpet!
I think doing this origami was very helpful to visualize what I’m doing…
@panteradoug posted:I must admit that even though there was a noticeable stress level felt, it was a fun and enjoyable experience. I hope you are enjoying it too?
it was a rush… i’m just quadruple checking everything… And hope for the best🤔🤪
@Ed Harbur - I bought a SACC Power Steering Unit and it was pretty easy to do the install. You had to do a little cutting and drill a couple of holes. I also made a spacer for the bracket to take up some space. I can take pictures of the final install if you need some more pictures. I just followed Scott's instructions and everything went well. Very sturdy install. Larry
your bolt modification going to be next!
You had a great idea! stupid the way the manufacturer did it
being able to mount it without disassembling and your mod provides better more ridged structure!
the left mounting bolt trapped by bracket in the back is a nuisance! You have to disassemble the rear bracket to bolt it to the dash structure…
@ davidnunn did a modification to his setup using a long bolt reaching through both mounting holes, nut on the electric motor side and made a spacer so It can be proper torqued down!
the solution was adopted by Gerry in his manual!
Bolted it in with front 2 bolts… seems to clear, can jiggling & wiggle… after I take it off I’m going to look for witnesses mark on the tape….
Note how high the electric motor is tugged up under the dash!!
use the piece of cardboard and run it through the gap… perfect!
Took it out… No interference,! I got lucky no reworking necessary!
Now I have to figure out the rear, mounting holes
The rear mount really blows!! Can’t see, very tight space, head on the brake pedal… I stopped and going to think for a while now….
I have questions… Bring your best answers if you could please!
The steering wheel shaft is about one finger thickness, away from the dashboard!
That’s not enough to have the steering cover on it it takes at least two maybe 2 1/2 finger thickness between center of the steering shaft and the lower part of the dashboard. The mounting surface of the two ears welded to the steering shaft I absolutely flush with the bottom of the dashboard structure… So there is no angle change going on. It’s just flat right on it
nothing is twisted. No pressure on anything that’s just the way he wants to sit right now… The cutouts I made today have about between one and 2 mm clearance to the power steering box… I have not drilled the two holes for the rear bracket!
I think, a small movement on either of those attachment points would make a usable difference in the spacing. I’m looking in the front.
how does all this angle change affect the steering shaft after it…?? ?The hollow “D” shaft coming through really does not have any movement in it. Am I going to stick everything together and see what spacers do I have to put in the front…
or enlarge the cutout in the back and make pie shaped spacers for the front.. which still doesn’t mean the steering shaft is gonna end up where needs to be… It only has one joint! I only can change the angle after that joint (pivoting at this joint)!
any input?
(I think just stick everything together loosely and see where it ends up - The good old rolling the dice)
There is a difference in the clearances you ask about between the types of dash the car has, i.e., the dual pod or the single pod. In fact, the version of the single pod that the European market cars is a little different then the plastic version used in the '74 USA cars. The Euro version is a pretty thick fiberglass.
The front mounting bracket in this case (EPS installation) really needs to be made with slots (about 1" long) rather then single round holes, so that there is some adjustment, in and out (front to back).
It also needs to be made so that the wheel mounts as high as can be with no shims and able to be shimmed down to adjust the angle to your liking with bolts long enough to accomplish the adjustment. To me that is obvious and an indication that sufficient experimentation was put into the design process.
The left rear mounting bolt is the toughest one to get in, no question. In my case I had to use a flanged hex head bolt where I used Allen socket bolts in the other three spots.
That is actually a back and forth process where it is necessary to modify the new bracket in my view. My mounting bracket started as a square plate with four holes. Then evolved into slots for adjustment front to back.
This is probably the toughest part of the fit to the car. The trimming of the sheet metal is very minor in comparison.
I actually went through that (adjusting the closeness to the dash) before the EPS developed (or ever existed yet) in that I was going to a Momo steering wheel and the adapter gave more room and I wanted the wheel closer to the dashboard so I had remade the mounting brackets with slots.
This actually showed in the angle of the directional signal rod in that it needed to be bent more for clearance to the dash when in the "high beams on position".
In fact, at one point I toyed with the idea of the telescoping column like the Corvettes have, but since I am the only one who drives the car I just set the location to where I felt most comfortable. In my case, that was as tight as I could get it to the dash board...but my thought is that the new column mounting bracket needs slots and that what you have is just plain an oversight.
Larry- Thanks for the info and pics. Scott actually shipped my unit yesterday - MONTHS earlier than predicted, but unfortunately right before I'm getting my back overhauled so that I can actually get in and out of, and work on the car again. 6 weeks with no heavy lifting. Oh well! I will definitely take you up on your offer of a little coaching when the time comes, though.
@Ed Harbur posted:Larry- Thanks for the info and pics. Scott actually shipped my unit yesterday - MONTHS earlier than predicted, but unfortunately right before I'm getting my back overhauled so that I can actually get in and out of, and work on the car again. 6 weeks with no heavy lifting. Oh well! I will definitely take you up on your offer of a little coaching when the time comes, though.
I found that laying across the seats from the passenger side, with the door open, feet sticking out the door, leaning up against the shift lever, was the easiest position to work from.
Here, the steering wheel quick disconnect really helps because the steering wheel is not in the car at that point.
It is possible though, that I am permanently deformed as a result of working in that position?
Well, if it is deformed, I've got a carefully selected doc for you.
@Ed Harbur posted:Well, if it is deformed, I've got a carefully selected doc for you.
Is she pretty?
I'm kind of planning to be face down and heavily sedated at the time of the festivities, so not a factor in my case!
yea, they know all of the pressure points anyway?
I played around and it seems a 9mm spacer would work in the front between steering column and the dash structure..
I’m going to make one now….
I'm curious as to what changed between the original steering column and the new? The mounting tabs on both are flush with the outer diameter of the column. Why is a spacer needed to make the column cover fit? I must be missing something. Some of the pictures at the top of this page are not showing on my screen. I did see in the write-up that the cover needed to be trimmed in places.
@tsolo posted:I'm curious as to what changed between the original steering column and the new? The mounting tabs on both are flush with the outer diameter of the column. Why is a spacer needed to make the column cover fit? I must be missing something. Some of the pictures at the top of this page are not showing on my screen. I did see in the write-up that the cover needed to be trimmed in places.
I was asking myself the same question while I was making that spacer! And I’m thinking that it should fit the way the original steering column fit because the dimensions are the same. The front bracket is level with the tube as the original one, so the only thing that Would be in the way is the cut out !
I think if I go up in the back by 5 mm, the front probably comes down by 9mm
Okay, I think I understand now. The original column mounted to the bottom plate with 4 bolts, so the angle was fixed. Now that the rear of that plate has been removed the angle is no longer fixed and you have to set it by the location of the new rear mounting holes. This is good information to have. You need to measure the clearance distance at the front of the column to dash prior to removing the original column. Then you need to match that distance when marking out the new rear mounting holes.
Could you reload the pictures at the top of this page so I could see them?
Steve
Here is what I did, and look at the end result:
the original cut:
the new modified cut:
everything fits from what I see no modification necessary on the Plastic..
@tsolo posted:Okay, I think I understand now. The original column mounted to the bottom plate with 4 bolts, so the angle was fixed. Now that the rear of that plate has been removed the angle is no longer fixed and you have to set it by the location of the new rear mounting holes. This is good information to have. You need to measure the clearance distance at the front of the column to dash prior to removing the original column. Then you need to match that distance when marking out the new rear mounting holes.
Could you reload the pictures at the top of this page so I could see them?
Steve
you’re absolutely correct! And that was something I did not know…
After enlarge the cutout, it just - well I would not say it fell together - but I gave it one push and then everything was where it supposed be… so now I still have to check the steering itself, so nothing is binding and then have to mark the rear holes..
Just by dimensions, both steering column, the old one and the power steering column all the same length size with the joint location the same - everything should fit… But spending some time with the file and the vice (making an unnecessary spacer) and I knew I got something wrong! I was just trying to fix the problem at the wrong end. I don’t need a spacer in the front. I need more room in the back!
those templates are rough guides but definitely not something to count on. There are no measurements understandably whatsoever and everything was welded together by Luigi and Giuseppe. Maybe it was Friday - they’re all different! Measurements really wouldn’t help except measure from the dashboard down to the steering column (before you take the original one apart) and trim the ass end until the power steering unit fits! And it will fit!
I try to avoid sharp corners in my cutting because they would act as stress risers… the force to move the front wheels is still the same just the force to move the steering wheel is lowered..
I’m feeling better now!
fixed that annoyance now!
Here is the next puzzle to solve…
The black bracket it’s on the rear of the power steering… once you put everything in place and attach the front 2 bolts you can feel the holes through the back, there’s like a 1 inch slot on the top, but you can stick a finger in… One finger only!
the instructions it says mark the holes for the bracket and drill the holes…
I couldn’t do it with everything in place..
paint on my fingertip.. no… not enough penetration into the hole…
so put everything together and put it in place where it’s supposed to be then unbolted that bracket and tried to the best of my abilities to leave it in place exactly it’s supposed to be and unbold the rest of the steering and removed it In the hope the bracket stayed in position! It’s held by the 2 uprights I trimmed before… about 92mm apart… if I touch the uprights the bracket moves… not falling out but moving… so did the whole procedure again and this time I just use the red can to get the outlines and hopefully the hole…
now while writing this and looking at the pic I should have made a paper template… that might be another solution! Maybe more accurate than my abstract painting!
up to this point I had the Powersteering in and out approximately 10 times!
Next drilling where the most room you have is 4 inches… and still no straight shot.. or view… what a pain!!! This job is for the yoga lover, limber and agile….
good old days…..
I’m taking a break, rearrange my spine, cleaning my reading glasses 🤓
Hole # 1 is done!!!
OMG … i’m amazed it didn’t break the pilot drill…
next I install the power steering again and see what it needs … at least I can adjust the bracket and then mark hole #2…
from their on it should be a lot easier!
Make sure you are making good patterns for all your friends who may be interested in installing PS in their rides!
They will be greatly appreciated!
no doubt about!!! I kept everything I cut… paper and metal!! I’m going to make a summary in the end…
Marking and drilling the rear, two holes is a chore. What a pain! Needs a few special tools…
One Long pilot drill cut to usable length.
Marker cut to usable length
Now here the @davidnunn upgrade..
welded a tube between the two ears of the rear bracket so a long bolt can be used!
I enlarged the 8 mm hole to half-inch, so I have some movement to tighten the Powersteering down relaxed but solid!
also got rid of all the sharp corners on the brackets, so it’s easier to move so it finds the place where wants to live!
Now. Close to the end of the mounting endeavor …. Balancing and holding the power steering unit so many times, trying to locate the front nuts that are welded in the structure to get the right angle with the bolt and not cross thread - I got the idea to change to studs instead… So much smarter so much easier! By a mile and a half!!!! Especially if you have to add the steering column shroud as well!
I got the 8mm bolt in the back in but it was a fight with the 1.5” thick 50 year old stiff wiring harness… but it fits!!! Tomorrow I measure the proper length for the bolt… take everything apart, fix my lower hollow, steering tube, make everything nice and spiffy, and reassemble it!!
honestly… I’d rather do 3 pedal boxes - Hell - I’ll make that four!!!
When it started on Friday a week ago I said I should be done by Sunday. Well it’s going to be Sunday but a week later… Wow
I guess I’m getting old…
Well, the grip length needed is a hair under 105mm sheet metal outsides with EPS in… but I’m sure there a a couple mm squeeze left in the setup.. On the nut side is not much room….. not sure if I need to file the nut down to be able to fit a washer.. ( washer is 1.5mm thread pitch 1.25mm )
105+1.5+1.5+5 (4turns)=113mm
going to run with a 110mm and hope for the squeeze factor…
My friend, Riley, who used to be on the forum but has since sold his Pantera about a year ago, had added the SACC power steering unit to his '73, and I drove it once and thought it was great, especially with the adjustable boost. He installed it himself, so it's doable. The only reason I haven't added it to mine is because, with my very big feet, I drive mine for the last 30 years, barefooted, and the small electric box was mounted to the left of the clutch, and I was afraid I'd keep knocking my foot into it. I've had several surgeries on the foot, and I was afraid, but would still love to do it and take some strain off of my 71 year old shoulders. I will speak to Riley this afternoon and ask him to weigh in on this topic from first hand experience.
I drive my Pantera barefoot as well for the same reason. I read something somewhere that led me to believe that there wouldn't be an interference issue, so I decided to take a chance and order the unit. I should have it this week. I won't be able to install it until mid-summer however. I can certainly look at it, though, and I'll report in as soon as I learn anything. Perhaps we need to start a support group of some sort.
