Pinto Car Club of America

I'm in the midst of a 302 conversion and was wondering about maunal rack vs power steering rack.  The donor 302 has a nice PS pump.  I currently have a manual rack in the car and do not have a PS donor rack.  Is it worth the time and money to locate the PS rack, install everything, have custom lines fabbed, etc. prior to dropping in the 302 or just use the manual rack?  The weight of the 302 with Al. intake will still be somewhat more than the 4 cyl.  PS certainly makes turning easier but does it make the 302 install more difficult   ????  Thanks for the input.

The racks will both mount the same way and are similar, but the power rack has a bigger diameter body, and you will have less room between it and the oil pan (5/16" +/-). The tie-rods might be different too, but the spindles are the same, so the worst thing is you would need the tie-rods to go with the rack you use.

I know two people that have cobras and both of them have the power racks, but neither has the pump attatched (they have brass filters where the lines would go to allow it to vent the hyd. ram).

The manual rack has a different ratio.

Keep in mind that you should not be turning the wheel without the car moving anyway.

It is up to you, and what you prefer.

Bill