Hydroboost Questions

[toofun]

Got my hydroboost system the other day and when to install it and ran into a couple of problems.

1. The steering box I have is an 87 IROC style with the LEE MANUFACTURING flare pressed into it. The fitting for the Hydroboost unit cannot be used with this flare pressed in. How do I remove the flare? Is it easy?

2. The hoses that came with the kit for some reason are long enough but they do not line up with the fittings on the box and the unit itself unless I spiral twist the hoses which puts un natural stress on them. Is there a way to "ADJUST" the ends of these hoses so that they will turn in the direction I need them to?

3. The fitting that comes off my power steering pump is the MALE type. Int he back of the the pump this fitting screws into the back and presses on a spring loaded block off plate. The hose that I got from Hydroboost is a flared fitting with a MALE thread on it. Is there an adapter I can use?

Any help would be appreciated. Has anyone else had this problem with this kit? Maybe I got the wrong one?

Mark
TOOFUN

[Rick Dorion]

Call Paul and see if he can send you the correct hose end for the steering box and swap the ends. There is a little adjustability on those hose ends to allow better alignment. Paul's directions discuss this. I think he says you can back the fitting out no more than a pennie's thickness if you need some adjustability. For #3 I would also discuss with Paul.

You'll be pleased with the results. I had to retrain my brake foot!

[CliffS]

Never had any issues with my unit. like Rick wrote, contact Paul. He will be glad to help you, very nice guy.

Cliff

[toofun]

Yes I know. Paul is a super nice guy. He has been so helpful in trying to figure out my current brake problem. I figured if someone had a solution I could tackle it myself without having to wait till AFTER the fourth.

Mark
TOOFUN

[Rick Dorion]

I would think NAPA or another quality store will have the appropriate hose ends you need for the Lee inserts and you can modify your hose, make the clocking adjustment(s) this weekend.

[Hydratech®]

Hi Mark - I just so happened to stumble across this post simply surfing along. Let's see what we can do to get your situation straightened out.

1. The steering box I have is an 87 IROC style with the LEE MANUFACTURING flare pressed into it. The fitting for the Hydroboost unit cannot be used with this flare pressed in. How do I remove the flare? Is it easy?

Interesting - when you ordered your system, I recall you specifying that you had an '87 IROC box installed, to where we supplied the required 18mm metric o-ring AN-6 adapter required for use with this box. Who would've figured that there was an insert (curveball!) waiting for you in the steering box - hmmm. Here's the best suggestion I can think of at the moment: Grab an appropriate sized wood screw / lag bolt and see if you can get it to bite into the insert, to where you could then pull it out of the port, hopefully doing such without shedding any metal particles (grab some of the wife's q-tips and get creative to catch any little particals?) Also, if you put a dab of grease or vaseline on the end of the selected lag bolt, it may also do well to hold any particals / potential shavings. Alternately, you may be able to locate an Aeroquip FBM 2965 adapter, which should work with the insert left in place, though it would be better if you could coax the insert out and use the supplied Aeroquip metric o-ring spec adapter.




2. The hoses that came with the kit for some reason are long enough but they do not line up with the fittings on the box and the unit itself unless I spiral twist the hoses which puts un natural stress on them. Is there a way to "ADJUST" the ends of these hoses so that they will turn in the direction I need them to?

This IS indeed covered in the instructions, on the last page, as follows: *Please note: The high quality Aeroquip power steering linesets have adjustable end fittings! If the preset angles require adjustment, simply use two 11/16 wrenches to slightly change the fitting angles. The gap between the stationary hose nut on the line and the end fitting itself should not exceed more than the thickness of a penny, or leakage may occur. These fittings do not seal the way you may think they do, to where you can re-orient the clocking of the hose ends very simply with two 11/16 wrenches.




3. The fitting that comes off my power steering pump is the MALE type. Int he back of the the pump this fitting screws into the back and presses on a spring loaded block off plate. The hose that I got from Hydroboost is a flared fitting with a MALE thread on it. Is there an adapter I can use?

When you had ordered your system, you had specified that you needed the later model ('70 and newer type) 3/8 flare male hose end, to screw into a female pressure outlet port on the ps pump. It is entirely possible that we may have simply misunderstood each other on the phone, or it is also just as possible that you didn't clearly see which style you had on the backside of the ps pump too. Simple enough to rectify though, in that you can unscrew the existing male ps pump output fitting out of the ps pump, and swap in a '70 and later female ps pump output fitting (as it is a direct swap). Any friends around your area that may have a '70 and newer ps pump laying around? ('70-'79 Saginaw P series pump). While you have the alternate ps pump output fitting in your hand, you may as well also drill the central fluid flow orifice out to 9/64" (.140")(make sure to deburr / clean the fitting carefully before installing it into the ps pump), which will create for increased pump flow over stock, which will help run the hydraulic brake assist and your quick ratio steering box just that much better. If you cannot find a '70-'79 Saginaw P pump locally to source the fitting, the part number on the hose end needed to connect to the old style male ps pump fitting is Aeroquip FBM 1136. The AN type hose ends can be unscrewed out of the hose end, and the alternate hose end can be then screwed directly into the hose end in place of the other. Check the small parts pack also, as we *usually* supply both hose ends, though in this case there was a direct specification of your pump being equipped with the female output, to where I can't be sure if the alternate hose end was also packaged along (deemed unnecessarily per info supplied at the time of order). :hammer:



If all else fails, drink some cold ones, spend some time with the family, grill up some goodies, enjoying the holiday weekend without fussing around with the car. We'll then get the issues squared away for you tuesday morning, with any revised parts / fittings in your posession before next weekend. :usa:

[toofun]

Hello Paul,

Thanks for the info. I will touch base with you on Tuesday. Think the best thing for me to do is send you the existing hose fittings that I have along with the hoses you sent me. This way you can see exactly what I have and what I need. Didnt mean to confuse you in anyway. I will call you on Tuesday morning and will overnight it to you. Hopefully I can get it sent back to me pretty quick and I can get this installed fairly quickly.

Thanks
Mark
TOOFUN