LT1 power steering?

[boonedogs72]

guys with lt1s what are you doing for your power steering lines and resiviors? and what are you using for your coolant return lines for a puke tank?

[Samckitt]

Originally I used B body power steering lines & carefully "rebent" them to fit what I needed. Now I am going to make new lines. I am using a Woodward reservoir. I am using the factory Monte radiator & puke tank, I think my radiator lines are factory F body that have been trimmed to fit.

[130fe]

For the power steering, I ran the corvette accessories with the vette reservoir with no problems. I am now swapping over to a S&P set up with a gm type 2 pump and am going to use a F-body reservoir mounted on the core support.

[boonedogs72]

are you guys just putting a tee in the line if so does it go in the return side?

[Samckitt]

Are you talking about the line they call the "steam line" from the back of the heads? I took that directly to the radiator.

[boonedogs72]

Are you talking about the line they call the "steam line" from the back of the heads? I took that directly to the radiator.

yeah the steam lines i think im just going to run it to an overflow tank.

[Samckitt]

I don't know how much water (if any) will go through those lines. But you could potentially fill the overflow tank. I think it is better to route that to something that is pre-radiator cap. Not sure what you are putting this in, but if the pressure in my radiator gets above what the cap will hold, then it goes to the overflow. So I can't route the steam lines to it, otherwise it will fill up. But my 2003 Silverado on the other hand has the pressure cap on the overflow, so It could work that way on it

[boonedogs72]

I don't know how much water (if any) will go through those lines. But you could potentially fill the overflow tank. I think it is better to route that to something that is pre-radiator cap. Not sure what you are putting this in, but if the pressure in my radiator gets above what the cap will hold, then it goes to the overflow. So I can't route the steam lines to it, otherwise it will fill up. But my 2003 Silverado on the other hand has the pressure cap on the overflow, so It could work that way on it

i was going to run a pressurized cap on it and thanks for the help.

[boonedogs72]

any more info on power steering lines using the stock lt1 pump?

[Poltergeist]

I made up lines for my power steering and used the stock Impala reservoir.

[boonedogs72]

I made up lines for my power steering and used the stock Impala reservoir.

did you just put a tee in one of the lines to go to the reservoir?

[lt1chevelle]

hey here is a pic of my lt1 in my chevelle the canton expantion tank on the fender is what my steam line is running in to. run the line into the top fitting and then the bottom fitting runs into the to header hose with a t fitting in it. on the fender well i also have a canton power steering res iam also running the stock lt1 pump i just make all my lines out r earls power steering line and -6 fittings. let me know if you have any more questions

[LT1Nova]

I used power steering hoses and adapters from Pure Choice. My Be Cool radiator has a NPT fitting at the top near the cap for the steam line to attach to. I also used modified F Body radiator hoses. The upper has a cut in the middle so it could be rotated a bit.

[Poltergeist]

did you just put a tee in one of the lines to go to the reservoir?

High pressure from the pump goes to the power steering then to the steering reservoir then back to the pump. Just like the factory does it.

For the steam pipe from the heads I had a fitting added to my radiator to hook the hose up to.

[red67camaro]

I toured a local boneyard and found a reservoir from a Nissan Altima (yes I have a Nissan part on my car ) that with some minor mods worked very well. I used steel braid hose, Russell high pressure hose/fittings for the pressure hose, standard stuff for the return hoses.

The pressure hose runs from the pump down along the frame in front of the motor and around to the steering gear. The return goes from the gear along the fender well to a cooler which is mounted to the RS turn signal mount below the front bumper (unused in my car since it's not an RS), across behind the valance panel and back to the reservoir. This does amount to quite a bit of hose.

The reservoir is mounted to the diagonal fender/radiator support brace on the passenger side just to the right and slightly behind the radiator. The reservoir has a cool quick release mount. Should I need to remove it, it just pulls straight up from a V shaped bracket which I of course transferred to my car.

For the reservoir to pump hose, I was able to use the hose (swapped end for end) that came with the engine. The engine/trans combo are from a 96 Camaro.

I've had it running for ~2600 miles so far since the swap with no problems.

[boonedogs72]

thanks for all the help guys!