few jobs on my mk2 swb, turbo di and pas conversion etc.

[oldskooler]

i bought this one a couple of months back and im in the middle of getting her sorted for summer duties towing to shows/trackdays etc. after going through the van im pretty happy with it, just a few small bits here and there. a couple of small areas of rust needing attention, nothing major. so i figured as i was dropping it to the bodyshop, id go ahead with the power steering conversion when i was at it.

heres a pic of the van just after i got her, trying on the trailer for size!!




the worst bits i found were a small bit of rust in the RH headlamp panel under where the front panel bolts on and the top of the LH wing had been bodged with a lot of filler before so i sourced a pattern wing for it. seeing as i was stripping the front of the van for these jobs, this was the ideal time to tackle the steering.

heres the power steering system i got out of a 91 mk3 lwb.




i decided to use another mk2 chassis/cab we bought for breaking as a test mule before doing any cutting etc on my own van.

i cut half the rotten drivers wing off for easy access to the drop arm and spot welds!!



so i got to stripping the column and box out, then drilled out the spot welds and removed the original mounting pan. next bolted in the mk3 pan followed by the pas box.



next i carefully sliced round the weld holding the bulkhead mounting flange to the mk3 column tube. i decided to reuse this to mount the hybrid column abeit filed out to accomadate the steeper angle the mk2 tube takes. anyone else ever go this route or should i have made up two new sandwitch plates?????



so after some mocking up to get the right clearance for the switches/ cowling etc to fit i welded the lower half of the mk3 tube to the upper half of the mk2 one. next i fitted it back in the van and started gradually slicing a little off the right side of the bulkhead hole to get a straighter run to the coupling on the pas box. this is why i used this scrapper to start with, so i could figure how much cutting was needed and be tidier on the next one!!

in place and offset to the right a little.



much less stress on the joints like this.



next after a lot of filing i placed the mounting flange in a position where it was covering as much of the hole as possible, i added a small fillet to the outside sandwitch plate to cover the small section not covered by this. i may make a rubber gasket to go between them when doing the last fit to the red van. i got the plate tacked to the tube in place, then took the column out and fully welded round the flange in its new position.




i then refitted the column and drilled out through the bulkhead for the 4 bolts which secure the flange to the outer sandwitch plate.




the main reason i used this plate was that i already had the factory matching plate from the mk3 and it saved a bit of work making new sandwitch plates!! next i fitted up everything, tightened it all up etc to check all was ok, and took the old girl for a short spin (yes, its still mobile despite its looks!!) the steering feels much more responsive, and no wonder.....after counting the turns on the boxes i got roughly 5.8 turns lock to lock on the original mk2 box and 3.8 on the pas box!!




very worthwhile mod if it all works out. so i took it all out again, made a stencil of how much to cut from the bulkhead hole on the red van. i blasted and etch primed the mounting pan before fitting it in the red van ready for a shot of paint when its getting its tidy up in the body shop. ill update this thread when i get the van back and start fitting all up for good, cant wait!!

[rover]

Top work there mate Looking forward to seeing it on the red van

Rover.

[irishtransit]

yep tidy work.

[Luke]

great stuff and quality work

interesting that the hole needed elongating - yet on my ifs it was in the same place all good info

[MinorMatt]

Luke from what he said I dont think it needed elongating... I think he did it to minimise the angle the steering UJ had to cope with

[Luke]

yeah i know what you mean - but i thought the mk3 would be exactly the same as the mk1/2 - ie strait in a line, i'm interested as ive cut a hole in my firevan directly in a strait line but i wanted to get a pas box one day - so mabe ive drilled it in the wrong (ideal) place
all probs that can be overcome but good to know

[oldskooler]

the good news is i was out at the bodyshop today and ive it fitted in the red van, pics coming soon!

[oldskooler]

i arrived to the bodyshop today to find the lads had been busy since i was last there! all painted and nearly all fitted up again. they ended up painting the whole front of the van as it was a bit of a struggle to get a good match on the colour. turns out the respray she got a couple of years back was a shade off the original colour. anyway im well happy with the result.



the mounting pan all sealed up and colour coded!!



box in place.



drop arm and drag link fitted, i got the mk3 solid bar machined down to fit into the mk2 hollow link. along with a ring of weld, i drilled a couple of holes in the sides and plug welded them to be sure to be sure!!



column in place.



heres the outside plate with the fillet added on to cover the small gap not covered by the inside plate. the extra piece wont be seen as it goes up behind the servo.




all fitted except the cowling, this is just fitted to get the van home. im going to make a rubber gasket to go between the two plates to seal the hole properly and spend a bit of time getting it all fitted up nicely, and of course fit the pump and plumb it up.

[transit jono]

Nice clean quality work

[irishtransit]

very nice.

[Neil]

lovely job,like the dummy run but do you find the steering hard to turn without pas

[oldskooler]

lovely job,like the dummy run but do you find the steering hard to turn without pas

i had no rad in the white one so i only went for a small spin. actually didnt find it too bad. cant wait to get my own plumbed up now!

[redeemer]

Top work there! Also it seems much like the original colour they used to come out with! I like it.
Some good ideas about the Pas, but its too dificult to get a box like that I think!
And nice escy too.

[oldskooler]

well ive got a bit more done since my last post. i got the steering finished, sorted the front spring hanger and took her for mot the other day which she passed so im set for the road at last!!

for the pas pump i went with the whole setup and pullies from a pinto mk2 granada (same as sierra i think) which was a bolt on fit. the pump i had off a di would have been difficult to fit as the fuel pump on the pinto is right in the way on the left side of the engine.



i got a feed hose made up from hydraulic hosing to the correct length.



i temporarily ran the return hose directly back to the pump but as i thought after little use the pipes were getting very warm due to the short run and low amount of fluid in the system. so next stop was the breakers to try and find a suitable power steering cooler. after looking at a few i found the ford section which didnt dissapoint!! i got a 06 transit connect one which looked close to what i was looking for as it had a nice capicity and the bore was the same as my return hose.



indeed when i did take it home it need very little modding to fit. i mounted it in front of the rad off the mounting bolts and bent the pipes slightly to fit. almost looks factory!!







the system took about a pint more fluid id say which seems to have done the trick as the pipes now dont seem too hot.


im very happy i went ahead with this mod as the steering is now so much more responsive and parking is a doddle!!

[Decky75]

Top conversion there,

when can you do mine