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MG MGB Technical - Power Steering

It looks as though my daughter may have been bitten by the MG bug, and she's contemplating either an MGF or a chrome-bumper MGB - no prizes for guessing which I'd sooner repair for her.

Her biggest reservation about the MGB is that the steering may be uncomfortably heavy - she's of slight build, and used to pas. I gulped a little at the price of the MGOC power steering conversion, so two questions:

Has anyone here tried that conversion, and how good is it?

OK, three questions:

Is there a cheaper way, e.g. by using a secondhand pump and a modified rack from a modern car?

Kevin
coffeejar@ntlworld.com until 31/3/03
SA 1838, TC 8512, YB 0942 (for sale), GAN3/48519, GAN4/63840, GHD5/324616
Kevin Poole

There is currently a thread on the V8 heading on this very topic.
Ian G Buckley

Kevin,

Has your daughter tried a B fitted with narrow tires and the large diameter steering wheel as fitted to early cars? This setup can be very light, especially when compared to fat tires and small diameter wheel.

Cliff
Cliff Maddox

With a properly maintained front end, there's no reason for the steering to be heavy. Even with my 12" wheel my steering is as light as anything when the car's moving, although when stationary it's as heavy as you expect.

My sister used to drive our roadster, which has 165s and a 14" steering wheel, and she got used to it very quickly. All it takes is a couple of days to realise that you can't put the flat of your hand on the wheel and scrub your tyres round when parking :o)

Perhaps those needle-roller trunnion races might be worth investigating? They look like quite a neat addition. I'll probably be putting them on my car when I move to fatter wheels/tyres.

Hope this helps,
--
Olly S
Oliver Stephenson

Kevin,

I have not put power steering on a MGB, but if I was thinking about it I would not look at a modern power rack.
I would have look at a power rack from a car in production at the same time as a MGB.
The power rack thats fits the criteria is the one from the Triumph 2500S and Stag (they are the same rack).
There should be plenty of Triumph 2500S racks in the breakers yards.
I have fitted power steering on older Triumph 2500 cars, which didn't have it.
Items required were, the rack, the pump and pipes, a crankshaft pulley with the extra groove, a later version front engine support plate which mounts the pump, and steering arms with a higher leverage. Fitting is simple.
I have not checked but the MGB and Triumph seem very similar in this area.

Mick
M F Anderson

This thread was discussed between 06/03/2003 and 07/03/2003

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.