Borgeson 63-82 Corvette Delphi 600 Box

I see Borgeson now has a conversion based on the 600 series box. It looks like this might be the best setup yet. It appears that they created their own casting. Still would have the same issue as the Concept One where the steering column would be repositioned fairly drastically, but it may keep the pitman arm in the same orientation.

That would be the best setup indeed.

Wonder what it costs.

Looks like it is $460 which would be a lot cheaper than the ConceptOne box.

Looking at the pic on this page it looks like it's simply a modified Jeep box or perhaps they made the pattern for the casting off of a Jeep box.



It looks like the mounting flange moves the box away from the frame and towards the engine which will probably cause interference with the headers. I still like my concept better.

I think you are right. It looks like they cut off the Jeep mounts and gussets and added their own mounting ears. I am sceptical of this arrangement. There is much higher twisting force transferred to the frame mounts with an integral servo than the stock Corvette PS hydraulic ram. I question the long term durability of this setup.

That pic clearly shows welds next to the mounting ears, they did weld a new plate to the box.

Hi

Interesting.
I guess the twisting forces to the frame etc are not any bigger than on a manual steering Vette, are they ?

So why stiffening up the frame ? That the modified box attachments might be a touch weak is a different story. Difficult to judge.

Rgds. Günther

Yes they are bigger, the manual steering box uses a different steering arm for a more favorable ratio since it's not assisted. The stock assist setup uses the external ram and it's mount on the frame, so it's there where the forces are transmitted not via the box.

it's not that the box attachments are weak, the frame itself is weak, notoriously weak in fact. That big hole for access to those 2 mounting plate for the power steering ram outer mount doesn't help either. If you investigae frames of these cars after a frontal collisio you will always see the frame folded up like a pretzel where that big hole is. A.O. Smith Co. did put a flare (dimple) around the hole to give it some more strength but it's still a weak point. Now IF you were to do a jeep box or whatever conversion that eliminates the external ram, you can weld up that section. Another option is to remove the 2 stud plates and replace them with plates that have 2 nuts or threaded sections welded to them, position in place (bolt down) after drilling some holes in the frame from the bottom up and then plug weld it so the 2 "nut plates" are now securely attached to the frame. Use bolts for the ram instead of studs & nuts.

Wesch said:

Hi

Interesting.
I guess the twisting forces to the frame etc are not any bigger than on a manual steering Vette, are they ?

So why stiffening up the frame ? That the modified box attachments might be a touch weak is a different story. Difficult to judge.

Rgds. Günther

Click to expand...

The twisting forces are higher on a Jeep box (adapted to a C3). Think about it. If you took a C3 gear and put a hydraulic servo assist on it, you would be able to put greater force into the input of the gear. The frame rail and mounts of the gearbox are the mechanical coupling that counters this.

New Borgeson Box

Hi All,

The box we are manufacturing is indeed a remanufactured Jeep steering gear. We have been using this gear with great success in the 55-57 Chevy's for about five years now with similar modifactions.

The adapter plate is welded to the case however the case is fully machined prior to eliminate "build-up" pushing the box closer to the headers or manifolds. The breaking point of the box is actually the original casting well above any of our modifications.

Boxes are fully dissasembled cleaned inspected and machined for fitment. The sector shaft is machined down to fit the original Corvette pitman arm.

We have test fit this box on a 1967 BB427 with tube headers and a 1975 SB with factory manifolds.

The box has been angled and positioned to directly line up with the original column and pitman arm. This has been accomplised through multiple test fittings and minute angle adjustments to our casting and adapter plate. Our box lines up so straight it will install with a rag joint drastically cutting down the amount the factory columns need to be collapsed or cut.

We have available a relay-rod adapter for use on original PS cars to eliminate the hunt for a factory manual rod.

Below are a couple pictures of the box installed on the 1975. You will note ample clearance for headers.

Please feel free to email me with any questions. Im not here to sell just inform. We have a vast dealer network that these can be purchased through.

Had that been around some 7 years ago, for the 500 bux, or 300 more than the rack conversion cost me, considering the time/effort to do the rack,

I would have used your product there in a FLASH....12-1 instead of 16-1, and steering done correctly instead of some leftover from a transit bus.....that GM did...

:trumpet::bestwishes:

Thanks Borgeson, for the additional info and pics!

One thing I'm still not clear on is the relationship of the input shaft of the gear box to the steering column. To mount this box above the frame means moving the axis for the input shaft up about an inch. I assume that some sort of adjustment is made to the steering column to get things to line up again. I would think the steering column rotational axis would end up at an angle to the axis of the gearbox. I believe the original box has both axis directly in line with each other. Can the rag joint tolerate the continual twisting back and forth this angle would cause? Also, what does this do to the positioning of the steering wheel inside the cockpit?

Thanks again for chiming in on this thread and sharing your knowledge.

Column Angles / Modifications

There is no angle imposed on the rag joint. We were able by trial and error with our bracket positioning to position the input shaft of the steering box directly in-line with the column. If we were left with any angle we would have went with a universal joint instead. If the motor was out I would be able to present a better picture, but it's a loaner car.

The only modifications to the stock columns are as follows:
1963-1966 1-1/2" cut off bottom of stock column shaft or column moved into car by 1-1/2" If cutting column shaft be sure to leave 3/4" of spline for proper engagement in to the rag joint.

1967-1982 Have a factory collapsible coulmn. Column shaft can be collapsed in to the car by 1-1/2" with no need to move the column any further in to the car.

Happy to answer any questions

Thanks, Jeff