A518 or 46rh and Power Steering pictures in an A100

I am not home yet, but I did find a couple of pictures of my transmission bracket that I fabricated for my 46RE and the start of my power steering conversion. I did not have the foresight to document every step, but at least I did take a couple of pictures. I will post more when I get home. If I ever do.....

I want overdrive because of my deep gear in the rear (plus the computer can run it from the factory 99 ECM), but I did not want an ugly crossmember hanging under my trans, so I made my own mounting bracket. I removed the tailshaft from a 518 and stood it up on a piece of cardboard and used it as a template for my bracket shape and hole location. I cut the cardboard out and then transferred it to a piece of plexiglass. After rough cutting the plexiglass bracket, I just fitted it up to the tailshaft and continued to grind on it till it fit perfect. I used plexiglass because it is see through. I wanted to see both sides to insure a good fit. After I had a perfect template in plexiglass, I then used that as a template to cut my plate. Then welded a mounting plate and gussets to the top for my factory mount.

The power steering pictures are pretty self explanatory. At this point I have not welded a mounting plate to the outside of the frame, but you can clearly see where it goes.

This a a Toyota steering gear from a live axle 4x4 1983. I believe that 1979 thru 1984 will work.

Does the legnth look okay to run a decent driveshaft? We just realized the a518 is about 8+ inches linger than my 727.

Hoffy, nice work! I like how the Toyota box snuggles in there!
My only question/comment is about the angle of the trans. It looks a bit tail down in the pices, but that could be because the engine isn't all the way down in front or the angle of the pics.

VanninBlaino wrote:Does the legnth look okay to run a decent driveshaft? We just realized the a518 is about 8+ inches linger than my 727.

The length might be a problem, but I am not sure yet. We have cycled the rearend and the slip joint appears to be a perfect length with no binding. It is still a long way from a test drive, and if I actually acknowledge the length you all might laugh me right out of here. I have built a prop shaft using a CV joint and it is ridiculously short. One of my closest friends and long time car builder is sure it will be fine, but........

I will update this once it hits the road.

RodStRace wrote:Hoffy, nice work! I like how the Toyota box snuggles in there!
My only question/comment is about the angle of the trans. It looks a bit tail down in the pices, but that could be because the engine isn't all the way down in front or the angle of the pics.

Thank you. The trans is down about 4 degrees, but it is pointing right at the rear yoke. I could not get any closer to the floor with the bracket. The top plate on the bracket is just barely clearing the trans case. Indexing the transmission angle to the rearend angle should not be a problem since I am using a constant velocity joint in the driveshaft. Please cross you fingers. I need all the help I can get. I am actually going to get to go home for 10 days on the 7th and plan on starting on my front brakes. I will also take more pictures.

VanninBlaino wrote:Does the legnth look okay to run a decent driveshaft? We just realized the a518 is about 8+ inches linger than my 727.

Got it up on the lift today and took a few pictures. Even though it looks like there is no room for the shaft, we have cycled the suspension as far as it can go both up and down, and it looks like the prop shaft will work perfect. I will post pictures of the shaft when I get it back. I sent it to a shop to double check my work and balance it.    

It looks like my traveling days are over. I am officially home back in KC and can once again make a few attempts at completing my A100 saga. I have finally realized after countless nights of sleeplessness, that I will be better off scrapping my FI garbage and swapping intakes and going with a good old fashioned Edelbrock. I just can't afford a new harness for the FI and I have located a 46RH trans. WooHoo.  I am also completely out of greenery so I will have to content myself with completing the small stuff. I will be posting a few pictures of my P/S gear bolted up properly to the new mounting tabs as well as installing the P/W kits completely. This old truck is now sitting on its own suspension for the first time in decades so it shouldn't be too long before it is driving. It is now sitting on original 1970 Keystone Klassics (15x8 in the rear, 15x7 in the front) and brand new Cooper Cobras (275/60's and 235/60's) and the stance is awesome. I am still working on some ideas for power brakes and will update when I can. Now......off to the shop!

Mine is carbureted. M1 intake and holley 680 carb.

Heck i need to pay better attention, I didnt know you were in KC! Thats nice to know that someone within an hour and a half drive from me has done the same swap i am looking at doin.....might have to come take some pictures  

facechicken wrote:Heck i need to pay better attention, I didnt know you were in KC!  Thats nice to know that someone within an hour and a half drive from me has done the same swap i am looking at doin.....might have to come take some pictures  

I have lived in Pleasant Hill since 1990, but this past year and a half have been working in Arkansas and Louisiana and am just now back home again. You are welcome to drop by, just give me a day or two notice via PM and I will send you my phone number and address. I am usually gone from the house for two days at a time then home for two days.

hoffy09 wrote:  I am not home yet, but I did find a couple of pictures of my transmission bracket that I fabricated for my 46RE and the start of my power steering conversion. I did not have the foresight to document every step, but at least I did take a couple of pictures. I will post more when I get home. If I ever do.....

 I want overdrive because of my deep gear in the rear (plus the computer can run it from the factory 99 ECM), but I did not want an ugly crossmember hanging under my trans, so I made my own mounting bracket. I removed the tailshaft from a 518 and stood it up on a piece of cardboard and used it as a template for my bracket shape and hole location. I cut the cardboard out and then transferred it to a piece of plexiglass. After rough cutting the plexiglass bracket, I just fitted it up to the tailshaft and continued to grind on it till it fit perfect. I used plexiglass because it is see through. I wanted to see both sides to insure a good fit. After I had a perfect template in plexiglass, I then used that as a template to cut my plate. Then welded a mounting plate and gussets to the top for my factory mount.

 The power steering pictures are pretty self explanatory. At this point I have not welded a mounting plate to the outside of the frame, but you can clearly see where it goes.
   
This a a Toyota steering gear from a live axle 4x4 1983. I believe that 1979 thru 1984 will work.
 

Have you got the power steering working yet ? Did the column need modified to mount to the gear ? what about the pitman arm ?

[/quote]Have you got the power steering working yet ?  Did the column need modified to mount to the gear ?  what about the pitman arm ?[/quote]

 It is working, and working fantastic. I purchased a pitman arm and a u-joint for the column from classicperform.com and they worked great. The only issue was I had to ream the lower hole in the pitman arm for two reasons. It was tapered the wrong direction and it was too small. The u-joint I ordered was splined for the Toyota gear on one end and 3/4" double D on the other, so I had to cut my steering shaft to the proper length and then file down the sides to make it fit into the DD joint. The outer cover for the column had to be cut as well as the new gear is a bit taller than the original and the length of the outer cover, or housing, is crucial to getting the components behind the steering wheel placed properly.

 As an added bonus, the steering wheel is now about 5 turns lock to lock, instead of 40 million.

I am back on the road, so progress is back to a crawl. I will post new pictures when I can.

Have you got the power steering working yet ?  Did the column need modified to mount to the gear ?  what about the pitman arm ?[/quote]
 It is working, and working fantastic. I purchased a pitman arm and a u-joint for the column from classicperform.com and they worked great. The only issue was I had to ream the lower hole in the pitman arm for two reasons. It was tapered the wrong direction and it was too small. The u-joint I ordered was splined for the Toyota gear on one end and 3/4" double D on the other, so I had to cut my steering shaft to the proper length and then file down the sides to make it fit into the DD joint. The outer cover for the column had to be cut as well as the new gear is a bit taller than the original and the length of the outer cover, or housing, is crucial to getting the components behind the steering wheel placed properly.

 As an added bonus, the steering wheel is now about 5 turns lock to lock, instead of 40 million.

 I am back on the road, so progress is back to a crawl. I will post new pictures when I can.
[/quote] If possible to post a list of parts used (with part numbers/ or model and year of vechicle), suppliers/ prices anything that would help a guy add power steering to there A100. What PS pump did you use. any photos would be great.