Austarion

MANUAL STEERING CONVERSION

This is a DIY for anyone considering removing their power steering in favour of a manual steering box. I've done this mod in a couple of starions due to leaks and pump failure but also to free up real estate in front of the turbo and intercooler areas. Also I fid the stock steering to be to light when it's working and schwarzenegger heavy when it's not.

Anyway here's a list of what's needed

Time- Approx 2 hours
Manual Steering Box- Scorpion box works well, 1978 bolts straight up If I remember correctly. Looking around the local wrecking yard I reckon almost any sigma/scorp box of the era would also do the job nicely but explain to the wreckers what you're doing so you can return it if you have any probs.
Steering Shaft- This is the part that connects your steering wheel to your steering box. It's collapsible and lives inside your steering colomn. You will need one that is the correct length to reach the shorter manual box. Again the scorp one works. The sigma one will not(84). Correct lenght required is 88cm, standard starion is 81cm long.
Pitman Arm Puller- These are available at any auto parts shop $20 or so
Misc- Loctite for reassembly of any nuts/bolts

1- Remove the bolt from the steering nuckle in the engine bay(see "A")
2- Use a steering wheel puller and remove steering wheel or you can do it the nasty way, back the steering nut off a few turns and give it a whack. Remember to do step 1 first or you could damage/compress your current steering shaft.
3- Jack up the car and remove the Front/Drivers wheel.
4- Remove the nut on the bottom of the steering box and using a Pitman arm puller remove the pitman arm off the shaft. (see "B")
5- Remove the fluid lines that connect to the power steering pump
6- Remove the dustshield and undo the 3 main bolts holding the steer box in place and pull it out. (see "C")
7- Go back inside the car and remove the trim surrounding the steering colomn and the indicator switches/post, they're held on by a couple of screws.
8- Remove the bolts that hold the steering colomn in place, there's 2 or 4 of them up under the dash, fairly easy to get to. Disconnect any wiring and pull the steering colomn out entirely.
9- Remove the circlip and pull the collapsible steering shaft out of the steering colomn, replace with the scorp/sigma shaft which strangely is almost identical but doesn't have the groove to retain the circlip. You could get a groove turned onto the shaft but it isn't neccessary.
10- If you've got this far then you shouldn't have any problem bolting it all back together in the reverse order.

Note- there are alignment marks on the bottom of the steering box shaft(see middle pic) that need to line up. You want roughly midrange of the steering, ie. turn each way and find the middle.

It's been about a year since I last did mod so not all info is guaranteed but it's only a rough guide. Also use this info at your own risk etc.

Below are a few pics that should help.



BOTH STEERING BOXES SIDE BY SIDE



AND HERE'S WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED

Ive always wondered how heavy this setup is? the car weights more then a sigma/scorp?

The shafts are identical bar groove and length?

Steering is great. A little bit heavier than stock, but I prefer it like that. It also depends on your front tyre width, and steering wheel size. I run a 35cm wheel and 215 tyres. Also the shafts are identical, weld for weld, except for length.

Thanks for posting that! I'll have to turn it into a tech article for the site :D

good work mate

hope to get steering parts tomorrow as i give length of the and year model

I wonder what we got stateside that I could do this with....

the lenght of scorpion collapsable shaft is 88cm long as the one i got today is of a 1983 import one,ja starion is about 81cm long that is of the collapsable shaft.thanks for talking to me on the week-end .BLOFLY
regards david

Whats wrong with the Sigma steering shaft? too short?

I'm looking at doing this mod this weekend as my power steering has totally died in the arse now :(

Dave told me the Sigma shaft is about 80-81 cm whereas the Scorpion one is 88cm which works,

but the boxes are the same? i got a GN box here im putting in...

A mate has done it and used a sigma GL/GN steering colum
and box the only thing he changed was the starion
combination switch to sigma colum and starion pitman.
the only thing he doesnt like, was that he had to use the
sigma ignition (same wiring plug as starion)

but there is something everyone should check when doing
this change over and that is stering ratio ???,
IS IT HIGHER OR LOWER ???
I`m thinking that ppl think its hard to steer with the sig/scorp
box, and I reckon it would or should be easy if it has the
sigma lower ratios ?????

I think the sig GL ratio is 17.2:1 - 21.2:1
and starion is (about 16.0;1) me thinks

Cheers:Phil.

airbats801 wrote:I wonder what we got stateside that I could do this with....

we got a write up for it on kdm and STARQUEST IX). now i wonder how much it would involve to import a scorpion box?

I can get scorp boxes pretty easily... bout $50 each i think they are... no leaks, etc... could always put a kit through afew and send them to the US..

the sigma steering box i got mine out of was 1984 model, i took the collapsable as well,but it was to short,as it was shorter than ja,so what model is the 1984 sigma.
regards david