Power Steering For The R30

[skybt1]

Hello peoples!

Im wanting to fit power steering to my mr30 and have no idea as to the parts that i need.

Heres my Q's..

They run a power steering box and not a rack don't they?

Can i put a rack in it? Without any hardcore mods..

Does the box use all the same sort of plumbing a rack does? Reason being im gonna be using an rb30 power

steering pump with the r30 system. Im hoping its all pretty much the same with not many differences..

Any expertise on power steering will be greatly appreciated!!

Cheers

[Factory 5]

if you want you can take the whole powersteering system from my Ti wreck,

the only prob is its a real biatch to get it all off... (plus its coated in 24 years of engine dirt shit )

my understanding is the steering box is power assisted, and the rack is standard throughout models

so im sure your existing rack can be used, just bolt up the power steering box and lines and pump etc.

you can have the pump & lines too if you like....

i think th e Rb30 one would fit, bit i'd be talking to a pro about that, as i wouldnt want you to have a failure!!!

[skybt1]

thanks for the offer. ill probably take you up on it but gonna make sure i can do what i

want with the rb pump and fittings before i rip it out of the car!

im guessing that a power steering box and a rack would work under the same sort of principle

and that the plumbing for it should be relatively similar if not pretty close to being the same!

[aarc240]

Check out the Nissan factory specified line pressure for the R30 power box and the R31 power rack.

Most power steer boxes of the fixed ratio type run line pressures up around 1200 psi, variable ratio boxes are frequently up around 2000 psi but power racks seem to be significantly below 1000 psi.

Mix a power rack pump with a power steer box and you may find unacceptably heavy steering. Mix a power steer box type pump with a power rack and you will blow the seals out of the rack.

Swappimg an R31 rack into an R30 sounds feasible but you're going to need a good engineer to avoid an evil-handling car with lots of bump steer.

You might find that a 280ZX rack is a better fit.

[skybt1]

sounds very technical and is exactly what i was afraid of.

Probably be easier if i can adapt the r30 pump to the rb block.

Then i wont have to worry about line pressures and what not.

I was sort of after an easy fit changeover sort of thing.

[aarc240]

adapt the r30 pump to the rb block.

Just eyeballed the two setups - an RB30 in VL and an early 280ZX L28 (power box version).

One task will be changing the drive pulley on the L6 type pump to suit the polyrib or flat style belt used on the RB30.

Until both are off the pumps it is impossible to say what is needed but you may be lucky enough that they are interchangeable.

If not it's not difficult to solve, just hand both to a good machine shop with clear instruction that you want one pulley that has the innards of "A" and the outer belt drive of "B" and exactly what offset from either the inner or the outer. face is required.

Some fabrication will then be needed to put the L6 pump in place of the RB pump with the belt lined up (at least that is the case with the samples I have) but again it doesn't appear to be a major job.

You may be best off trying the pump swap first as I'm told that L6 pumps do exist that physically interchange with RB pumps.

If you're lucky it will be easy to get the pump on, then you can sort out the pulley part.

Edited June 17, 2007 by aarc240

[skybt1]

ill have to source an L6 pump and see how different it is to an rb one. I don't think it should be that difficult of a job to attack. I think that the later the model the L6 pump is the more likely it is going to be that it will be easier to interchange with the rb type. Thats what im hoping anyway. I know that the alternator off my L24 can fit on the rb block with the only change needed is the front pulley. Hopefully the power steering pump is the same!

[Factory 5]

i got an L6 PS pump sitting here you can have.... pulleys and all...

[skybt1]

sounds like you have everything i need! how much you want for it? what area you reside in??

[Factory 5]

PM sent nik!

[YO880]

nik,

how did you go with the L6 pump on an RB? did it work out for you (looking at doing similar)?

[skybt1]

mate, i never got around to doing it, im sticking with the manual steer for now.

Although it would be nice with a bit of assistance sometimes.

[rsx84]

i run an rb30 pump mounted to my rb25 in the r31, if you are running an rb in your r30 then you should have no problem mounting the r31 pump, maybe look at adapting the r31 main cross member the engine sits on (forgot what its called) to fit the r30...

[YO880]

good thinking, not sure why i didn't realise that before! any idea what belt you used to fit it up to the RB25?

[rsx84]

good thinking, not sure why i didn't realise that before! any idea what belt you used to fit it up to the RB25?

rb30 belt from memory but this was 2 years ago now, i have the change out the pump soon as it seems to be leaking so i can compare the belt to an rb30 one i have here.