What pitman arm for a delphi 600 box?

[bret loibl]

I have a new delphi 600 box and the pitman arm off of the old manual box will not fit (splines on 600 box are bigger than the arm i have)....The arm i have maybe a power steering arm as it has no ball on it.....The 600 box is what the guy that owns the car has so its up to me to make it work..If the manual arm fits the splines does he remove the ball and drill the arm or what??? It looks as if the drag link is a power unit as it unbolted from the pitman arm.....What did i get myself into????? thanks for any help

[557B210]

Bret....Sounds like you do have a P/S pitman arm.....However, it should still bolt up without a problem.....The original steering box was the same between both the standard and power steering applications.....Therefore, the splined end of the pitman arms were the same.

Beyond that: if its an original standard steering car, everything should bolt right up .....If origally it had power steering, they have an adaptor.....See link:http://www.classicchevy.com/chevy-po...1955-1957.html made for this issue.

[acardon]

The power steering pitman arm has the same splines as the manual steering arm. The same steering box is used for both.
You can get a adapter for the power steering center link to fit the manual pitman arm, but if the power arm won't fit, neither will the manual. .... http://www.classicchevy.com/chevy-po...1955-1957.html
The pitman arm is keyed so it will only go on the box when it is center and the arm pointing straight ahead.

[Rick_L]

A stock 670 box has a bigger shaft for the pitman arm than stock boxes. The 670 boxes from Concept One are supposed to come with a custom pitman arm to overcome this situaion. I don't know whether Borgeson does the same thing with theirs or has a custom sector shaft. The guy on Ebay that sells rebuilt 670 boxes with the adapter plates tells you what pitman arm to use.

As acardon said, 55-57 manual and p/s steering boxes are the same.

So..., what I'd recommend is to contact whoever the box was purchased from to find out what you need - or have the customer look for his custom pitman arm.

[gnason]

I have the Borgeson power steering box on my 55 and the stock manual steering pitman arm fits perfectly. The only issue I have is that it is a pitman arm from a 6 cylinder car and it interferes with the headers so I need to get the V8 pitman arm which should have the same splines.

Cheers Geoff

[557B210]

Geoff....Although I've heard that there were two different types for standard steering, this is the first time that I've heard there was a difference between the V8 and 6cyl pitman arms.

[Rick_L]

There is not a difference in manual steering pitman arms between 6 and V8 cars. Nor by years, assembly plants, or anything else. They simply had two interchangeable pitman arms, probably from two different suppliers.

The pitman arm that has the part number ending in 487 is the one you want. The less desireable one has the last 3 digits 877.

[classic gary]

the pitman arm to use with the "new" 500, 600, delphi, or what ever anyone wants to call it, is from a JEEP Wagoneer I,think, 1998 and newer. they are in wrecking yards by the ton ! YES the splines on the new box are larger, the splines on the 5-6-7 box is smaller and THE SAME for POWER AND MANUAL steering. Afterall the power steering on a 5-6-7 was with a push/pull cylinder, the steering box was the same.

and, there are TWO (2) pitman arms for 5-6-7 chevys. The manual steering, ID'd with a ball on the end, and the power steering pitman arm, ID'd with a BOLT in ball. Muttonhollow, and everyone else has the arm and the ball. ALSO, the power steering arm is LONGER than the manual one, and needs to be used with a power steering idler arm which is ALSO LONGER. The power steering parts move the center link AWAY FROM THE OIL PAN, and closer to the crossmember, Big block anyone? One side effect of the longer pitman arm is "quicker" steering, but you'll need stronger arms also...

[gnason]

Rick - You are correct I need the pitman arm with part # ending in 487. I had also read that the two manual steering pitman arms were put on randomly like you said. When looking at the web site for Dougs headers they mentioned that the 487 was used only on cars with a V8. Doesn't really mater tho, as I need to get the 487 pitman.

Cheers Geoff

[Jalapeno]

Gary, you sure know your way around the OEM power steering, which tells me you've been around these TriFives a while LOL.

That said, a minor correction about the 500 gear: it has the same splines on the sector shaft as the OEM gear, so the stock pitman arm fits fine. I do not have enough experience with the other PS gears you mentioned to comment on those splines.