After looking through the archives and seeing the success that 'cowans' had with a Dodge Dakota power rack, I thought that I would give it a try. The first thing I did was to turn my car over to a friend who has the time and mechanical ability to pull this off. Here is what he has done so far-
You need to go junk-yarding for an '87-89 Dakota rack for 2 reasons. Number 1- the core for a rebuilt rack was $125, but one from Pull-A-Part was less than $50. Use the junkyard rack as the 'mock up' tool and when you are done, take it to the parts store as a core. Number 2- you need the universal joint off the Dodge rack. It has a slip joint that holds it on the steering shaft and will look like this:

While you have it off, there is a small indention in the double d end that needs to be straightened out. I used a punch to bump most of it out and then a file to smooth it up. You need it nice and slick because.....

That top shaft is the stock Fiero one. The one on the bottom is a stock Fiero shaft that has had the rack end cut off where it starts to get larger to meet the universal joint. On the Dodge truck, the shaft slips inside the lower joint and now your Fiero upper shaft will do the same- it fits nicely into the Dodge lower joint. You need the Fiero shaft about this long:

The rack mount is a simple piece of 1/4 inch thick angle that has an extension welded onto it at a 22 degree angle.

I'll get some better pic's of the mount when we take it back off to make some 'adjustments'.
The Fiero tie rod ends will fit the Dodge rack, but may be a little on the short side. Special thanks to Lee at Held Motorsports for sending me a set of tie rod extensions so quickly. I am not sure if we need them, so I will let the alignment shop make that decision.
What about a pump? Its a Fiero and it should have an ElectroHydraulic pump, right?

I am not real sure what the pump is for, it was an eBay score.
We filled the system with fluid tonight, ran a couple of cables to the pump and......it worked. Steering effort is probably about 1/2 the effort as before adding the power rack. Nice and smooth, but the pump makes some noise. If the 1988 Fiero had this kind of pump, I can see why they pulled them off. We are still getting the bugs worked out, but hopefully it will be roadworthy next weekend for the trek to The Fiero Factory. I'll post more pic's and details as we get it together.
Cheers!

Thats pretty cool... keep updating

I take it that this system only works on 84-87? If only someone could market a bolt-on kit. Or least a kit period...

quote Originally posted by jscott1: If only someone could market a bolt-on kit. Or least a kit period...

^^ What he said ^^

I am suprised that not too many people have gone with this rack- it is amazingly close to a bolt in. I don't see this electric pump staying for long, so if anyone has a good idea about an engine mounted pump, I am open to suggestions.

That looks pretty good Cooter. Do you know what the steering ratio is? What about the total throw of the rack? If it's a quick ratio rack that would be verrryyy nice!

quote Originally posted by jscott1: If only someone could market a bolt-on kit. Or least a kit period...

WCF has had a kit for the F-body racks for awhile. All you need to do yourself is the pump, since that depends on what motor you're using.

G-G-G-Good News, Cooter

brain storming (ok more like lamebrain drizzling). do you think you have a bad pump or any such pump would be noisy like that? maybe move it? if you wrapped it would that do any good or dose it need some air flow around it?

Thanks for posting this!

I for one really want to add power steering to my Formula. Not because it needs it per se, but what modern car doesn't have it. I think it would add quite a bit to the drivability of the Fiero.

Any specific reason this doesn't work on an 88?

I have the same problem with my electro-hydraulic pump. I have an MR2 pump installed in my 88 GT pushing the Corvette steering rack, and the only problem I have is the noise is a bit high at idle. Since I put in all the MR2 power steering electronics, at speed it runs slower and you cannot hear it, but at red lights and such, it is noisy.

I would guess that it needs airflow to keep cool. My pump was expensive (I bought a new one from a Toyota dealer) so I'm not yet willing to wrap it and see. Also, with it positioned under the passenger headlight, I haven't yet been able to feel if it is hot after running for a while. I'll have to check that this week.

Looks like a nice install job Cooter. I think power steering is catching on in the daily driver circles, despite the arguments always raised about it. Are the ends of the inner tie-rods at the exact same location as stock? If not, you'll introduce some amount of bump steer, but how much and if it will really affect anything, who knows?

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1988 Fiero GT
Cleveland Fiero Club

Neat setup, on the pump noise, how do you have the pump mounted?

I'm wondering if the noise issue you have is just the motor?

Is it possible that the noise transfers into the chassis making it seem louder?

Steve

You may need to isolate the pump from the chassis with rubber mounts. Old convertible top pumps were mounted with rubber isolators. Just a thought, if the pump is quiet when removed from chassis.

Otherwise, this is cool!

J.

Would you mind going into more depth about how you mounted it to the crossmember?

quote Originally posted by jscott1: I take it that this system only works on 84-87? If only someone could market a bolt-on kit. Or least a kit period...

D1S has been installing since 2002.

Here is a bolt on firebird setup on my car both mounts were removed and bracket mounted with 4 bolts:

[This message has been edited by gunslinger (edited 04-16-2008).]

quote Originally posted by Will: Would you mind going into more depth about how you mounted it to the crossmember?

Looks like WCF style?

quote Originally posted by Xanth: Thanks for posting this! I for one really want to add power steering to my Formula. Not because it needs it per se, but what modern car doesn't have it. I think it would add quite a bit to the drivability of the Fiero. Any specific reason this doesn't work on an 88?

For an 88, the C4 Corvette rack is very nearly a bolt in. It uses one custom mount, the other side uses the stock Fiero mount, and 2 tie rod adapters. Run hydraulic lines and that's about it. I'll try to find the thread on this setup and post a link later.

[This message has been edited by Formula88 (edited 04-16-2008).]

Cooter will the rack still fit with the trunk bucket in or does it move forward enough the it would hit?

Things like this scare me. I'd be Really worried about the pump giving out and the steering becoming VERY HEAVY Right NOW (!).

RickaddyGT has at least 1 build thread on the f-body and I think corvette.

quote Originally posted by PaulJK: Things like this scare me. I'd be Really worried about the pump giving out and the steering becoming VERY HEAVY Right NOW (!).

With the pump off, the steering effort is the same as it was without power assist because the rack ratio is the same as the Fiero was (3.25 turns +/-)
The trunk pan had to be modified to clear the rack, so the spare will sit in the garage or in the rear cargo area. Bob had the mount off today and was supposed to take some more pictures of it for us. I'll check in a bit and see what he has done.

Do you have a pic of how much of the pan was modified? I'm guessing a front-mount battery would be out of the question then? The bottom of the battery box would be about even with the front sway-bar.

Modified trunk pan with pump installed-

Plenty of room for a battery-

Rack mount bottom-

Side-

Cross member side-

Rack side-

Sweet. nice way to find something that fits rather then modding the front end. BTW hows the sliding door sports car doing?

quote Originally posted by Kento: Sweet. nice way to find something that fits rather then modding the front end. BTW hows the sliding door sports car doing?

Didn't he cut the stock rack mounts off?

quote Originally posted by Kento: Sweet. nice way to find something that fits rather then modding the front end. BTW hows the sliding door sports car doing?

Stock rack mounts are gone
Kind of funny about the old van. I sold it and the guy who ended up with it pulled the engine and tranny to put into......his Fiero. The circle of life is complete

can we get a drawing with dimensions to make this bracket and where holes were drilled to mount and any luck figuring out what the pump is from thanx skoon

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84 gt project
84 daily
The junk yard is my zen garden
Future build "Ghost of Indy" i hope

quote Originally posted by Cooter: Stock rack mounts are gone Kind of funny about the old van. I sold it and the guy who ended up with it pulled the engine and tranny to put into......his Fiero. The circle of life is complete

I may be wrong but seems like the WCF mount bolts to the stock steering rack mounts? Could that be possible with your bracket?

quote Originally posted by Rickady88GT: I may be wrong but seems like the WCF mount bolts to the stock steering rack mounts? Could that be possible with your bracket?

Looking back, that could have probably been done. Our concern with that was that the rack was no longer 'in line' with the outer tie rod ends and would have probably made for some twitchy steering, or it may not have done anything at all. Hard to say on way or the other. This has been a learning experience and if we do another, it may be "improved". I was hoping that everything could be a true bolt on so that at any time, it could be returned to stock.

Nice job! You make it look easy.
Just to clarify... This install is in your 88 car, right?

This one has been easy for me- Bob has done most of the work
It is on the silver 85 se with 87/88 coupe bumpers. It throws everyone off.

Things started off well today. Got the terminals on the cables, battery tray mounted, relay and fuse installed and was ready to test it out. Turned on the switch and..... nothing happened.
Strange, the top terminals on the battery were showing voltage, but the side terminals were not. We thought a bad connection, so everything came apart, cleaned and back together. Kind of had power, but it came and went. Checked the grounds, everything looked good. Tried making sure the battery was charged, turned the key and:

I've never seen this happen before. The internal connection between the top terminals and side terminals had failed. When charged, there must have been some hydrogen built up and the internal arc caused a bit of a case failure. It was loud! Thankfully, no real injuries- other than a pair of shorts.

It would have been much worse. A new "side post only" battery, and it started easily, steers nicely (in the driveway at least) and the pump seems to not be as loud as before.
Tomorrow gets started with a new oil pan gasket and an alignment next week. Should be fun

Damn ........ I mean just ... Damn!!!!!! That's pretty scary stuff.

Great swap/build thread. Wish I had the mechanical ability. Thanks for sharing pics.

How much does it reduce the steering ratio over stock? How many turns lock-to-lock do you have now?

[This message has been edited by Austrian Import (edited 04-19-2008).]

My mother-in-law has a mini S. I have not been allowed to go near it though. I don't know why.
The ratio is the same as the Fiero rack, just noticeably easier to steer in the driveway.

The original design of a power steering setup that was planned for the Fiero was an electrically driven unit that was later used on minivans. A picture of this unit shows in the 88 catalog. Since GM originally designed it for the Fiero this may be the unit to use.

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87GT - with 3800SC Series III engine, 4T65eHD
87GT - 3.4L Turbocharged engine, modified TH125H
" I'M ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

quote Originally posted by Cooter: Thankfully, no real injuries- other than a pair of shorts.

Nothing that detergent and a washing machine won't fix.

quote Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: The original design of a power steering setup that was planned for the Fiero was an electrically driven unit that was later used on minivans. A picture of this unit shows in the 88 catalog. Since GM originally designed it for the Fiero this may be the unit to use.

This sounds like the way to go for a bolt-in instalation(as close as you can get it) for the DIYers. I never really thought about converting to PS but if it wouldnt be too difficult then I might be up for it.

Steve

The pump is from a Renault Kangoo or Clio. If you want one for yourself, here you go-
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymot...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem