steering box conversion

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84H/O

Apprentice
Jul 7, 2007
53
0
6
Can someone clarify the stuff i hear about an s-10 manual steering box. I have a 1980 cutlass and would like to put a manual steering box in it, what should i look for?
 
Oct 28, 2007
3
0
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Flint
The s10 manual gearbox will bolt in with no mods can even use pitman from s10 we have 4 gbodys in our group that rum s10 gear boxs we also were running one in a 87 trans am no mods only thing to remember is it takes more turns on a manual box to get steering response.
 

PHXKSTM

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Sep 3, 2007
9
0
1
Phoenix, AZ
How about makeing a g body right hand drive?

can i import a steering box? to make it work
 
Sep 1, 2006
6,687
33
0
Tampa Bay Area
The G body never was sold as a right-hand-drive car, so it would be difficult. There is an Australian on here who has one that has been converted, but it was not easy. He basically used a box off an Aussie car ( Probably a Holden Monaro, Commodore or Torana as they were older RWD Holdens, and Holden is GM of Australia.) and then had to run a cross bar under the dash to actuate the brake pedal. It seems the location of the heater box makes it hard to properly place a master cylinder on the right side. Try finding the thread and see what was written. For my money, I would not do it as it would be a PITA to get used to and it offers no technical advantage. It's not like importing a R34 Nissan Skyline GTR which only came in RHD and is such an amazing car that you don't mind.

If you insist on it, see if a JDM engine importer can get you the steering box off a late model Nissan Navarra, or maybe even a Patrol ( SUV or truck, The Crocodile Hunter drove one on his show). Navarra is the name used in other countries for the Frontier and I know that they use Pitman arm style steering because I have driven one for 9 years. Then again, older Toyota trucks used a pitman arm setup and the Toyota Crown in the 70's was probably set up this way as well. The Crown was Toyota's large RWD flagship and it was powered by a copy of the 1954 Dodge Red Ram Hemi until some time in the 90's. Yet another possible donor would be a Mercedes-Benz W114/115, W123 or W126 chassis car. They too were pitman arm and available worldwide in a variety of models too numerous to mention here so I just put the chassis codes down. Both the Crown and the Benzes were used in taxi fleets so parts should not be too expensive.
 

coolchrisp

Apprentice
Nov 26, 2007
85
0
0
Grosse Ile, MI / Lima, OH
1badcutlass said:
The s10 manual gearbox will bolt in with no mods can even use pitman from s10 we have 4 gbodys in our group that rum s10 gear boxs we also were running one in a 87 trans am no mods only thing to remember is it takes more turns on a manual box to get steering response.
\


What year s-10s will the boxes work from?
 
Sep 1, 2006
6,687
33
0
Tampa Bay Area
All of them I think. All S10's use the same basic chassis but thye restyled the body in 1994 or so. Newer S-10's are no longer called S-10's but are Colorado's. They share nothing in common with the S-10 but shitty GM build quality.
 

crown14

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Feb 10, 2008
20
0
0
Clayton, NC
I am running a '89 S10 manual box in my '79 cutlass- it was a true unbolt the old and bolt up the new task, and took all of 30 minutes. The cutlass pitman arm wouldnt fit the S10 box so I left it as it was, the only change to the car was the steering wheel position got a little off but I can deal with it.
 

andrewmp6

Master Mechanic
Sep 9, 2007
487
4
0
A right hand drive in the us is pointless unless you want to be a mail man.And driving a right hand drive is odd i had a old jeep that was a mail truck i turned it back left hand drive.The skyline is over hyped i have drove a r33 and r34 gtr's they lack handling and a v6 mustang has the same power and weight.
 
Sep 1, 2006
6,687
33
0
Tampa Bay Area
I'll still take a Skyline over a V6 Mustang any day. WAY more potential and Nissan's ATTESSA AWD system is a work of art in those cars. Properly set up it is an amazing platform.
 
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