I was doing some searching here trying to decide which way to go for my '67 malibu manual steer. Alot of decisions, understandably, are made with budget in mind.

Sooo, If money weren't an isssue... Which steering box is straight up the best? ARG? Lee? JGC?

just my opinion-lee:)

find a box out of an IROC, Monte SS, or mid 90's Jeep Grand Cherokee.
you will need a Pitman arm for your year of Chevelle, and use a pump and pressure and return lines from an '80 Camaro and a rag joint from an early 80's pickup or buy a new Dorman rag joint.
you can do this all for under $150 and a couple of hours of your time.

find a box out of an IROC, Monte SS, or mid 90's Jeep Grand Cherokee.
you will need a Pitman arm for your year of Chevelle, and use a pump and pressure and return lines from an '80 Camaro and a rag joint from an early 80's pickup or buy a new Dorman rag joint.
you can do this all for under $150 and a couple of hours of your time.


Will this combo tighten up the steering from the stock box?

I was doing some searching here trying to decide which way to go for my '67 malibu manual steer. Alot of decisions, understandably, are made with budget in mind.

Sooo, If money weren't an isssue... Which steering box is straight up the best? ARG? Lee? JGC?

I have been asking this question and getting a few responses in the 'pro-touring' section...

For the Money, best would probably be a Lee 670 box (directly from Lee or through SC&C). The 670 is a lighter, newer version of the box that in our chevelles, camaros, Jeeps, etc., about $515 from SC&C.

Next down, would be the Lee 800 box which is a custom built/blueprinted box, built to your specs (can also be purchased though SC&C, about $415...

I spoke with Tom Lee a few days ago, he said he could rebuild MY box for about $400 +/-... curreently about a 6-day turnaround time... but if your core is no good , then it more money... IMO, IF you want the Lee 800, it might be better to buy it outright (one-way shipping?, whereas if you send yours in, its two ways, etc)...

Next down would be AGR (IMO). i had one of these in a previous chevelle, and I loved it, $330-$350 at Summit (low cost shipping, good return policy, and often there are sales/discounts if you can wait a few weeks/months)...
While i never had a problem, and i loved it, there are quite a few people on message boards that have had issues with them... The AGR quick ratio boxes have the stiffer T-bar, for firmer steering (more input force required before the power assist kicks in), more firm than the jeep box, and more firm than MOST other cars (a few camaro and caprice boxes were this firm)... of course, another complaint was that one box was firm, and another was not as firm 9from the same owner, with 2 different cars).

next, an auto parts store rebuild... But do you really know what you are getting? since they all interchange, you might not really get a quick ratio or a firm feel...

next, a jeep box; firmer feel, easier to find, and generally newer/lower miles than caprice/camaros...

Next (IMO) would be the Police caprice (9C1 option package)

At the bottom would be the Camaro/F-bird/monte carlo boxes... Unless you are going to disassemble these, they have less travel than a stock Chevelle, so you turning radius might be reduced (but how often do you turn that sharp). i haven't looked recently, but how often do you see a Z28/iroc/trans Am/monte SS in the wrecking yard? and when you do, the prices are usually higher... Most 'regular' Camaros probably don't have the good boxes...



IMO, most important is the "firm feel"... I put in a Trans Am quick ratio, and it was okay... It started to make noise, and I swapped in a new AGR; Same ratio, but the stiffer T-bar made the car feel so much better on the road... A huge difference...

using the .210 T-bar like AGR, the T-bar has about a 150%-175% increase in thickness over the Jeep box (compared to most stock chevelle boxes)

the 85 Monte SS box i put in my 74 Monte last summer really stiffened things up and made it feel like a totally different car. i didn't lose any turning radius as far as i can tell.

the 85 Monte SS box i put in my 74 Monte last summer really stiffened things up and made it feel like a totally different car. i didn't lose any turning radius as far as i can tell.

As far as stiffening up the steering, the Monte SS is one of the best... I guess i should rearrainge my order. I was checking Jim's power steering pages last night, and noticed that the Monte SS was one of the stiffest... so i guess if you can find a decent Monte SS box, it might be better than any other choice (even Jeep, as related to the firm feeling...


Derrick, Maybe you could do us all a favor, and climb under you car, and see if the spindle steering arm contacts the lower control arm (isn't that one of the factory limiters in Chevelles?). Maybe we also need a stock-box Chevelle to verify that the steering arms do contact the lower arm...

We all hear that these boxes (Camaro/Monte) offer less angle due to the internal stops, but I can't recall anyone ever verifying that the decreased angle will be less than what a Chevelle chassis can handle anyway...

I just installed a Monte Carlo SS box today but now the it's like I have no power steering when the car is stopped. I driilled out the check valve on the box to try to get more pressure but it's still the same. Will a new pump cure this? Will a newer pump with press on pulley work? I have an extra one from an 84 Monte Carlo SS
A rebuilt Monte Carlo SS box is Cardone 276550

I just installed a Monte Carlo SS box today but now the it's like I have no power steering when the car is stopped. I driilled out the check valve on the box to try to get more pressure but it's still the same. Will a new pump cure this? Will a newer pump with press on pulley work? I have an extra one from an 84 Monte Carlo SS
A rebuilt Monte Carlo SS box is Cardone 276550

my car did that for the first few days after installing the box, and then it just started working perfectly. at first, i thought the box was junk- it was on a car that had '96 plates on it, so it had been sitting a while- but got over that feeling when the thing started working right.
must have been an air bubble or something.

Hey I know you from the www.montecarloss.com board. I posted there too. I'll leave it for a few days and see what happens. Did you do anything at all or did it just start working all of a sudden? Do you think a new pump would fix the problem? I think it's 40 years old.

I've had two AGR boxes in my car. Both lasted about 5,000 miles, a year apart. Maybe both were from the same batch, maybe not.

I have a closer to stock one now. 3 1/2 turns lock to lock. Not nearly as stiff as the AGR, but it works.

Hey I know you from the www.montecarloss.com board. I posted there too. I'll leave it for a few days and see what happens. Did you do anything at all or did it just start working all of a sudden? Do you think a new pump would fix the problem? I think it's 40 years old.


it just started working on it's own.

and to answer the question about the steering stops, nope, it doesn't hit anything that i can see. but it comes really close, so i don't think i lost any turing radius..