I am thinking about purchasing an AGR gearbox. (I have done a search here and read what I can find) Can I just buy the gearbox and use the exisiting pump, hoses, pitman arm and rag joint (stock) or do I need to buy more than just the box??

Don't forget to look into having your existing box rebuilt. I had dads P/S box redone by Steer and Gear in Ohio. It was glass beaded, converted to 3 1/3 turn with firm feel all for $165. With shipping both ways it was $200. We were going to buy a new one but this saved us about $100.

Replace the rag joint. Advanced Auto Parts sells them for $20. If the box is out this is the time to replace it.

As for the pump and hoses what shape are they in? Do they function good (leaks/damage)? Reuse what you can.

I have a new rag joint and the hoses are fine. correct me if I am wrong but aren't the agr one's about $240? I think it would be easier just to buy a new one rather than worry about shipping both way, etc. I guess the real question is which way is better. This restoration I am doing is not an "original" type so I don't really care if it doesn't look original.

oops...my bad. I just checked the summit catalog. I see they are about $330.

got a phone or web site for steer and gear?

Steer and Gear: 1-800-253-4327. Ask for Tom. Tell him you read about him on Team Chevelle and the Olds Internet List sites and the price was $165. He did tell me that going to the 2 7/8 turn is harder to turn and he recomended the 3 1/3 turn. That's what ours is. We also had it built with the firm feel. The box will be painted black unless you specify leave it bare. I shipped through The UPS Store. It was rebuilt and shipped 2 days after he received it. Make sure you enclose a shipping address and a phone number with the box. Also write down how you want it built (# of turns, firm feel)and if you want bare or painted.

Maybe check out AGR's website...

A little more expensive, but I think most parts are new ( and not just good used pieces).

I got mine through Summit, but back when they had one of their 10% off deals...

Figure shipping into the cost too... Summit charges $9.95, and its only one way... With the rebuilder, is shipping both ways extra on the Steer and Gear unit?

Plus if there is a warrantee problem, Summit might be easier cheaper to return?

The AGR was a bolt-in, used the stock ragjoint and hoses and pitman arm. Firm feel... Even with the 12.7:1 quick ratio and the "firm feel" T-bar, its still power steering and turns easily (I can no longer turn with one finger when parking, but otherwise its fine)...

I think the case is zinc coated (no chipped paint, no rust) with the billet caps and cover... Looks nice...

I was looking at the year one catalog last night and I see I can get rebuilds from them also. they have a 3.5 turns, a 3.0 turns and a 2.5 turns lock to lock. what do you guys like the best as far as turning ratio?

The quicker the better as long as they aren't impossible to turn. Be careful on rebuilts, they are not all equal. Most sell them as a one-size-fits-all for 64-72 Chevelles but many of boxes have built-in steering stops that narrow the overall steering angle which results in much larger than stock turning radius. I tried the NAPA quick ratio rebuilt box and returned it so I could simply ante up for an AGR box. The AGR box is a quality unit through and through (everything is new but the outer case) and worth every penny.

How many turns is the agr box?

Between 2-1/4 and 2-1/2 on my unit. It has the full turning radius and looks great besides.

There is a basic problem if you refer to your gear box by just the number of turns. The steering gear boxes had pitman shaft rotations that were as high as 89 degrees (1973 Chevelle Wagon)to a gear with restricted travel of only 64 degrees (Camaro w/FE-2 1985-93).

Look what happens with a Camaro with 64 degrees travel and a very slow 17.5:1 gear ratio: 64/360 x 17.5 = 3.11 turns lock to lock

Now take a Chevelle with a very quick 12.7:1 gear and its travel of 89 degrees: 89/360 x 12.7 = 3.14 turns lock to lock.

Same number of turns but one as slow as a slug the other very quick.

So if you just ask for a gear with about 3 turns lock to lock you can actually go from a super slow 17.5:1 to a very quick 12.7:1 and still have the same number of turns depending upon the built in gear travel.

You should try and obtain a steering gear with roughly the travel of your production gear. Chevrolet specified steering gear travels to match the front end geometry and maximum tire sizes that were available at the time your car was in production. Obviously modern wide tires, different rim offsets, different steering arm lengths, and different pitman arm and idler arm lengths can affect road wheel travel, but you have to start somewhere.

Saginaw steering gear travel is controlled by the large aluminum end cap in one direction and two large internal snap rings in the other direction. End caps are easy to swap. Those internal snap rings require that you tear the gear completely down to get at them.

Your steering gear rebuilders or suppliers should be able to tell you what travel they built into their various gears. They should know what pitman shaft, worm, and rack they used to obtain a final gear box ratio.

This Excel spreadsheet located at www.corvettefaq.com/a-car.asp (http://www.corvettefaq.com/a-car.asp) gives all the gear ratios, travel, and valve efforts for all Chevelle models from 1964 through 1974.

http://www.corvettefaq.com/acar/1964-74ChevelleStrgGearBoxes.xls

Hope this helps,
JIML82

Don't overlook the variable ratio box that AGR has. Most prefer the quick ratio, but I like the variable.

I used a 87 IROC removed the internal sterring stops and rebuilt installed with the matching presure regulator and metric hose from the IROC, works fantastic !!!Rob

The problem with the Saginaw variable ratio power gears is that the fastest ratio (13:1) is at full lock. The slower ratio 16:1 is right on center. So a VR gear will give you less turns lock to lock, but the feel on center will be slow and sluggish. It is too bad that Saginaw didn't design the gears the other way around, so that the fastest ratio was right on center.

However, most of the power steering gears in the late 60s and early 70s had on-center gear ratios of something like 17:1. So the Saginaw VR gears were designed to have a similar on-center ratio and feel.