Convert power steering to manual

If it was an option, then it should be just a question of changing the steering rack and possibly column. Also the pump will have to be removed if anything else shared its belt drive and that altered. If it has its own belt just remove it.

However, most cars these days are designed for power steering and will be a pig to drive without.

Why?

The rack ratio will be different so you'd need to change it for one from a non-PAS car, if one exists, as well as remove pump and change the belt so it can drive the other things without the pump in the path.

Probably not worth the effort. Most people want to convert TO power steering, not the other way round!

Cicero ( snipped-for-privacy@hellfire.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Sell it and buy one without power steering.

I've driven ZXs (same car) with and without PAS. Without, they're incredibly heavy at parking speed. With, they're twitchy at motorway speed.

=============================== Thanks for all comments. This modification is obviously not routine but appears to be possible since the 306 was originally offered as a 'base' car without PAS.

The reason for considering the change is that I've acquired a sound but tired car which I'm going to refurbish to a good standard. I like the idea of an older car with new components. The cost of replacing / refurbishing the power steering components as opposed to simply fitting a new standard rack is quite considerable but it looks as if that's the best course of action regardless of cost. At least it seems that there is no need for any body / subframe modification necessary if I do decide on the change.

Cic.

Cicero ( snipped-for-privacy@hellfire.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

A *big* leap of logic, there... It's certainly not impossible that there would be body or subframe differences between PAS and non-PAS cars - although I'd expect it'd be more likely to make a difference the other way round, with mountings not present for PAS.

================================= Actually not so. I've had a quick look through the relevant section in the Haynes manual and from the limited detail there it appears that the mounting points are the same whichever rack is fitted. The manual combines instructions for manual / PAS and simply refers to the reader to an earlier common section when completing the removal of the PAS rack.

Only a proper visual check will confirm or otherwise.

Cic.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Plowman (News)" saying something like:

Likely the caster angles will be different too, and that's not going to be easy to change unless the OP gets an entire front susp setup from a non-PS car.

================================ The Haynes Manual covers this to a certain extent. One of the suspension struts (why one?) is rotated through 90 degrees depending on manual / PAS.

Cic.

I can understand why but I'm not sure it'd be critical.

Never driven a 306 without PAS, but the one redeeming feature of my 306Dt is that the steering is sneezeproof at motorway speeds.

The same cannot be said of any 307, or 407 I've driven.

/john

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "adder1969" saying something like:

Really depends on the car. Some PS-equipped versions have a larger castor angle than manually steered base models. This can make a manual conversion hard to steer at parking speeds, even allowing for the manual rack having a higher ratio. If the OP has the necessary bits, it's worthwhile changing them.