DIRTY STUFF
TIRED of building Schwarzenegger arm muscles by hauling on that small sports steering wheel of your street machine? Now there is a relatively simple answer to all that, which can overcome the steering loading effects of fat sticky tyres on those extra-wide, outwards-offset front wheels and outdated suspension systems such as kingpins and beam front axles. Never heard of them? Lots of street rods still have this 1930s stuff, and it ain’t easy to live with.
The answer is EPAS: electric power-assisted steering. Been around for a while now, as a steering-column conversion for mainly European and Pommy cars and also catering for American muscle. It uses Japanese-made electrical components from Koyo and NSK, with sub-manufacturers providing hardware to complete a DIY kit, which is usually a simple bolt-in deal with instructions. Sometimes, body steel bits have to be removed to fit the bulk of the variable-effort electric motor and electronic control unit (ECU). Manufacturers like the Dutch firm EZ Electric Power Steering offer kits that fit over 60 vehicles, from Alfa
Romeo through to Volvo. And in the US of A, an available wide range caters for most makes and models.
How does it work? As the name says, electric power-assist works through a small steering column-mounted, direct-current 12-volt electric motor, triggered by electronics that sense steering column torque loads applied from the steering wheel. This sends electronic messages to the ECU, which gets power from the ignition switch via a simple electric relay. The ECU then delivers a variable power feed to the reversible electric motor, which is geared to the steering column, and, like magic, the electronic assist reduces steering effort – same as a hydraulic system with its beltdriven pump and hydraulic hoses – to either a power-assist rack-and-pinion, or conventional style steering box. Most European andPom my conversion systems also feature a bracketmounted, steering effort-adjusting control knob, and if the system suddenly fails, the back-up is an instant return to a stock-standard manual steering system.
Sounds like your stuff? There is a major hiccup, in that while the mainly American-sourced kits are available, most require the cutting of the original steering column shaft to fit the kitsupplied replacement. The connection that joins the two is via a hollow steel sleeve locked in place by screwed pins, which is currently illegal for street cars through the Transport Department rules in most states and territories.
Otherwise, the EPAS system, controlled by an electric module and DC motor, remains the same. Simple, light and takes away the heavyweight load of a hydraulic pump, hoses and reservoir.
In Australia, there is a specialist company operating at Queensland’s Brendale industrial complex, Ultimate Power Steering, which has a range of both electronic and hydraulicassist components, and can be reached on (07) 3889 7077.
And the all-up cost? I have a mate who did a DIY with an EZ kit from Holland, installing this into a Daimler V8-engined compact Jaguar shell with minimal effort, mainly through following the 35 online colour installation photos supplied by the company. There was a small body cut required under the dashboard, but the rest was straightforward, and the end result was really impressive. At the import cost of just over three grand, he reckons this conversion was the best return for money ever spent on his car, but says the freight cost was a major hit. Totally happy now, as there has never been any glitch with his new system, and now he doesn’t need to put in at his local gym anymore!
Talking automotive electrics, lots of guys and girls run into troubles when they fit big sound systems. The power drain from those amps, plus woofers and tweeters, can be huge, and often they go through the drama of fitting and wiring extra batteries, mainly bolted down on the boot floor. This just complicates the supply of electricity, as those now much longer heavyweight cables suck so many needed amps that there’s not much grunt left at the end of the wire where it’s needed. This effect is just like trying to get water under pressure through a common garden hose. The longer the hose, the less flow and pressure at the spray nozzle, because of the wall friction inside the hose. Same goes for 12 volts of electricity, which means a major drain on those sound systemfeeding batteries and the stock alternator unable to keep up the feed.
There is a solution, if in your engine bay lives a stock Bosch 55-amp alternator. Usually available through auto-electrical shops is an 80-amp conversion for this unit. Alternators have two main parts, where the bit that spins around inside is known as a rotor, and the middle section is heavily wire-wound and called a stator. Simply by fitting a new ultra-heavyduty stator and nothing else, your alternator will magically produce 80 amps under load, and halt the decline of your batteries!
THE POWER DRAIN FROM THOSE AMPS, WOOFERS AND TWEETERS CAN BE HUGE, LEAVING THE STOCK ALTERNATOR UNABLE TO KEEP UP THE FEED