By 
Installing a Saginaw 605 Steering Box in a Classic Chevy
The automotive world became a different place when Chevrolet introduced the new ’55. Prior to that time there were many Chevy buyers, but after the ’55s were released there were newborn Chevy enthusiasts. The new Chevys were not only great-looking, but they were also powered with what would become one the finest V-8 engines available anywhere. There was an instant attraction to the ’55, and the interest continued to grow once the ’56 and ’57 were introduced. Fortunately, all three model years became extremely popular, so Chevy enthusiasts took care of them, and many nice examples remain today.
The tri-year Chevys looked quite different from one another, yet their chassis were nearly identical over the three-year run. Right from the start they were good driving cars for their day, with a new independent front suspension and a parallel leaf spring rear, but over the years rodders have made a number of upgrades to improve these cars. One improvement that will make the tri-5 cars easier to drive is a new power steering box. There are kits made for these cars, and because the chassis are all the same, they will fit all three model years.
The ’55 Chevy being worked on here was recently turned into a nice cruiser, and it features a 350 Chevy engine with a Turbo 350 transmission. Many of the parts on the car were upgraded, but the original steering remained. When the car was finished, it looked great and ran strong, but after awhile the owner felt that power steering would make the car much nicer to drive. He investigated several kits and decided on the one offered by American Brake & Steering (ABS). The kit included a power steering pump with a bracket, a Saginaw power steering box with a custom bracket and the hoses required to make the system work. While this was being done, the owner also decided to upgrade the car with a new tilt steering column, and a chrome-plated unit was ordered from Flaming River. The car was already equipped with a Budnik steering wheel, so that was retained.
The installation was done at Dream Cars in Simi Valley, California. The tools required to perform the installation include normal hand tools, a large socket on an impact gun to remove the steering arm nut, and a special steering arm puller. This installation is not extremely difficult, so it took about a day to perform the whole job from start to finish. If you have a tri-year Chevy with an original steering box and want to improve the steering, follow along and we will show you how it’s done.
