1958 Ford power steering problem, Y block

[Guest airvette63]

I have a 1958 Ford Rancharo with power steering on a Y block. I don't know if it is an add on or OEM. The pump pulley and the balancer pulley don't line up. It is off about 1/2 inch. tried everything I could with adjustments, No Good. If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated.

[1957Birdman]

Some pictures of the setup would help. It is hard to tell if it is OEM without being able to look at it. Also it is possible it could be a power steering setup from an early T-Bird, which would mean that the alignment would be off.

[Guest airvette63]

Hi Lew,

Thank you for replying. I have a new system here, just learning how to use it. I would be willing to take pictures and snail mailing them to you. It might be quicker at this point. If you are willing to do that, you could send your address to airvette63@netzero.com or call me at 201-233-3924, that is my cell number. Thank you again, Bob .

[Guest Jim_Edwards]

I think it is safe to say that pulley alignment being that much off indicates the pump mounting bracket and/or the harmonic balancer is not correct for the engine. If the pump pulley is further out than the balancer pulley then there may also be the possibility someone had the balancer off and failed to put the spacer back on the crankshaft or put the wrong spacer on the crankshaft. Could even be the pulley was removed from the pump and then re-installed backwards.

Either way, it shouldn't be too hard to correct the problem. Take a little time to study the issue and look for anything that appears it could have been incorrectly installed, including backwards, and/or just flat left off.

Edited February 26, 2012 by Jim_Edwards (see edit history)

[1957Birdman]

Bob, I think Jim is right in his assessment of things. I am far from an expert in this area, so sending me the photos probably wouldn't be very useful. Maybe I can scan the pages for the power steering setup on a 1958 Ford and you can see if it matches yours. In the mean time take a look a what Jim suggests and it most likely will solve your problem.

Good luck!

[Guest airvette63]

Thank you Guy's for your quick response. The pulley does sticks out further than the balancer and the pulley on the pump can not be turned around, it will stick out further. The Balancer and spacer idea is one that I did not try, Thank you. Bob

[Guest martylum]

Air-I used to drive a 57 Ranchero with a 292 V-8. In Ford power steering in this era some pumps used a flat faced pulley and other pumps used an offset faced pulley to line up properly with the harmonic balancer pulley. I seem to remember most Ford passenger engines in 57-58 used the offset pulley which would bring the belt closer to the front end of the car by an inch or so..Sometimes people replaced a bad pump by switching to a pump with a different pulley.

If your car engine uses an Eaton pump I probably have some offset pulleys in my parts stock.

Martin Lum

1957 Ranchero