Power steering pump bracket id and questions

[Rust-O-Matic]

Can anybody help me identify the Frankenstein'd power steering pump setup in my 66? The truck has the factory gear box and ram style power assist. The engine is a late 70s 305 out of who knows what. The pump appears to be late 70s style as well. The bracket currently on it doesn't appear to be correct for this application because the slotted mounting hole (on the bracket attached to the front of the pump) is slotted in the wrong direction and doesn't allow for adjustment.

I've attached some lo-fi pics. Sorry about the craptastic quality. The first one is of my filthy engine before I started painting everything. It kinda shows how the pump was mounted. The next two show the front and back of the pump once it was removed. The next shows the repainted rear bracket mounted to the engine. I also included one more pic I swiped off of here, showing a proper 78 c10 bracket setup.

After searching quite a bit one here and Google, none of the 70s style brackets I've seen look quite like mine. The rear bracket is different, and the front one has different mounting holes (the slotted one is on the opposite side, and is slotted vertically rather than horizontally like mine).

So, my questions are:
Does anybody know what I have?
Should I swap the front bracket for one that is slotted the other direction so it's adjustable?
Is this pump even suitable for use with the old ram setup?
Are all late 70s pumps basically the same? (I'm kinda concerned my hoses won't fit the replacement pump)
Oh, and the pulley seems huge, about 6 1/2" diameter. Does this matter, or should I just roll with it?

[Captainfab]

1) I don't remember what year your pump and bracket is from. Your water pump will need a threaded boss for the adjustment bolt.

2) The bracket on the pump is fine. You just need the slotted bracket that bolts between the corner of the head and the exhaust manifold.

3) A power steering pump is a power steering pump. It will be fine with your power assist steering as long as it has a SAE pressure fitting.

4) The power steering pumps are basically interchangeable. The main difference is that in about 1980-81 the fitting style changed from SAE to Metric with an O-ring.

5) The pulley diameter should be fine.

The painted up brackets in your 4th pic are a AC compressor bracket and a lower alternator bracket for a '69+ car or '73+ truck (long water pump). It is shown in your 1st pic, in it's correct location.

[Rust-O-Matic]

Thanks for your time and knowledge CaptainFab! For the record, the painted up brackets in the 4th pic are bolted in the same place they were in the first pic. The actual alternator bracket is also bolted to the passenger side where it belongs. Overall pic attached. The previous owner had the steering pump bolted to the ac/alternator bracket on the driver side, and I should have sorted this stuff out before I painted them.

So it sounds like I need to be looking for the stock brackets for a late 70s pickup, and a new pump that fits them. Do you know if that stock corner (behind the ps pump) bracket will work with headers? It looks like it bolts to the manifold and would require at least a spacer and longer bolt.

[Captainfab]

The AC compressor bracket does bolt up there, but I don't see any part of it that is needed for the PS pump mounting and adjustment. The lower boss on the water pump on the drivers side. Is it threaded or does it have a smooth bore?

[Rust-O-Matic]

Nope, no threaded boss on the water pump, just a smooth hole.

And you're right, there definitely isn't provisions for pump adjustment with that ac bracket setup. It looks like 2 of the ac bracket's bolt holes just happened to line up with the mounting holes in the front pump bracket, so the previous owner bolted the two together with a belt around it that was just the right length.

So if I ditch the incorrect ac pump bracket I currently have, and find a late 70s pump front and rear bracket, will they work with my non threaded water pump? And will that rear bracket that bolts to the exhaust manifold work with headers? If not, do you have any idea what I should be looking for?

[Captainfab]

With the smooth bore in the water pump, you will need a completely different PS pump bracket set. I will have to do some research to determine a year to tell you to look for. The pic you posted above that is a '78 PS pump, will require a water pump with a threaded bore. The small bracket that bolts to the head and exhaust manifold will need a tube over the one bolt if you have headers.

[Rust-O-Matic]

I was just staring at the pic of the '78 setup again after my last reply, and realized it looks like the PS bracket is bolted to the hole in the front of the head, above and to the right of the water pump mounting bolt. Is there another one down lower that I can't see that bolts to a threaded boss on the water pump? It kinda looks like there can't be, because the bracket wouldn't be able to pivot with more than the one visible bolt attaching it.

[Captainfab]

In that pic of the '78 power steering, the pump pivots on that bolt to the head. The bracket has 2 slots for adjustment ob 2 bolts. Those 2 bolts are in the water pump and that bracket on the corner of the head and exhaust manifold.

I took a couple pics today of the PS pump brackets that you need for use with the smooth bore boss on the water pump. Notice the nut fixed to the back of the one bracket. There is a bolt that passes thru the front of the bracket, thru the boss on the water pump and threads into the nut on the back side. To the best of my knowledge this bracket assembly is original to a '76 K20. I do not have a pic of the other bracket that would bolt to the corner of the head and exhaust manifold, but I believe it will be very similar or the same as the one in your '78 pic.

[andyh1956]

It seems I remember this type of P/S bracket bolts to another bracket that bent around & went to the left motor mount insulator on the block. I have a big box of P/S & alt brackets up in the barn. This afternoon I will see if I can find a set that works with a smooth hole water pump.

[Rust-O-Matic]

Thanks AndyH. If you have any you would sell, I would likely be interested.

And Captain I think you nailed it. I looked at the pump on a '76 GMC K25 (400) yesterday, and ran over to my dad's to take some pics of the pump on his '85 Custom Deluxe (305) as well.

The '76 had the same 3 piece affair as the K20 brackets in your pic. Though I am pretty sure my engine was a 77-79 when I looked up the numbers, these '76 style brackets appear to be the ones I need.

The '85 had the same front bracket as the one currently attached to the front of my PS pump, and as discussed, one slotted hole on it was bolted to the threaded boss on the water pump. On my engine there was no threads on the water pump, so the PO had bolted that hole in the bracket to one of the holes on the front of the head. The other side of the front bracket was then bolted to the old rear ac bracket.

So now that all that is out of the way, it appears that I am after a set of the 3 '76 style brackets, and a pump with a port that will accept my current pressure hose fitting. I need to pull the line off and try to determine if it's sae or metric. Are the mounting holes in the same locations on both eras of pumps? For example, will a metric '85 pump attach to a '76 style set of brackets if need be? I presume so, with a little persuasion if nothing else.

[andyh1956]

Is your pump bad? If not no need to change the pump. Just bust the pulley off & change the brackets.

[61K10]

let me look, i might have one. will look and see today.

[Rust-O-Matic]

That would be great, 61K10! Thanks.

61K10
let me look, i might have one. will look and see today.

[61K10]

I have most of it. the piece that bolts to the exhaust has been cut off. free to you just pay for the ride. pm me your add.

kimble

[Rust-O-Matic]

Fantastic! You rock. Sending pm now.

[61K10]

Do you have excess to a welder or metal fab? Also get a early pump that has a key-way for the pulley instead of a press on one. do you have headers? I can fab up a bracket that was cut off if you don't have the means. I got your add so will send if you want what i have. will send some pulley's for a key way also. never will use them.

[Rust-O-Matic]

Yes sir, I'll take anything you are willing to send me. Thanks! And yeah I don't have super duper fab skills, but I do have a welder and can surely fashion whatever else I need to on that cut piece. I do appreciate your offer. I do have headers too, so that corner bracket wouldn't have been completely right in stock format anyhow.

[65 C20]

61K10
What a great gesture.
Supplying parts and an offer for fabracation, doesn't get any better than that.

Cal.

[Rust-O-Matic]

I totally agree, and it is much appreciated. This site is awesome, and so are the people that are on it.

65 C20:
What a great gesture.
Supplying parts and an offer for fabracation, doesn't get any better than that.

[61K10]

I have been given stuff over the years and have passed it along at times. glad to help out.

Rust-o--Pm me your e-mail. will get it in the mail today.

take care----------------kimble

[61K10]

Rust-o
parts are on their way. there is a tab i put in the box that you can cut down and weld it to the cut off piece? Also threw in to pulleys one single and a double. good luck.

[Rust-O-Matic]

Awesome, that sounds great! I will be sure to return the favor for the next guy in need. Thanks again!

I'm hoping to find a new pump this weekend, and get everything put back together if it's not 100 degrees.

[61K10]

for the bolt on pulley's you need one from a 74 or earlier c-10. go to rockauto.com and ck out the pics for power steering pumps. good prices also. Do you have a steering box?

[Rust-O-Matic]

Yeah I've got the original steering gear box and crazy hydraulic ram setup. I may change it out to a modern integral style box one of these years, but I'd just like to get mine put back together as-is for now. I like the bolt-on pulley idea. I'll look into that.

I love rockauto, and need to place another order for plugs and wires and stuff anyway. I may have to get a pump from a local parts place though, so I can make sure the new one will accept my pressure hose, or at least the threaded adapter/valve/fitting/whatever-it-is that I unscrewed from the old pump. I have looked at a bunch of pics lately, but haven't seen any pumps that have a male fitting sticking out of the back like mine does (pictured earlier in this thread). Not sure if I am looking in the long year/model range, or if the fitting on mine was meant for something completely different.

[Captainfab]

I believe that, that male style of pressure fitting is specific to the original style of power assist used on these trucks as well as the Corvette's. The pump that you currently have, is not an original style pump, so that fitting was transferred to that pump from the original pump. I have yet to run across a saginaw power steering pump that didn't have the same pressure port/valve size and threads. If you were to get a '74 and earlier pump as 61K10 suggested, that fitting will certainly fit.