Steering box questions?

[muddpile]

It's that time again to start a few little projects on the Tornado, one of which being the steering. Last year I drove it with power rack-and-pinion out of a Ford Aerostar van, but noticed a few problems.
-With no motor in the front, the steering feels LIGHT
-The Ford power steering pump is stupid loud (common)
-The pump and 25ft of hydraulic hose are heavy and unattractive
-The rack leaks quite badly, and will need to be replaced

So, have two options here:
1. Put in a new non-power rack. The problem being that the Aerostar rack has no measurement the same for mounting as any common rack, so if going Mustang II, I'd need to build a new mount.
2. Put on a GM truck manual steering box with idler arm and a cross-steer setup. I have all the parts I need for this on a 76 C10 parts truck I have, but I still need a manual box (and possibly a shim, some have told me).

At the moment I have a flaming river column and borgeson U-joint that adapts from splined to DD shafting, so I can adapt anything and make it work. Any help would be great, thanks!

[joe231]

Check with Tony (LILRED66), or John (CaptainFab)
One of them might have a good manual box to bolt right to your frame

[LILRED66]

I have a few factory manual gear boxes or a power steering conversion plate set-up. Let us know what you decide to do and good luck. Thanks for the nod Joe.

[muddpile]

I would definitely go with manual steering, so as to not have to run long hydraulic power steering hoses. What years were manual steering boxes the same? The reason I ask is my truck has a mid-late 70's front crossmember in it, and the front subframe is a clone of that, but with 6" of extra Z at the firewall.

[joe231]

so does your frame have the depression for a power gearbox?

[muddpile]

My frame is pro-street style made out of 2x5 tubing. It may taper to 2x4 tubing up by the rad, I'll have to look. It is basically a rectangular tubing version of a 73+ frame up front to fit the crossmember. The builder set it up for the cross-steer setup he said, but never put it in. By the time I got it, it had the rack and pinion.