Saginaw Pump Conversion

[eliaslear]

just posting this for anyone else looking to do the same conversion.

my truck is an 90 bronco ii with 2.9. the c2 pump was whiny as hell and no matter the amount of bleeding i did the sound never quieted. the pump i bought was from an 85 ford e-150. later i found out the reservoir wouldn't work at all with my setup so i found a reservoir that worked from a pump from a 79 impala (optionally you can purchase the thunderbird style from ebay for $30 OR you can get the right pump from a late 60s corvette but it does not have the adapter). the part store no longer carries the pump for the thunderbird so not only is the reservoir clocked in the wrong position but you will have to acquire the adapter also. the adapter i bought came from PCS (http://www.pscmotorsports.com/ got mine on ebay though.). it was the horseshoe adapter for the 5.0 NOT the 5.8. the hose i got was from the 84 e-150 also. if you can bend the bronco ii line back straight at the last turn going in to the pump you can use it and it works well. i did this first but came to find out the fitting was too messed up to reuse as it leaked. plus the flange for the saginaw pump is different anyway. but the b2 line will work temporarily. next problem, i have a v-belt pulley on my truck. local parts stores do not carry and type of ford pulleys. i tried to use the tool to press it back on but come to find out the shaft on the saginaw was too big. the shaft measures 8.9mm. the shaft on the c2 measures around 7mm. i couldn't find a machine shop to bore the hole so i used and dremel and took almost 2mm from the pulley. i went to 8.75 and it pressed on just fine (tight as it felt pressing it on the c2 shaft). as an added precaution i used to bolt with washer to run in the shaft just to keep against the pulley just in case. probably won't do much if the pulley slips but it makes me feel better. the bolt was a 3/8 x 16 pitch. about 1" to 1.5" long. threw some red loctite on it just to make sure. i tried to find a pulley online that would work but nothing came up. i would have rather found a machine shop and taken pump and pulley and had them bore the shaft hole out right but in northern florida there aren't many shops around. i used power steering fluid instead of fords recommended atf as the saginaw calls for power steering fluid. i filled it up, turned it over a few times to prime everything, and did the bleeding procedure (front tires off ground, engine off, turn wheels lock to lock slowly till bubbles are no more). for me i got no bubbles after turning wheel for about 10 turns. the pump is completely silent. imo people don't give enough credit for this. there is absolutely no noise and the steering is SO much easier.

and now for the pictures

my engine bay

the old pump

the PCS 5.0 saginaw adapter (horseshoe)

MY older style power steering bracket. the pump bolts to the adapter and the adapter bolts to this. then this bolts the main bracket that holds the ac compressor and power steering pump.

this is the first thing i had to cut out so the round thing on the pump sticking up doesn't hold the bracket off the pump.

this is the second cut. i just cut it down to the adjusting bolt so it clears the reservoir.

this is everything as one piece.

i had to shave this down about 2mm so the reservoir would clear it (don't forget to cut the stud or bolt down so it doesn't come through and puncture the reservoir. this is the back of the bracket. you'll figure it out when the pump wont bolt flush against the bracket.

bolted in place.

here you can see the very small bit of clearance between the adjusting bolt on the bracket and reservoir. and clearance between reservoir and main bracket.

pulley on. i didn't press it as far in as on the c2 pump else it wouldn't have lined up very good. the adapter holds the pump about 4mm farther back than the c2 sits. you can also see the bolt and washer i used.

these are the e-150 lines hooked up. i didn't really need to bend anything on the pressure line. it sat just right. the return line was about 9" of transmission line.

there you have it. hopefully my details will help others doing their saginaw conversion. any questions just ask.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Thanks for posting this.

If you use the little icon just above the message box that looks like mountains on a yellow background, post the image link inside. The pics will show up in your thread. Much easier for everyone reading. Also make the pics a smaller pixel size before putting them in, approx. 900 x 700 or similar will do.

Thanks,

Richard

 

[eliaslear]

FIXED. thanks mod. wasn't familiar with this forum tool.

 

[Dugan]

just posting this for anyone else looking to do the same conversion.

my truck is an 90 bronco ii with 2.9. the c2 pump was whiny as hell and no matter the amount of bleeding i did the sound never quieted. the pump i bought was from an 85 ford e-150. later i found out the reservoir wouldn't work at all with my setup so i found a reservoir that worked from a pump from a 79 impala (optionally you can purchase the thunderbird style from ebay for $30 OR you can get the right pump from a late 60s corvette but it does not have the adapter). the part store no longer carries the pump for the thunderbird so not only is the reservoir clocked in the wrong position but you will have to acquire the adapter also. the adapter i bought came from PCS (http://www.pscmotorsports.com/ got mine on ebay though.). it was the horseshoe adapter for the 5.0 NOT the 5.8. the hose i got was from the 84 e-150 also. if you can bend the bronco ii line back straight at the last turn going in to the pump you can use it and it works well. i did this first but came to find out the fitting was too messed up to reuse as it leaked. plus the flange for the saginaw pump is different anyway. but the b2 line will work temporarily. next problem, i have a v-belt pulley on my truck. local parts stores do not carry and type of ford pulleys. i tried to use the tool to press it back on but come to find out the shaft on the saginaw was too big. the shaft measures 8.9mm. the shaft on the c2 measures around 7mm. i couldn't find a machine shop to bore the hole so i used and dremel and took almost 2mm from the pulley. i went to 8.75 and it pressed on just fine (tight as it felt pressing it on the c2 shaft). as an added precaution i used to bolt with washer to run in the shaft just to keep against the pulley just in case. probably won't do much if the pulley slips but it makes me feel better. the bolt was a 3/8 x 16 pitch. about 1" to 1.5" long. threw some red loctite on it just to make sure. i tried to find a pulley online that would work but nothing came up. i would have rather found a machine shop and taken pump and pulley and had them bore the shaft hole out right but in northern florida there aren't many shops around. i used power steering fluid instead of fords recommended atf as the saginaw calls for power steering fluid. i filled it up, turned it over a few times to prime everything, and did the bleeding procedure (front tires off ground, engine off, turn wheels lock to lock slowly till bubbles are no more). for me i got no bubbles after turning wheel for about 10 turns. the pump is completely silent. imo people don't give enough credit for this. there is absolutely no noise and the steering is SO much easier.

and now for the pictures

my engine bay

the old pump

the PCS 5.0 saginaw adapter (horseshoe)

MY older style power steering bracket. the pump bolts to the adapter and the adapter bolts to this. then this bolts the main bracket that holds the ac compressor and power steering pump.

this is the first thing i had to cut out so the round thing on the pump sticking up doesn't hold the bracket off the pump.

this is the second cut. i just cut it down to the adjusting bolt so it clears the reservoir.

this is everything as one piece.

i had to shave this down about 2mm so the reservoir would clear it (don't forget to cut the stud or bolt down so it doesn't come through and puncture the reservoir. this is the back of the bracket. you'll figure it out when the pump wont bolt flush against the bracket.

bolted in place.

here you can see the very small bit of clearance between the adjusting bolt on the bracket and reservoir. and clearance between reservoir and main bracket.

pulley on. i didn't press it as far in as on the c2 pump else it wouldn't have lined up very good. the adapter holds the pump about 4mm farther back than the c2 sits. you can also see the bolt and washer i used.

these are the e-150 lines hooked up. i didn't really need to bend anything on the pressure line. it sat just right. the return line was about 9" of transmission line.

there you have it. hopefully my details will help others doing their saginaw conversion. any questions just ask.

Reviving an old post, do you happen to have these photos saved somewhere? Looking to do this swap soon.

 

[ericbphoto]

Reviving an old post, do you happen to have these photos saved somewhere? Looking to do this swap soon.

I haven’t Seen him posting in the last few years. There is a lot of info about this in our tech articles. I started looking into doing it a few months ago and it seemed to me like some of the parts mentioned have become hard to find.