[barraza]

I used the new radiator and fans for several reasons. First, my radiator is original, 50 years old and has been repaired several times. Second, the new fans are controlled by the ecu, they run at whatever speed the ECU thinks they need to, from a gentle breeze to a hurricane. They also respond to AC pressures. They fit the 72 radiator support with some minimal cutting that cant be seen when installed. And the whole setup is cheap.

For the power steering i switched to the ZL1/CTS-V balancer to get a larger and wider pulley on the crank. My L86 vacuum pump used a 3rib pulley on the crank that was only about 3” in diameter. Most PS pumps are designed to run a little faster than crank speed, which meant i would need a very small PS pump pulley, about 2.5-2.75”. When i built mine, I couldn’t find any pulleys that small except alternator pulleys, which are designed to be be held on by the nut, not pressed like a PS pump. I built it and it worked, but poorly at idle. It also looked like a weak point because my truck is 4x4 with wide and heavy 35” tires. The zl1 balancer let me use a bigger pulley with a wider belt to run the PS, and the other pulleys are in the right place to run the other accessories in the factory location. Keep in mind that these engines idle at very low rpm, so the PS pump needs to have the proper ratio to give good performance at idle, especially if you have big tires.