Converting my Rover 2000 auto to power steering

A couple of years ago I decided to fit power steering to my Rover 2000 P6. I thought the job should be straightforward! Most Late V8 engined P6s had power steering so when the York Branch crew dismantled a V8, I kept all the bits. After studying how to go about it I decided the difficult bit would be driving the hydraulic pump. It soon became apparent that the V8 pump would be no good as it is mounted in front of the engine facing rearwards and that wasn’t an option on the straight four engine, the alternator was in the way, which meant that the mounting the pump conventionally would mean the direction of rotation would be wrong.

I decided an Internet search was required and I found a chap who had done the conversion and had produced brackets to mount a pump and he could supply me with one along with a hydraulic hose to suite. The crank pulley would be a problem as mine is an early series 2 car fitted with an aluminium bottom pulley, and the way he provides a pulley is to weld a second crank pulley to the original. Obviously welding a steel pulley to the cast aluminium one was not on and it would mean finding 2 engines to donate their crank pulleys. I thought a more elegant solution would be possible but I needed to progress with mounting the pump first.

Ian Wilson ian@scrooges.freeserve.co.uk supplied the bracket and hose. The bracket mounts on original bolts on the engine and is designed to use a pump from an early Rover 2300/2600 SD1. The bracket was duly fitted, which meant also discarding the original engine tie bracket and rod. The tie bar bracket was incorporated on the new pump-mounting bracket but it had been moved higher to clear the pump belt, which meant a longer tie bar had to be made. I sourced a second hand power steering pump from the Runcorn SD1 Centre and it fitted the brackets perfectly. I should point out at this stage that series 1 cars will have to have the battery relocated to the boot as on series 2 cars. Having fitted the pump and worked out where the pulley needed to be, I decided it would be a relatively easy job to turn a new pulley out of cast iron of the correct diameter.

The front of the engine was rebuilt; the alternator, water pump pulley, fan and radiator had all been removed to give access.

So now to changing the steering box; Rover kindly arranged the power box to fit on the same mounts as the manual box, so I thought this bit would be easy. Well I guess it was when I had removed the bonnet and the decker panel to reveal that the wiper mechanism which was mounted to the top of the box, would have to be repositioned. The brake fluid reservoir was also in the way of the bigger power box. The track rod was also different to allow access to adjust the tracking.

The power box fitted easily and the hoses connected up fine, so now to replace the bits removed earlier. The track rod was fairly straightforward although access was terrible, luckily 2 bolts and a self-tapper removes a wing, so both front wings were removed.
With the track rod replaced my attention was turned to the wiper mechanism. Inspection reveals that the V8s with power steering use a completely different system, rather than a crank and link system the motor is mounted on the other side and the wipers driven by the traditional flexible rack. A search of my shed revealed I had kept the V8 one so this was duly used. This meant extending the wiring from the original position to the nearside of the car. There are 8 wires to the motor and delay unit and a vacuum pipe for controlling the delay, these were extended and routed behind the heater unit out of harms way.

The brake fluid reservoir would mount on the inner wing if the fuse box was moved an inch or so to the rear of the car. This was done, the coil moved slightly in its clamp and the fluid reservoir fitted snugly.

Time to test it! Pump filled; power box bled of air and it works! Not quite the easy job as was anticipated but well worth the time and effort. If anyone wants further information on doing the conversion please email me.

what you need

Power steering box from v8 P6

power steering pump from rover sd1 2600

mounting bracket from:

Ian Wilson ian@scrooges.freeserve.co.uk

high pressure hose FROM:

Ian Wilson ian@scrooges.freeserve.co.uk

wiper system from v8 p6

5/16” steel rod threaded