Well, I have an '82 Camino with a power steering gear box that holds its fluids only slightly better than a sieve... New ones are pricey, and seems like it requires some specialty tools that I lack... So, my question is, what would be needed to discard this extra drain on my engine, and wallet. (A quart of fluid every 4-5 days adds up fast) And, how difficult would it be to do?

Thanks.

get a manual box from an old s10, and I think you have to swap pitman arms. you can rent that tool from autozone

If you use a manual box you need a pitman arm from a manual steering g-body. the power steering arm has a larger hole to accept the larger output shaft.
If you take the hoses off the power box and turn it back and forth until it blows all the fluid out it is then basically a standard box - with a little quicker ratio. This is a short term as lubrication becomes a long term issue.
What belt setup do you have? Can you remove the pump and not run into issues there?
Around here the pull and pay yards get about $25.00 for a used box.
A re-built box from AZ should be under $120.00. I would start saving and keep adding fluid in the meantime.

I, for some strange reason decided to remove the power steering from my 84. Found a box from an S 10, bolted it right in paid $30 for it at a junkyard. About a week later I was unbolting it and replacing the power steering! No P/S on my daily driver? Not me! LOL, the only good thing that came of it was the manual box sold for more than I paid for it.:texas:

The only benefit to manual steering is arm muscles! Besides the loss of quick response, controlled steering in low speed emergencies, there are other safety considerations. An attorney would pick your pocket if an accident later occurred for ANY reason - your fault, my fault, or an act of God! Not I, Neither, Nor!.............Ken :shocked:

Not to mention the added Resistance depending on the series of your front tires, ie - 78 -70 - 60 - 65 - 50 - or 40 series. You will hate it !!

I was running 235/60/15 on the front, and had lost a lot of weight on the front, fiberglass bumper and hood, no A/C components, alum intake. Probably lost 100 lbs all together, and still couldn't turn it! The only time it was easy was on the highway going straight! LOL!

don't remove it as you'll be sorry big time:dontknow:

up until yesterday I drove a b2200 with manual steering for a year and 4 months. I just got a 96 c1500 to replace it.

but it really wasnt that bad, then again i had 205mm tires up front..

I personally wouldn't want to change out from power to pushin but if I did, I'd certainly change up the caster angles to the neg. making all that ...umphin a little easier at slower spds.

Huh, I see... I was wondering what sort of impact it would have on steering, which is largely why I asked... I have a Fiero with no power steering, and that thing is really easy to turn, and just handles amazingly. Of course, it's also half the weight of an El Camino....

As for the belt system, I've got a 305 from an '87 Firebird, besides the crankshaft ballancer, the only thing that shares a belt with the PS is the AC compressor, but I should be able to just cut it out and belt it alone to the crankshaft.

Basically, I want to get rid of it because I don't want to have to shell out the cash to replace it, and simplifying my ride is always good, as it's one less thing to go wrong...

As best I can tell, my power steering gearbox is non-stock, looking like this:
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q226/Midnight_Fenrir/Car/IM000319.jpg?t=1240701269

The fluid just flows out of the top of the gearbox, underneath that plate on top there. I've thought about removing that one nut on top there, and seeing if the plate will just pop out and I can put a new gasket in there, but I can't find any reliable information to that effect, as it seems just as likely it's an adjusting nut that will totally mess up everything if I don't put it back on just tight enough.

I even tried the el-cheapo fix, squirting a full tube of JB weld ontop of the box, (after prepping it) But, it didn't last very long, and the weld kept popping off.

Even reading up on how to change a gearbox, it says it needs some special tool to keep all these balls inside of it, as well as a pitman arm puller... from the sounds of it I need to completely tear the stupid thing appart just to get to the gaskets... I thought it might be simpler to just chuck the whole thing.

I did this same thing and the ratio of the manual box really sucks if you ever get it out and get the backend loose youll look like your swatting at flyes trying to keep it in the road. I now have a steering box out of a ZQ8 S-10.

do yourself a favor and keep the power steering if your going to be driving it on the street.:poke:

all this non power steering talk just makes me tired. one more story to it, if you EVER go to the gym..... and get sore, you might as well forget about driving. but thats just me....

Alright, alright... I give... loosing power steering isn't a very good choice it would seem...

So, replacing it then, I've got 2 questions: Should I replace it with the same one I have, or get the square one? And, this Pitman Arm Puller.... is it a MUST-HAVE? Or, is it something I can rig up, or work around?

It is a must Have. You can buy one from harbor freight for your one time use for about 10 bucks or rent the whole front end tool set from AZ and return it when your finished for free.