Thread: Power steering delete, idler pulley options?

On my build, I have deleted the power steering. But to make belt changes easier, I need to put a tensioner in place of the power steering pulley. The two options I've seen are to gut the PS pump and leave it in place as a tensioner, the other option is to use an AC tensioner pulley from a 90-00 Civic. Both options leave the bulk of the PS pump and bracket installed, I would prefer to remove these as that would be a few pounds of saved weight. There was a piece from Custom Steel that used to be available, supply has gone dry, and it was expensive to begin with.

Is anyone aware of another option before I work on fabricating a custom bracket for a pulley? Preferably something I can pull off another Nissan that would bolt right up, but I'm not going to hold my breath there.

I'm pretty sure you know about this but I thought I might post it just incase you forgot about ithttp://www.gspec.com/p-7340-power-steering-elimination-kit.aspx

Oh there's also the typical move, the alternator to the rear (if you have NO ac that is) or maybe find something to replace the alternators place in front (if easier to locate then the rear tension needed). I know that way would be more work though

Yes, that is the piece manufactured by Custom Steel that I mentioned, from what I can tell they aren't making any more of those parts.




I'm mulling that over as well, but my understanding is that this requires both the alternator and alternator bracket from an S14 SR20 vehicle, very few of those in the local salvage yards to scavenge parts from. The one downside would be that all the accessories are now on the outer belt on the crank pulley, I think there is an advantage to having the alternator in the inner belt since I'm running a Roller Rocker motor, which only has 4 counter weights as opposed to 8 on other models. I'm already running a 1 piece underdrive pulley, so I'm wanting to minimize anything that might cause vibrations on that outer edge. The alternator load changing would introduce some small amount of vibration there. With a standard Nissan pulley, probably not a problem as it acts as a dampener, but not so for the pulley I'm running.

Gotcha Jim missed the CS sentence lmao. Well keep us posted.

Here's what I did using the Honda AC tensioner:

Do you happen to have a pic like that last one, but showing that pulley a bit closer? I'm just trying to get a better visual of that bracket you have on there, it doesn't look like the piece that was originally for adjusting the power steering pump, is that another custom piece you have in there?

I'm hoping to hit the salvage yard this weekend and will be picking up one of the Honda pulleys, and will also rummage around to see what else I can find. This has been on my list of things to pull for a while, but other needed parts kept taking priority until now. I'm sure I'll have a better idea of how I can adapt this piece once I have one in my hands.

http://www.sr20-forum.com/classifieds-naturally-aspirated/19023-fs-power-steering-eliminator-idler-pulley-w-tensioner.html


that's the one I used to sell looong time ago. any d15-16 Honda pulley will work

Yup, I didn't want to quote that thread directly, I wasn't sure if you were still selling those or not. My only thing against that route was that it left too much bulk still attached that I'm wanting to avoid. I think that bracket and the PS pump is all steel, it seemed quite heavy when I pulled it all off.

The one other drawback I didn't mention earlier was the one bolt that is under the water pump pulley. I'm running an oversized pulley there, which makes that bolt impossible to get to without removing the WP pulley first. Not a big deal now since the engine is out, but later, could be a pain if the need arose. And since this is for a track car, it is a given that anything needing to be fixed at the track will involve the most inaccessible parts on the car. LOL

Everything for the power steering pump was removed including the heavy bracket. I used "L" brackets, drilled holes where needed and used a metal spacer trimmed down to provide me the correct belt alignment. If you noticed, my pulley sits up higher for easier access.