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Saginaw Power Steering Pump Swap Homemade Mount

yostyexplorer94

Yost Offroad
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Elite Explorer
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South Central PA
Year, Model & Trim Level
1994 Explorer
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yosty
Saginaw pump from a 1990 E-150

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I've decided it was time to make my own mounting bracket to the 4.0 ohv

The diameter I made the piece that the pump mounts to was 6.5" and the thickness is 0.25"

The saginaw pump has 4 mounting bolts. The factory uses 3 so that is what I did. 2 of the mounting holes were on a different plane than the other. The 1 hole I used that was on a different plane than the mounting plate, I spaced out with a piece of 0.5" steel that I flap wheeled to fit snug.

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The 2 plates for bolting up to the cylinder head are 0.25" thick. I made a cardboard template off of the stock bracket to get me kind of where I needed to start.

The 3 pieces of pipe were 3.5" long and were around 0.5" internal diameter. The mount bolts are smaller than 0.5" (they are a metric size bolt) but it gave me some wiggle room for error. I believe the wall thickness of the pipe was close to 0.25"

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Upon installing I realized the valve cover was interfering with the bracket so I trimmed to fit. Plasma cutters are amazing! It is very nice that I had a spare engine to mock this up on.

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A very nice thing I found out, was the cylinder head bracket mounting surface is parallel with the pump mounting surface, also parallel with the serpentine belt. This made things easier as my work bench is amazingly close to level, providing a good point of reference.

From the work bench to the top of the first part of the bracket was exactly 4". I made sure the top plate was level with the bottom plate and tack welded the 3 pieces of pipe in. Checking level again and made sure it was 4" tall all the way around, I then burned it in with the mig welder.

The upright pieces are 1.5" wide x 0.25" thick x 4.875" length. I put them at 90 degrees with my angle finder and tacked into place.

I laid the pump mounting plate on top and used a combination of wood and various thicknesses of metal to get the front of the mounting plate to the special measurement of 5.125" keeping the top plate as close to level as possible. I was using reclaimed 0.25" plate steel that was a little warped so I got it leveled within 1 degree. Within 1 degree was close enough for me as I feel the belt probably can forgive a little.

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I did a final check of all degrees and test fitting the belt. Had to redo several times to get the right belt tension. When I was happy I made it permanent.

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The 1990 van pump came with a serpentine belt pulley that is 5.866" diameter and the pulley bore is 0.752". The factory explorer pulley is 5.25" and the pulley bore is 0.6854" The explorer pump pulley has a smaller diameter shaft hole than the saginaw van pulley so they can not be swapped. I made my bracket to accommodate the larger pulley and still use a stock 4.0 ohv non ac belt

Hopefully I don't regret not finding the same size pulley as the stock explorer. I am not sure if they make a smaller pulley or if it is needed.

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Decided to make 2 more. One is for the old lady's explorer and the other is for a friend. I am sure he knows who he is.
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Owning a plasma cutter is freaking amazing.

The support bracket needed the tit ground off as seen in this next picture.

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I also added a washer to take up the space in the support bracket to make it on the same plane as my home made bracket.

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Well that is just cool. I have a Saginaw pump off some random vehicle somewhere in my parts stash, I may have to experiment with it.

Could you possibly take the Explorer pulley to a machine shop and have it bored to fit the Saginaw pump? IIRC the smaller pulley would be advantageous in a low speed, low RPM crawling situation.
 






Psc has multiple pulley sizes. They don't list the shaft diameter though.
I don't know if it could be machined or not.
Maniac used the same pulley as I am planning and he's happy the last he posted about it.

That pulley is factory to the pump in a heavier van so I don't know why I worry haha
 












Saginaw pumps are highly regarded for their durability. They are used on low speed crawling rigs often because they seem to have better flow volume and pressure than the Ford pumps... and they're not made of plastic.
 






Saginaw pumps are highly regarded for their durability. They are used on low speed crawling rigs often because they seem to have better flow volume and pressure than the Ford pumps... and they're not made of plastic.

Makes a lot of sense thanks.
 






The Saginaw pumps are easy to modify for increased volume and pressure.
I'm using that same pulley on my swap and love it. I upped the volume and pressure and it keeps up shenanigans sliding corners and such on the snow.
I need to draw up one of these in CAD so I can cut them out on my cnc plasma table. I would want to keep the AC compressor though. I like your design, good work!
 






Updated the top with info, pictures, and a video

Haven't tested it very long yet. So far the pump has done everything that everyone claims it does. Very light steering and quiet.
 






Very nice. I think I need to get one for my Explorer. Mine Whines like no ones business LOL!
 






There have been a few Saginaw conversions done over the years. @Maniac and @josh40601 are the most notable for me. There used to be a near bolt on application, but it was discontinued and even rebuilds are not available. I think @Rick has one of those. This is a new direction by fabbing up your own bracketry. I like it.

You can quiet down the OEM pump by using a little Mobile-1 ATF mixed in the fluid, and/or adding a remote cooler. I added a small plate cooler in front of the radiator. It almost doubled the fluid capacity, keeps it cooler, and got rid of the whine. A Saginaw conversion keeping the AC is one of the many mods I would like.
 






There have been a few Saginaw conversions done over the years. @Maniac and @josh40601 are the most notable for me. There used to be a near bolt on application, but it was discontinued and even rebuilds are not available. I think @Rick has one of those. This is a new direction by fabbing up your own bracketry. I like it.

You can quiet down the OEM pump by using a little Mobile-1 ATF mixed in the fluid, and/or adding a remote cooler. I added a small plate cooler in front of the radiator. It almost doubled the fluid capacity, keeps it cooler, and got rid of the whine. A Saginaw conversion keeping the AC is one of the many mods I would like.

Thanks for the Info @BKennedy . I will look into that as soon as I can.
 


















Somone better at welding than me should make and sell the bracket on here...
 






The 1990 van pump came with a serpentine belt pulley that is 5.866" diameter and the pulley bore is 0.752". The factory explorer pulley is 5.25" and the pulley bore is 0.6854" The explorer pump pulley has a smaller diameter shaft hole than the saginaw van pulley so they can not be swapped. I made my bracket to accommodate the larger pulley and still use a stock 4.0 ohv non ac belt

I've been using that same pulley (I think it's the same, mine is Dorman 300-020) I used on my Saginaw conversion. I've been running it for a few years and no issue with it. It still has more power at idle than the old p-pump had.

And your bracket looks so much nicer than my hacked up 4.0 bracket with hacked up PSC adapter.

~Mark
 






I've been using that same pulley (I think it's the same, mine is Dorman 300-020) I used on my Saginaw conversion. I've been running it for a few years and no issue with it. It still has more power at idle than the old p-pump had.

And your bracket looks so much nicer than my hacked up 4.0 bracket with hacked up PSC adapter.

~Mark

Yes that is the same pulley and part # that I am running. I have the same results as you. The steering in both explorers I have swapped the saginaw pump into is night and day difference. They are both pumps out of the junkyard, out of vans several years older than my explorer. It is a very rewarding modification.

Thank you for the compliment!
 



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