P38 Power steering conversion / fittings

[superstator]

OK, so of all the possible places to post, this is probably the least relevant, but oh well. While I'm At It(tm) I'm adding power steering to my 67' NADA project. I've procured a p38a steering box and reservoir, fabricated and welded in a reinforcing bracket for the frame, and scraped most of the gunk off the PS pump from my 300tdi. Now, theoretically, I just need some hoses. I'd like to put AN adapters on everything, so I can make custom hoses to fit (and probably add a cooler inline somewhere). My little thread gauge thing seems to think it's 5/8 NPT on the high pressure side, but everything else on that engine is metric, so suddenly finding a fractional thread makes me v. suspicious. Does anybody know of the top of their head what the PS fitting sizes are for the 300tdi / p38a?

[o2batsea]

Metric o-ring like an air conditioner compressor. 16mm and 14mm as I recall. Pretty sure Jegs sells them.

[SafeAirOne]

Wow--That power steering cooler is a REAL "while I'm at it" (tm)!

Please tell me it's going to have it's own electric cooling fan and fresh air ductwork.

[superstator]

Don't go giving me ideas!

[superstator]

Well, thought I had this all sorted out, but not so fast. Anybody know what the spline is on the input for the p38 box? I was under the impression it was 3/4 48 spline, but my shiny new 3/4 48 spline u-joint is evidently too big...

[o2batsea]

3/4-48. Where'd you get the u-joint?

[superstator]

Borgeson. Measured and counted the joint, it certainly appears to be a 3/4-48. The box is in an awkward spot so I'm resisting doing the same on that end, but obviously that's what needs to happen.

[superstator]

So, it measures out at 0.688" and 54 splines. As far as I know 11/16-54 is not a thing anywhere, so assuming I was a little sloppy measuring, it must be 17mm-54. Given it's a ZF unit, that makes some sense. I'm guessing everybody else doing this must be using the stock Rover shaft, and it makes the transition for you to 3/4-48.