Power Steering: AGR vs Lee, 670 vs 800, 69 BBC Camaro, Review - Lateral-g Forums

**Flash68** · #1 01-03-2011, 10:29 PM

Chris -- very nice informative review. I really enjoy these posts. Thanks for posting.

My car came with the AGR box, and it seems fine -- but never experienced a Lee box so maybe I don't know what I am missing.

Are you running a stock or aftermarket PS pump? I need one and am debating what to get.

**DFRESH** · #2 01-03-2011, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flash68

Chris -- very nice informative review. I really enjoy these posts. Thanks for posting.

My car came with the AGR box, and it seems fine -- but never experienced a Lee box so maybe I don't know what I am missing.

Are you running a stock or aftermarket PS pump? I need one and am debating what to get.

Dude, I hate to say it, but get the aftermarket pump with that box--it makes a difference---ask me how i know. Besides that, that stock one will not hold up forever under the kind of driving you will be doing.

**DFRESH** · #3 01-03-2011, 10:41 PM

That's awesome Chris. Glad to hear you got it replaced and the car feels much better. At last, some good news--other than the 50 HP you lost on the header pipe close outs, it sounds like it was a great change for the car. Just in time for RTTC!

Great review and write up also!

Doug

chr2002ca · #4 01-04-2011, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFRESH

That's awesome Chris. Glad to hear you got it replaced and the car feels much better. At last, some good news--other than the 50 HP you lost on the header pipe close outs, it sounds like it was a great change for the car. Just in time for RTTC!

Great review and write up also!

Doug

LOL. I sure hope I didn't lose 50HP! I have a mild cam so I'm thinking there is still enough pipe there to be plenty for the exhaust flow, but my next engine won't like it at all. The foundation of that new engine arrives to my doorstep today(f'ing Summit 15% discount!). Very exciting.

Unfortunately, I won't have the funds to build it until later next year, so that's a long ways out.

Definitely look forward to RTTC. I've changed a number of things on the car to make it exactly as fast as it was last year.

chr2002ca · #5 01-04-2011, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flash68

Chris -- very nice informative review. I really enjoy these posts. Thanks for posting.

My car came with the AGR box, and it seems fine -- but never experienced a Lee box so maybe I don't know what I am missing.

Are you running a stock or aftermarket PS pump? I need one and am debating what to get.

I'm running a stock style Saginaw P style pump that I purchased from Summit(#SUM340103). It's a basic pump, nothing special. I asked Lee to rebuild to match the new box and to rebuild it so that it would take some occasional racing. So it's slightly lower pressure at low RPM which causes a little more effort in steering, but hopefully that saves me from having too much pressure at high RPM. I don't get over 5800RPMs so I'm not stressing the pump too much like some folks might.

I've talked with people that have had good luck with AGR and talked with people that had the same experience I did, so I think it's a bit random. Honestly, I don't think there should be that much randomness for that kind of money. When I spoke with Lee, they actually had a good explanation for why that randomness might occur with other vendors and it's why they completely disassemble and rebuild each unit they get from GM. Who knows, maybe a 4th try with AGR would've worked out, but it's such a pain in the arse for me to remove that box so I just wanted to try something new that might eliminate 'chance'. Each person I talked to that used Lee was very happy, so I gave them a shot. Now, if the Lee box blows out at RTTC, I'm going yank the whole steering system and just tie 2 ropes to the steering knuckles and go that route.

**GregWeld** · #6 01-04-2011, 09:44 AM

The valve is more "restrictive" than the ding in the header pipe...

chr2002ca · #7 01-04-2011, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregWeld

The valve is more "restrictive" than the ding in the header pipe...

You haven't seen the ding! Make that 'dings'.

They're almost as bad as the ones in my head, and those have been restrictive all my life.

**Matt@BOS** · #8 01-04-2011, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chr2002ca

You haven't seen the ding! Make that 'dings'.

They're almost as bad as the ones in my head, and those have been restrictive all my life.

Dude, the dented headers would really bug me, especially because the driver and passenger sides would look noticeably different. Rather than spend the money having an exhaust shop cut and modify several of the primaries, might a suggest a cheaper alternative:

Exhibit A:

As you will see from the picture above, it has already been made to match your driver's side header. If you are interested I am willing to negotiate a reasonable price.

Matt

**GregWeld** · #9 01-04-2011, 11:00 PM

Matt!!

The perfect solution!

**Flash68** · #10 01-05-2011, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chr2002ca

I'm running a stock style Saginaw P style pump that I purchased from Summit(#SUM340103). It's a basic pump, nothing special. I asked Lee to rebuild to match the new box and to rebuild it so that it would take some occasional racing. So it's slightly lower pressure at low RPM which causes a little more effort in steering, but hopefully that saves me from having too much pressure at high RPM. I don't get over 5800RPMs so I'm not stressing the pump too much like some folks might.

I've talked with people that have had good luck with AGR and talked with people that had the same experience I did, so I think it's a bit random. Honestly, I don't think there should be that much randomness for that kind of money. When I spoke with Lee, they actually had a good explanation for why that randomness might occur with other vendors and it's why they completely disassemble and rebuild each unit they get from GM. Who knows, maybe a 4th try with AGR would've worked out, but it's such a pain in the arse for me to remove that box so I just wanted to try something new that might eliminate 'chance'. Each person I talked to that used Lee was very happy, so I gave them a shot. Now, if the Lee box blows out at RTTC, I'm going yank the whole steering system and just tie 2 ropes to the steering knuckles and go that route.

Thanks for the reply Chris. Since I have the AGR 12:1 box I think I'll try matching it with their upgraded pump. We'll know soon enough how it works!

Personally, I like Fumigator for your car name.