Steering gears

Q; I am converting my 64 to power steering, and have been told that I need to change my steering gear to a power steering one, what’s the difference?

A; This is a common question, as many are converting to power or to manual steering.

There were 2 gear ratios that I am aware of used in the fords 63/64, with the long input shaft, that may yield a difference with steering wheel rotation of about ½ turn, I have not witnessed a correlation coupled with the power / non power steering. In addition, the ford parts book shows no separate part # for a power / non power box, as there is for the tbird, Fairlane and falcon lines. The galaxie box is a C3AZ-3504-B. In addition, the power steering cars got a smaller steering wheel at 16” in leu of the 17” for a manual car.

There are several integrated power steering boxes on the market with claims to fit a galaxie. I haven’t yet tried one out, but I have received feedback from my customers that have attempted this change, and they will call with questions. My understanding is that with some modifications they will fit, but with sacrifice to some exhaust real estate.