Talbot Express, J5, C25 and Ducato 1982-94 Power Steering Conversion

The Green Conversion Company

Total price for a fully fitted system £600

Contact Details:
Email: chrishart.650@gmail.com
Tel: 07835 942447

I would like to welcome all my fellow motorhome/campervan owners to my site. I owned a Talbot Express Autoquest 320 2.5 diesel. I enjoyed driving my van very much and exploring the UK as well as Europe even traveling as far as Bulgaria in it.

The only thing I disliked about my van was the lack of power steering, I owned a 16″ wheel version which is even heavier than the usual 14″ wheel versions.

I uprated my rear leaf springs with new heavy duty ones which lifted the rear of the van and made the van sit level and which helps to lighten your steering slightly, as well as checking my tyre pressures were correct. I still wasn’t happy so I started looking into fitting an original hydraulic steering system off a donor van, for those of you who haven’t looked into this , you won’t know that it is virtually impossible to find. After a month or few of looking I gave up and decided to have an electric power steering system fitted EPAS, (electric power assisted steering) to be more precise the widely used Corsa B unit. I read about it on a forum where it was mentioned that someone was fitting it to Volkswagen campers.

After more fruitless searching I decided that no one was fitting electric power steering to the Talbot Express, Peugeot J5, Citroen C25 and Fiat Ducato 1982-94. After much research and a good knowledge of all things mechanical and electrical I decided to fit it myself.

A quick visit to my local car breakers and I was equipped with all the parts I needed except for some heavy duty wire and a big fuse holder, this is why I call it “The Green Conversion Company” because everything is re-used. First I examine the motor unit and re-adjust the torque converter which is the only piece which alters over time, this is what interprets your movements of the steering wheel and activates the motor to assist you. Once that is done I combine the motor unit with the original steering column, keeping the original steering lock and ignition unit as well as the indicator and wiper stalks. Then I re-attach it to the van using the original nuts and bolts with the addition of a heavy duty bracket from the motor unit fastened to the top of the pedal unit. Other companies have copied this idea, but their designs cut away too much of the original bracketry and greatly weaken the steering column. My design is stronger when I have finished than when it left the factory.

I set to work on my new project, with this van I used a Corsa C column because the diameters of the shafts were a much better match. A few days later and everything was ready to test on a working van. I had previously contacted Bob, a specialist in Volkswagen van upgrades from nearby Balsall Common when I was looking for a van steering column. He expressed an interest in the project so now I was ready I phoned him again and arranged to fit the power steering unit to his own T25 van. With Bob’s knowledge of the van and my own experience with the power steering we soon had it fitted and working, Bob has since been driving his van to test how the steering performs. He knew about other available conversions for the van which had speed sensitive options, I told him my opinion was that they are unnecessary complications and after driving his van he agreed with me. There is a lot of nonsense written about speed sensitive controllers for power steering, your van feels light for parking and when your speed increases it feels the same weight because of the fact that your wheels always try to straighten themselves and the little corrections you make to keep on the road are not enough to activate the motor fully. That is my view, and I have had quite a few people say that when they drive their converted vehicle they feel that it must be speed sensitive because it behaves just like it is. I can fit power steering to right or left hand drive VW T25 vans.

Once this is done I remove the speedo cluster to fit the ecu for the steering unit, a wire is passed through into the engine bay and is connected to a battery supply via a large fuse. A live ignition feed is used to activate the unit with the option of a separate on/off switch fitted to an existing hole in the dashboard. Then the original plastics are re-fitted to the column, and a quick test drive to make sure the steering wheel is sitting level when you drive in a straight line and the van is ready.

If you are having problems with your ignition switch being worn or stiff then I can replace this with a new one supplied with 2 keys for £30 when I fit the steering or when you purchase a kit.

My van took me a few days to complete, now I complete the job in approximately 3 hours and offer this service to you.

After more fruitless searching I decided that no one was fitting electric power steering to the Talbot Express, Peugeot J5, Citroen C25 and Fiat Ducato 1982-94. After much research and a good knowledge of all things mechanical and electrical I decided to fit it myself.

A quick visit to my local car breakers and I was equipped with all the parts I needed except for some heavy duty wire and a big fuse holder, this is why I call it “The Green Conversion Company” because everything is re-used. First I examine the motor unit and re-adjust the torque converter which is the only piece which alters over time, this is what interprets your movements of the steering wheel and activates the motor to assist you. Once that is done I combine the motor unit with the original steering column, keeping the original steering lock and ignition unit as well as the indicator and wiper stalks. Then I re-attach it to the van using the original nuts and bolts with the addition of a heavy duty bracket from the motor unit fastened to the top of the pedal unit. Other companies have copied this idea, but their designs cut away too much of the original bracketry and greatly weaken the steering column. My design is stronger when I have finished than when it left the factory.

I have to date fitted more than 990 of these power steering systems to Talbot Express, J5, C25 and Fiat Ducato vans and supplied many kits to very satisfied customers. The vans are so light to steer afterwards that every client leaves happy and waving as they reverse around the corner to leave my car park.

I now utilise the Renault Clio electric column, this has a stronger 4 pole motor and is more readily available. I fit this with the aid of a laser cut bracket, factory bent for a perfect fit every time.

I charge £600 for a fully fitted system, I am based in Stratford-upon-Avon and you are welcome to stay overnight or longer if you want with electric hook up and wi-fi provided while the job is completed. I can also take you to the train station which is 5 minutes away if you don’t have a day to wait.

After more fruitless searching I decided that no one was fitting electric power steering to the Talbot Express, Peugeot J5, Citroen C25 and Fiat Ducato 1982-94. After much research and a good knowledge of all things mechanical and electrical I decided to fit it myself.

A quick visit to my local car breakers and I was equipped with all the parts I needed except for some heavy duty wire and a big fuse holder, this is why I call it “The Green Conversion Company” because everything is re-used. First I examine the motor unit and re-adjust the torque converter which is the only piece which alters over time, this is what interprets your movements of the steering wheel and activates the motor to assist you. Once that is done I combine the motor unit with the original steering column, keeping the original steering lock and ignition unit as well as the indicator and wiper stalks. Then I re-attach it to the van using the original nuts and bolts with the addition of a heavy duty bracket from the motor unit fastened to the top of the pedal unit. Other companies have copied this idea, but their designs cut away too much of the original bracketry and greatly weaken the steering column. My design is stronger when I have finished than when it left the factory.

The 2 pictures at the right hand end of each row show one of my Talbot kits being fitted in New Zealand, they even came and picked the kit up from me!

As mentioned in MMM (Motorcaravan Motorhome Monthly), Classic Campers and other magazines.

I have found that for many parts for this van that jktowers.co.uk is a great place, he started by solving the problem of sloppy gear changes with this van and now sells a kit and fits it as well, he also sells a lot of other hard to find parts for this van.

An active forum especially for this type of camper is talbotoc.com, very informative and friendly with several meets arranged every year in different parts of the country.

After more fruitless searching I decided that no one was fitting electric power steering to the Talbot Express, Peugeot J5, Citroen C25 and Fiat Ducato 1982-94. After much research and a good knowledge of all things mechanical and electrical I decided to fit it myself.

A quick visit to my local car breakers and I was equipped with all the parts I needed except for some heavy duty wire and a big fuse holder, this is why I call it “The Green Conversion Company” because everything is re-used. First I examine the motor unit and re-adjust the torque converter which is the only piece which alters over time, this is what interprets your movements of the steering wheel and activates the motor to assist you. Once that is done I combine the motor unit with the original steering column, keeping the original steering lock and ignition unit as well as the indicator and wiper stalks. Then I re-attach it to the van using the original nuts and bolts with the addition of a heavy duty bracket from the motor unit fastened to the top of the pedal unit. Other companies have copied this idea, but their designs cut away too much of the original bracketry and greatly weaken the steering column. My design is stronger when I have finished than when it left the factory.