This is how I installed a Saturn Vue EPS in my 1986 Fiero GT w/auto trans.
.
It may work on manual trans cars but the motor will sit a little lower & you have to remove the clutch starter switch
brackets from the pedal assembly and fabricate a new switch mount (or bypass switch). I have included a few pics
of the manual trans pedal clearance but did not do much with it - I have no driveable manual cars.

Installing the Vue power unit keeps the column and u-joint shaft from being collapsable - no way around it due to modifications
needed to connect power unit to column.

Let me know if you have any ideas on how to do something better/easier! (especially the column center shaft)
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PARTS NEEDED:

Vue column and u-joint shaft
Fiero column and u-joint shaft

4x5" 8ga / .165" steel plate for column bracket

Piece of pipe to make a 6" long/1.84"OD/1.70"ID sleeve
(think I used a 12" piece of 1.5" galvenized water pipe)

Ebay steering controller from seller "brunolopesantunes"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sat...x-EPAS-/171027023129

1" x 4" x 1/8" steel/aluminum plate for the box wire cover

steering shaft coupler - I used a Borgeson #314900, 3/4" "DD"x 3/4" round, 1.25 OD x 2" long

small fuse holder for 10a fuse (ignition power for the control box)

heavy (4ga?) wire at least as the size as the Vue motor power wire to go through the console back to the battery

a fuse holder for the power wire - original Vue unit or aftermarket - 80a is the original fuse size
(Walmart has stereo amp install kits with heavy wire and MAXI fuse holders)

a brass stud mount that replaces the positive battery cable bolt like NAPA # 728221

misc parts: 3 nuts for the 6mm Vue tube bolts, solder, heat shrink tubing, wire & ties, terminals,etc.
(read through install first - I might have missed some little stuff needed)
======================================================================================================
SOME TOOLS NEEDED:

mertic sockets/wrenches
(3) needle nose vise grips
soldering iron
drill and 15/64" bit(holes for the 6mm bolts
die grinder & assortment of carbide bits to remove metal at end of column
die grinder with 3" cutoff wheel - something to cut plate steel, shafts, separate Vue column, etc.

special tools:
snap ring pliers
welder
metal lathe to make the metal sleeve, center punch and turn the hole in the adapter plate
lock plate compresser for shaft snap ring
pivot pin puller, Oreily/autozone has under $10, $6 on Ebay shipped - KD Tools #3906D

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A lot of the info on the install came from a thread on The Vintage Mustang Forum,

http://forums.vintage-musta...00-mod-ever-eps.html

Page #7 / post #97 has a lot of info. You have to join to view it.

=======================================================================================
column that can be used: Saturn Vue - from 2002 to 2007 (what I used)
Chevrolet Equinox - from 2005 to 2007
Pontiac Torrent 2005-2007, not 2008
Saturn Ion - from 2003 to 2006

IMPORTANT! The box on the column MUST have a metal lid, not black plastic!
The black ones will not work with the Ebay controller.

The steering wheel, column switches and lock cylinder are not needed.

Get the u-joint shaft to the rack and the two plugs for the column module, 8" for the
purple/pink wire plug, 12" for the power plug, unbolt the ground wire from the brake bracket.
Also get the 80A fuse/holder for the power wire(under the brake booster on the Vue,
unknown for the others - follow the power wire out the dash) if you don't have a fuse
setup (about $12 at Walmart)



First, remove the steering wheel using a puller. If a puller is not available you
may get it loose by putting the nut back on the shaft a few threads, hold the column
upright off the ground & have someone else hit nut/end of shaft with a hammer.
The threaded column end & any wires for the wheel will not be used.




Remove the bolts for the lock cylinder & slide off the switch assembly.
The column and parts used wil look like this:



remove snap ring at top of column shaft and 3 10mm bolts at bottom of tube



slide tube off shaft



pull upper shaft off box splined shaft (pull hard) - will use later



cut upper tube/first layer at red line to separate lower tube. Keep lower tube
with 3-bolt flange, upper section is not needed.




Now we need to remove the module from the motor - remove the side cover, pull
the wires out slightly and remove the black plastic piece behind the white plugs.




Mark the wire/plug locations: red plug on left (to lower sensor), white plug on right (to upper sensor)
wires:black/blue/blue/black

unsolder the plugs from the module - heat one pin & rock plug to the side to pull it out a little,
then heat the other pin & rock the other way - repeat until each plug is loose.
OR
You could just mark & cut the wires(don't un-solder the plugs) & solder/heat shrink new longer wires on



remove the two 5mm allen bolts and remove module.
pull out the black seal & clean off the gease - going to seal this area with tape while grinding



I used a #50 drill bit to clean out the module's holes to solder in new wires



Tape up the input, output and module wire holes for grinding off the Vue brackets: One mount will
hit the brake light switch, the other will hit the brake pedal bracket.
Knock out the sleeve with a punch, cut off the sleeve's mounts with a hack saw or your 3" cut-off
wheel. Grind off everything marked in black.






The box will look like this when done, just the ears for the bolts left



You also need to grind open the slot at the red arrow for the wires:



Now you need to rotate front plate so wires are facing up - unbolt the two gold bolts, lift
the plate up enough to clear the motor & rotate 180 degrees and bolt back down.




cut the wires short & solder/heat shrink each one to a different color wire about 12"long - make
sure you write down which wire goes to each color: red plug-black or blue, white plug-black or blue

What I did: (top sensor, white plug) black to black, blue to blue
(bottom sensor, red plug) black to brown, blue to light blue



make a plate from 1/8"x 1" aluminum to cover the hole and wires - the box is done!

[This message has been edited by AL68 (edited 04-06-2015).]

COLUMN MOD


First you need to cut the bracket at the lower end of the column to weld on a plate to bolt the motor to.
Cut at the white lines in the picture on both sides so the column lower mounting bracket is slightly
(a few thousandsof an inch) behind the end of the round tube but DO NOT REMOVE METAL FROM THE ROUND TUBE END, you want
a flat surface to weld the plate to. The cuts don't have to be perfect, the plate will be touching the
tube end when welded on. Don't remove the the area at the red arrow, this will be used to align the
motor mounting plate.




The end of column should now look like next picture. File flat the top of the mounting areas marked in red.
File flat/square off the areas marked in yellow - will be the alignment spot for the mounting plate.
Also file the tabs at a slight taper outward to slide the plate off the end of the tube.



Take the 4 x 4.5" plate and make two notches about 1/16" deep to fit the plate tight between the
two mounting tabs. It should sit flat on the end of the round tube & not touch the mounting bracket
except at the notched alignment points, the alignment points should not raise the plate up off the round
tube - THE PLATE MUST SIT FLAT ON END OF THE TUBE.
The steel plate should sit flat like picture with cardboard plate (forgot to take picture of steel one).




##############################################################################################################
I put this part in the wrong order, you need to shorten the column before test fitting for the motor clock position and welding the plate on.
(I made 2 column up at the same time & welded the 2nd before collapsing it)
Lay the plate on the end of the column, measure down the same 4 1/8" & tap column together to this mark.
this is the part from the end of the tube build that should be done now:

The column is too long to fit as-is, need to collapse it a little to fit. It needs to be 4 1/8" from the welded
on plate to the bottom of the upper tube, it should be about 5.25 now. Mark the lower tube so you don't go too far.
Place column tube top on a small wood block with the ignition switch rod off to the side. Put another wood block
on the motor mounting plate & CAREFULLY tap the column together until you reach the 4 1/8" mark.





Now continue modifying the tube and making the plate as before below:
#######################################################################################
next you need to make the inside of the tube end completely round inside: use a die grinder and carbide
bit to remove the tabs for the lower bearing screws & any raised spot welds from the lower mounting bracket
you can feel inside the tube for about 4" inside the tube.



Now we need to use the Vue upper tube to make the bolt pattern on the steel plate to mount the box. The
tube has a smaller outside diameter than the Fiero column tube inside diameter. I made a 4" long sleeve out
out of a piece of water pipe. My mesurements were 1.840" OD / 1.700" ID BUT it fit a little loose on the second
column tube I built. Make your own measurements after grinding out the column tube for the best fit.

While you have access to a lathe make a small center punch with a tiny center tip to fit tight into the 3 holes
of the Vue tube with the 3 mounting tabs, you will need it to mark holes to drill in the mounting plate.

Another idea I had (but have not tried) to avoid making the sleeve - wrap the Vue tube evenly with a wide tape
(masking, duct tape, etc.) where the sleeve is in the picture to build up it's outside diameter
until it fits snug into the Fiero column but it must be able to rotate a little. This should center the Vue tube
almost as good as a metal sleeve.




Bolt the Vue tube back on the PS unit with a bolt in either of the two red arrow spots (other spot may keep box
from rotating on Fiero column while aligning) and slide the sleeve (or tape up the tube) onto the tube.




Bolt the upper bracket back on the Fiero column in the original direction, then slide the Fiero column onto the Vue
tube/sleeve assembly with the motor pointing to the left. The column should look like this now except the motor
nose & wires should be facing down, I didn't rotate the motor end yet.



the little square notch outlined in white on the bottom of the Fiero column is going to be the alignment point for
the motor.



Install column/motor assembly in car with the original 2 bolts/2 nuts. The electric motor should
angle behind fuse block like the following picture. You can get more clearance by folding down
to fuse block, press in the release tabs on the sides.



Rotate the motor to about the 10:00 position and place a mark at the square notch at the bottom of the Fiero column
like in the picture (mark the Vue tube, not the sleeve). This will give the best clearance up and down, any higher the
original control box will hit the cowl when mounted to the motor in a future step.

(You may want to mount the control box to the motor now with wire ties to test fit, see the pictures farther down. It is a tight fit to the cowl &
you can't change the plate once welded on)

The mark should line up(or almost line up) with the spot where the tab for bolting on the Vue tube meets the round part of the motor (green arrow).



Remove column assembly from car & unbolt the Vue tube from the box. Slide the Vue tube & sleeve into the column end,
aligning the mark you made with the notch at the column bottom.



Now take the 4x5 steel plate you notched earlier, place on end of aligned tube, notches on the bracket.




Using 3 needle nose vise-grips clamp the 3 Vue tube tabs to the plate TIGHT!



Once secure, pull the plate and tube assembly out of the column end.
Put marks on the plate and Vue tube so you can bolt the plate onto the tube in the same position.



Now you need to mark the hole centers to drill the mounting plate holes.
I made a small/shallow tip center punch to barely go into the Vue tube mounting ears & mark the holes.



drill the three holes 15/64, cut the Vue tube to the same size as the sleeve.



Lightly bolt the plate on the Vue tube in the same position, put on the sleeve & slide assembly back into
the column end. The bolts will hit the column end in a couple places, use a die grinder with a carbide bit
to grind away part of the lower column bracket to clear so Vue tube & plate will sit flat on column tube end.



(continued in next post)

[This message has been edited by AL68 (edited 04-12-2015).]

once column end is clearanced for bolts, align mark with slot on bottom & the plate notches with the lower
mount tabs. Now use the die grinder to clearance the bolts so a wrench will fit on the head & the bolt can be
unscrewed (you can slide out tube/plate to grind)

TIP: find 3 bolts same thread/length but with 8mm head, less grinding needed. See previous picture of
aluminum plate wire cover for the Vue steering box for bolt pic.



You will end up with something like these pics, continue slots higher to have room to unscrew bolts (red "X" area) :





Thghten the 3 plate bolts, trace around tube tabs and lower column for bracket final shape, keep about 1/16" of
the lower plate notch over the top of the lower column to align plate.



Now remove plate from Vue tube & cut to look like 2nd picture, curve top point - it points down in car.
(center hole in next step)




Lightly bolt the plate onto the Vue tube, put the sleeve back on and slide assembly back into tube.
Line up the lower plate notches & press the plate snugly against the column tube. Tighten all
three bolts TIGHT to keep plate aligned on tube. Put the tube in lathe with plate on end, drill/turn
a hole in the plate to match the diameter of the Vue box at the red arrow, then make a large chamfer
on the hole to clear the box at the green arrow so the plate will sit flat on the box.

(you can shorten the tube more to fit in the lathe, it will not be used for anything else)




Test fit bracket on column end, make sure chamfer is facing out & it SITS FLAT ON THE COLUMN TUBE
so it will weld on flat.
You also need to clean the paint off for welding. I bead blasted the column end. Mark the switches position
with a permanant marker - circle the bolt positions, draw lines where they overlap, etc.(they are adjustable)
blow off column well afterwards. A wire wheel and/or paint stripper could work also.



Need to extend/close the slots in the lower mount, I used a couple fender shims the same thickness as the
mount & cut to fit.



Time to weld! Put the bracket on the end of the column & line up with the lower plate notches, chamfer out.
I ran a long piece of 3/8" threaded rod through the column with a piece of 1"x3"x1/8" steel with a hole in
the center & nut on each end to pull the bracket tight to the column tube.

Tack weld the plate to the column in a few places to keep it from warping, then weld the plate to the center
tube and lower bracket wherever possible: around tube, both sides of the lower column bracket. Also weld on
the end pieces for the lower bracket slots.

The column end should look like the next pics when done, you may have grind away a little of the welds so
the 3 bolts will tighten down flat. Grind the mounting bracket slots flat where the end pieces were welded on.
Bolt the column back on the box & check clearances for bolts, grind where necessary.





You can now paint the column, Krylon satin black works good.

column body is done

[This message has been edited by AL68 (edited 04-12-2015).]