P/S delete
 

Ive seen a few members on here looking to do p/s delete i just did one that seemed to be really simple and work great. The 2006 escape with a 2.3 has electric P/S and has a bracket with the same diameter pulley as the duratec P/S pump i just put a breather in between the two lines its really not difficult to drive being so light. But i noticed alittle pick up low end and better response.

Wait. So you did an electric P/S swap rather than a P/S delete?

No i took my pump off and installed the bracket and pulley off a 06 escape they are the same diameter and will bolt up perfect and you can even use your stock belt just wont have P/S

So it still has the rack just no pressure? Not sure how long that will be able to last. Now if we could go full manual rack that would free up not only power but weight. I think we should investigate further into this.

From what ive read as long as you put a breather inbetween the 2 lines it will be fine

Were there any LHD Focuses with manual steering? Would other similar, older cars (i.e., Escort) potentially have manual racks available?

While I don't know anything specifically about the Focus racks, people have been depowering racks in other cars for many years without apparent issue. It's actually fairly common in the Miata world, even though there are OEM bolt-in manual racks available. The problem being that the true manual racks had a slower ratio which trades responsiveness for reduced driver effort.

You sir are my hero!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
now to get a full manual rack!
I have been waiting for an answer like this for a while now.

do you have a part number for the bracket?

Hate to quote myself but FWIW some of the base model mid-90s Ford Escorts came without power steering. I have no idea how difficult it would be to swap in the steering rack, probably a lot harder than I realize. I also have no idea if it's possible to swap the internal bits from the Escort's manual rack. [dunno]