ONE thing that MUST be considered and understood is that back when power steering and power brakes were NOT on everything, they were considered to be "LUXURY options" . . . not "everyday options" or even standard equipment on every vehicle, back then.
In those 1950s and later times, "Luxury" was measured not in quietness or smoothness only, but also in how much effort it did NOT take to operate the vehicle. Which means "steering and brakes" to almost everybody back then. Most manual steering systems require over 5 turns lock to lock and for a panic stop, a good bit of leg strength was needed. Chrysler (and most GM) power steering, by comparison, took only 3.5 turns to go side to side. Only "toe pressure" rather than Foot/leg pressure for the power brakes. As BOTH operations could happen quicker, they were also considered to be "safety features", too.
Customers ALSO knew these things back then, so they compensated in THEIR actions in operating the vehices, as to how much effort was needed and used.
Yes, power brakes COULD be touchy if you were not used to them. Not everybody could adjust to them, which resulted in some smalloer-town dealers (with then-elderly customers) would order power steering and not power brakes on vehicles, where they were options and not standard. Then, when the vehicles became used cars and their new customer wanted power brakes, there were OEM accessory kits to install power brakes where they were not factory-installed.
"Luxury" back then also meant "isolation", which could mean less "kickback" of the steering wheel and less road feel, which was not really important on the new Interstates of the era, back then. Only "performance drivers" worried about such things, as a gauge of how hard they were cornering. But these things seemed to become marketing issues, "Euro feel", so road feel was artificially introduced for "higher effort" power steering. "One hand" rather than "two fingers".
By observation, the lighter-effort power steering also meant you had to pay attendtion to what you were doing and desired to steering the vehicle. With both the faster ratio and easier effort, easy to get "off track". So, pay attention!
There were also different alignment Caster settings for power steering and non-power steering vehicles, back then. With the power assist of power steering, more caster could be used (usually 3/4 - 1 degree) for better high speed stability and no worries about possible increased effort. Manual steering went the other direction, with similar numbers on the negative caster side, for less effort. Not sure if those negative numbers really affected things, but less effort was the main orientation.
In the realm of power steering, in cornering, you learned to feel lateral g-forces with your glutes rather than how much the steering wheel was resisting being turned. Once you got keyed-in on that and also tire squeal, you soon learned what was going on and how much farther you could go. Putting the front tire pressure up 2psi from the rear pressure (in the 30-32 psi range for the fronts, back then), that helped with steering response and made tire squeal happen a bit later, for "more enjoyment".
DO make sure the power steering gear is correctly adjusted, per FSM. DO make sure there are no fluids on the brake linings and they are correctly adjusted. DO make sure all of the front end suspension items are not worn and need replacing with OEM-quality items. Not to forget the rear suspension rubber bushings and such! If everything is good, you can either get used to driving with less effort or spend a chunk of change for a high-quality reman steering gear from one of the noted rebuilders on this forum, with modifications for "more effort" in the process. Or spend more money for a later-model gear kit set-up from Borgeson. But to me, "low effort" goes with the territory as that is what I grew up with and learned to enjoy very much.
Respectfully,
CBODY67
