66 Fairlane power steering

Is there a way to test power steering components. We have the motor out of the car and would like to test the steering valve and the cylinder for leaks. Everything is accessable with the motor remove. Kind of a pain to get to with the motor in place and no hyd. lift. I was thinking of pressurizing the system with a Hyd. hand pump to a couple of hundred pounds to check for leaks. Is this acceptable? System was not hooked up when we got the car. The power steering pump mounting bolt hole on the head was stripped and the pump belt was removed. The HP line from pump was broken and the return to pump was disconnected. Pump turns free by hand. Steering works OK in manual mode. Any ideas?
John

Hi John,
If it were me doing it, I'd rebuild the control valve, the ram, and the pump...
The rebuild kits are available from a variety of different sources. (I think I got mine from NAPA)
The rebuild process for all of them is fairly straight forward.
At the very minimum I'd replace the bad hoses, fill the pump, and rig a way to drive it to pressurize the system... That way you're checking the total system at one time.
Shop manual says system pressure at 1000 rpm should be 750 to 900 psi.
If you want I'll e-mail you the pdf file that covers it.
I'd also check the boots on the ram shaft, and the control valve stud. If they're torn at all replace 'em while it's easy to get to.

Thanks again D.B. What would I do without you! I wouldn't mind the specs if you don't mind e-mailing them to me. [email protected]
I didn't realize there are rebuild kits for the components. The boots on the cylinder do need replacing so we will do the recommended rebuilds.
I still owe you some pics. We haven't forgotten. We want the car to look presentable.
John

Hello D.B. I found a rebuild kit for both the control valve and cylinder thru CarQuest (Southern Auto Parts). Napa didn't show a listing.