I spoke with the Lares Tech line today. They said it is common on old pumps that if you bleed the system at running idle speed, it will hold an air bubble at the valve in the back of the pump and never clear it, which will result in the exact situation I have - loss of assist at idle. That's why they recommend that you bleed it with the coil wire out and just at cranking speed.
Attached is their remedy - basically remove the pressure line from the back of the pump, then remove the fitting itself. Access the valve behind that fitting. t will probably be sticking in the bore somewhere in its full travel. Push it up and back until it moves smoothly. Then reassemble and re-bleed at cranking speed only. He said that the stock original pumps put out more than enough pressure to operate this steering box at idle.
I will try this in the next couple days. Hopefully it works. He said there was no need to buy a new pump (which was nice since I fully expected him to say you should buy a brand new pump from us...)
I will say the 974 box is really nice. Lots of firmness on the road - like a modern car and not like the old, anesthetized, one-finger turning of the original box.
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