If you look at any race car that weighs over about 2500lbs, you will find they all have power steering. Even sprint cars (1300lbs) have power steering. There is a reason for this. You will get worked over without it.
If you're going for steering "feel", disconnecting a power rack is not going to do anything. There's still the servo/spool-valve that's flexing and reducing "feel".
I'm not doing it for "feel". the pump was a leaky mess and looping the lines was a cheap fix and it hasn't bothered me enough to find and install another pump.
You'll need a new drive shaft no matter what m45/m46/m47 you want to put inI will be somewhat disappointed if I'm not able to find and install a manual, that is definitely a goal. Worst case scenario is just leave the auto in 2nd, which is way less cool.
I figure if I'm likely to find anything that fits without a hassle, it would probably be an M45, which sounds like it's crap. Are any other Volvo manuals also a direct fit without needing a new driveshaft or other significant fabrication or modification?
From what I can tell the auto cars had shorter rear gearing, which seems like what I'd want...