Just a quick question....

Do the V8 EL Fairmont Ghia's have the same speed sensitive steering as the 6 cylinder EL Fairmont Ghia's??

If so, how hard is it to convert to a normal (non speed sensitive) rack?

Yes they do have the speed sensitive power steering. My old EL Fairmont Ghia v8 had it.

Why would you want to change it to normal power steering?
I think its an advantage.

To be honest Timmeh, I'm going by an EL 6 cyl Ghia that I had a few years back.

I never liked it because the engine had a vac leak somewhere which resulted in a funny drop in revs when coming off power (down to about 400rpm before taking up a normal idle) which resulted in the steering loading up really badly........

I haven't driven one that has operated right, but I have found an EL V8 Ghia with Ticky kit and wheels that I am considering buying (sight unseen as I am up in the Territory for work at the moment), but not too sure about that steering.....

So you reckon it's a good thing when it's working right?

Yeah definately. The problem you had could possibly be the power steering switch in the rack.
That keeps the revs up when you have low revs for parking. That could of been faulty.
The power steering has a avariable valve that does the speed sensitive adjusting. It doesn't sound like it would be that.
Most likely the switch in the rack was intermittent or slow to come on.