Rack and pinion - homemade Steeroids with GrandAm rack

Dave, our car are SO much different, I not sure it's a fair comparo.....but we get together some nice day and you welcome to drive my car, but I carry a GUN......in the passenger side......:yahoo::devil:


but seriously, with a BBC vs my basically ZZ4 200 4r setup, the only real difference you likely to feel is the steering ratio stock being ~16-1 and mine or Borgeson being 12-1, honestly I LOVE being able to turn a corner by flipping the wheel ~90* instead of doing a hand over or twist my wrist....


It's a personal thing, I guess, no way to describe it in typing much less verbally.....

I ain't doin nuttin, as per typical, so call me, and we get a sammich around noon and you find out what you think....no biggie.....


:harhar:
 
damoroso said:
Sooo....two questions. First, how much of a difference/benefit do you feel between the rack conversion and a well functioning stock system. Is it worth the conversion now that you've done it? I've completely gone through my stock system and it doesn't leak, and there isn't any real play in the system, but I've not driven a C3 with R&P steering. And, I wonder if this will fit on a BBC conversion. I was watching Gunter's work and was interested, but I really don't want to bang the crap out of my headers to get room for the steering shaft, especially if there isn't that much difference.
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The R&P setup requieres less space than the stock box so you should have better header clearance than stock.
Now for the benefit: with the PS rack you get the 2.5 turns lock to lock , the manual rack is 3.7 turns just like stock.
Driving the manual rack: it doesn't really feel that much different than the stock PS setup, like I said I like the clutter free install without the pump, reservoir and that stuff .... I like it simple ...
 
MYBAD79 said:
Ok, here are the templates for the parts, the cross beam is 1" tubing and in my case 28" with a little meat for final fitting once the other two pieces are bolted yo the frame ....

photo_zps273ddf6d.jpg

On the driver side the 1" square tubing piece is 3/4" offset towards the driver side ...
Click to expand...

Thank you for your time on these. I really appreciate the time and effort to post and make these brackets. I'm hoping I can get everything together soon so I can start working on getting my rack installed.
 
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re-did the center link.... there was nothing really wrong but I wanted more thread engagement on the rod ends and ball joints... anyways, here's a video of the finished install:

th_MyMovie_zpsd06e0d13.jpg
 
Looks good! I just might wanna do that too! Have to run power though, not sure how I'd eliminate the pump from the serpentine set up if I removed it.
 
damoroso said:
Looks good! I just might wanna do that too! Have to run power though, not sure how I'd eliminate the pump from the serpentine set up if I removed it.
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If you "have to" run power (wife driving the car, etc) ... The later style pumps with the remote reservoir aren't all that bad....it's just that I prefer the un-cluttered look and the simplicity.... feel free to stop by and check out how the manual steering "feels" compared to stock, I don't think it's all that different minus the "slop" .... The effort isn't really much different that stock, hard to explain but once you put your hands on the wheel it's very 'clear'.....

Like I said, stop by if you like .... Drop me a PM so I'm here :)
 
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dumb question

I noticed that on your passenger side bracket there is a plate that bolts to the bottom of the frame,how is this fastened to the frame ?Did you drill & tap the frame?
Gimpy
 
gimpy said:
I noticed that on your passenger side bracket there is a plate that bolts to the bottom of the frame,how is this fastened to the frame ?Did you drill & tap the frame?
Gimpy
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I cut the frame, inserted a plate (1/4" thick), welded it in place, then drilled and tapped it from the bottom.... Probably way overkill......
 
I cut the frame, inserted a plate (1/4" thick), welded it in place, then drilled and tapped it from the bottom.... Probably way overkill......[/QUOTE]


Likely not overkill,as you said earlier in this thread "it is steering",not sure how I'm going to do the passenger side yet, but I like that plate,I am not able to weld on my frame(don't have a good welder where the car is)but I'll find a solution.
Thanks for the quick reply & posting your work!
Gimpy
 
gimpy said:
Likely not overkill,as you said earlier in this thread "it is steering",not sure how I'm going to do the passenger side yet, but I like that plate,I am not able to weld on my frame(don't have a good welder where the car is)but I'll find a solution.
Thanks for the quick reply & posting your work!
Gimpy
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you can cut the frame (a 1/4" slot) to insert the plate, bolt it all up and weld the frame back together later..... just make sure when you weld the frame you also weld the plate - otherwise it's loose inside the frame once the bolts are out....
 
:hissyfit: Seems that everybody with an install, wether it's from a company product, or their own design, used much more steel in the thing than I did.....

yet mine has been there for since '02 now.....wore out a rubber doughnut from grease/oil more than any wear, I check it once in a while, and it seem stable and fine.....maybe I"m rong, but I don't see all the fuss on those brackets, all the cross bracing, and concentration on the place where the old p/s ram bracket was located....I used one of them bolt holes for my triangulation, but that's IT, :clobbered::rolleyes:
 
Well.... I guess you can at any time say "eh.... good enough" or you keep going and build something that is better than anything you can buy....

on that same note: I also painted the entire bracket with epoxy primer and metallic paint, that's a bit overkill too but I don't like rust either....

:beer:
 
MYBAD79 said:
Ok, here are the templates for the parts, the cross beam is 1" tubing and in my case 28" with a little meat for final fitting once the other two pieces are bolted yo the frame ....

photo_zps273ddf6d.jpg

On the driver side the 1" square tubing piece is 3/4" offset towards the driver side ...
Click to expand...

Do you happen to have a larger photo or a scan of those templates? A few of the numbers are hard to read. I need to get to work on this project...
 
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