rack&pinion

[air-chief]

Hi All

Has anyone fitted a rear mounted rack & pinion steering?
I'm interested in knowing what effects this has had on the car. i.e. turning circle, clearance on parts. :-/  
Also what sort of column would be best suited to this application?

Regards
air-chief

[coolaride]

hey there air-chief
never fitted a front or rear rack and pinion steering .
but , i went for a drive in an fc fitted with a holden
308 with rack and pinion .
the turning circle was very poor .
this car struggled to turn around suburbian roundabouts.
sometimes had to stop and reverse and try again .

hope this helps . coolaride  

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

I also haven't done/had this my self, I have heard the two most common conversions use either a Torana or a Commodore set-up. I have also heard the Commodore set-up has better turning and you can also fit power-steering if you are lazy.

I believe one of the SA FE/C members (Kathy?) has converted to rack and pinion and uses a Torana column.

[fc_ute]

i would also like some info on this conversion as we are about to start our next project which is a fc wagon which will run nearly all vn commodore gear

[sgo]

I've fitted one to my HR front end, in an FC. It's an early commodore one, shortened and uses early torana steering arms, which makes it a lot more direct than the longer HQ ones I originally tried. Lock is OK but not really small.The intermediate shaft is I think HQ and  goes to a VP column. This is done by using the lower part of the HQ collapsable shaft which is the same fit as the upper VP collapsable shaft.This should let you use any intermediate shaft to most columns. The VP column needs to be lengthened.The steering rods from the rack to the arms were also a problem as when you shorten the rack the rods end up too short to reach the tie rod ends!If you check out the site http://www.v6conversions.com.au/ you can see a kit and photo that can help.
I've made up my mods. and it works OK but can be improved upon.

[sgo]

PS. I think you should also try and use the steering arms,  and tie rod ends that suit the rack that you use to make life easier.The original steering stops on the HR lower wishbones were removed and new ones made up to give the rack it's max travel.
Have fun!

[Richard]

I fitted one once to a friend's FC.  It was a complete set from an.... Austin 1800 !!  It slipped into place very easily.  From memory, Rover V8s used the same one, but there are probably better units these days.  Actually, it wasn't really worth it as the original steering set up properly was very good, especially with radial tyres.

[Sarge]

Air-Chief
      I have only ever done this conversion once useing commodore parts and it was more trouble than it was worth. the original steering it a lot better, if you do it I wish you lot's of luck,and hope you have time on your hands and are a patient man.

Regard's
Sarge

[Rawls]

G'Day, I put an HR front end in my EK station wagon and bought a "Castlemaine Rod Shop" conversion kit for a commodore rack and pinion for about $500 which came with a shortened commodore rack, mounting brackets, and everything you need to do the job. It worked beautifully and didn't change the original turning circle at all. You may have to scallop out a small section of your sump to make way for where your shaft connects to the rack if you are running a grey motor - you won't have to if running a red. You will also have to convert your own steering column. Gemini columns are the go or you can use a commodore one if you don't mind the look of them. I converted my EK column by cutting it off at the firewall and welding it to the two plates that usually bolt to the firewall around the column with a rubber seal. I then got a bearing out of the top of another EK column and modified it to fit up inside the end I had cut. I then turned a small section of the end of the shaft that protrudes from the column down to fit a universal joint from a torana steering shaft. Then I got the bottom section of a commodore shaft (the bit that bolts to the rack) and turned it down to suit the torana joint also and joined it all up. It all works beautifully and I've heard from other guys that the commodore kit works heaps better than the torana ones. Good Luck