Toymods Car Club Inc: Tech & Conversions => Rack'n'Pinion for RA28

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TA40ST
Occasional Poster

Location:
Cardiff, South Wales, UK
Registered:
October 2003

Re: Rack'n'Pinion ideas for RA28	Sun, 12 October 2003 20:14

Hi all Not sure how much help this is to everybody, but I have just finished a R&P conversion on my 1980 TA40 Celica, but could also apply to an earlier Celica. Anyway here is the story and pictures so far. Tatty 1980 TA40 + seized Rover V8 + too much beer = new project 3 years later I am just about there. I had intended to use the original steering box, but a problem with most V8 conversions into a RH drive car is that the cylinder bank on the drivers side is the one which is set back and does not leave much room between the engine and the steering box (about 1 inch). This situation was worsened by the fact that Rover V8 has a rear sump, so the drag link sat where the sump was supposed to be. After a few false starts using the original x member, I gave up and decided to design and fabricate my own x member which would allow me mount the engine, clear the sump (original 2TB x member curved back fouling the RV8 sump) and also allow me to mount a steering rack. My only choice was to mount the steering rack in front of the stub axles, which caused a few headaches even finding a rack that steered the correct way. Most racks I could find in the scrap yards go the other way (FWD mounted behind the stub axles I guess) kind of obvious when you think about it long enough. And a car that goes right, when you turn the wheel to the left is none too clever. I finally found a manual steering rack from a Volvo 244 that was about the right width and had a sensible mounting system.. Actually mounting a rack is the easy bit, mounting it in the place you want it without compromising any of the parameters that affect how the steering behaves, safety etc is the tough bit. Obviously starting with a new x-member that evolved as part of the steering helped but it is not easy to get right, and I am a design engineer! Another problem of mounting the rack in front of the stub axles is that to acheieve the correct ackeraman angle does require new steering arms which have to be custom made not a cheap hobby. These arms also mean that the minimum size wheel I could fit was 15 as anything less would foul on the new arms as they angle in toward the wheel, unless you have some mad negative offset, Carlos Fandango wheels . The arms in the photos are the temporary welded versions to work out the angles etc. I also had to move the anti-roll bar and mount it below the suspension arms, but trust me that another story altogether A quick introduction to some of the problems (bump steer, ackerman angle etc,) can be found here: http://www.uk-hotrods.co.uk/technical/tech%20steer ing/steering.htm The next headache was how to connect this rack to the steering column. One area where I never take risks or short cuts is on a project like this, and this applies even more in areas like steering and suspension where one failure can really spoil your day. This kind of rules out cobbling together the UJ from a socket set, welded to a bit of old steel rod, gaffa taped to a curtain pole (apparantely it does happen!?) I finally chose components from http://www.flaming-river.com/ I have to admit this stuff is expensive and I had to import it from the US, but it is worth it. From the spline on the Volvo steering rack a UJ converts this to 0.75 DD shaft which runs through the first support bearing, this then connects to a double UJ (due to the angle) which connect to more 0.75 DD shaft supported with another bearing. This shaft then runs up and through the bulkhead, roughly where the original steering rag joint came through. A 0.75 flange bearings is bolted to the other side of the bulkhead to support it. One final UJ connects this shaft to the original (but shortened) Celica steering column (luckily enough also 0.75 DD shaft). Add a fair few brackets and some other bits and pieces and that is all there is to it! Oh and also chuck out the scrap yard rack used for the engineering/experimentation and go and buy a new one. As with most things like this there is not always a definitive right or wrong way to do things, some ways are safer, some are cheaper, some look better etc. This is just the way I did mine and really was a bit of a nightmare but does work quite well, but I doubt it is approriate for most straight forward Celica R&P swaps. I guess I should also say that these are not instructions on how to do this, but just a quick overview, and a million other little factors and problem have to be considered and calculated to make something like this work and be safe. Anyway enjoy the pictures, and if anybody needs any further details specifically on the R&P steering or about the V8 conversion in general let me know I would be happy to help if I can or offer my sympathies if you are considering something similar. Going through the all the photos of the project to find some suitable steering pics, it has struck me that nearly half of the pictures have a beer can in the background, so make sure you budget for a shed load of beer for a similar conversion. Enjoy GT Cardiff South Wales (the old one) UK [Report message to a moderator]

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