Dalannex

So who here as a non-power rack and pinion kit installed in their C3? I do all rural driving and no city driving. Just cruising around on wide open roads in rural South Dakota. I have a 69' BB vert with no power steering and the steering feel of that doesn't bother me a bit so that should give you a feel for my tolerance to steering feel. So what kit do you have and how to you like it. I would like a little quicker steering response, maybe less turns lock to lock, and a nice clean, complete, bolt in install.

Who has the non-power rack kits?


-Justin

72LS1Vette

I think Flaming River is the the only vendor selling non-power R&P kits.



Rick B.

Dalannex

I think so too. I just thought that maybe if somebody had some other obscure kit they could throw it out here.

Anybody have the flaming river kit?


Justin

mikey

My '64 LS2 project is using a Mustang II manual rack and pinion. RevXtreme is going to figure out how to mount it up.. the rack was only $100 so I'm sure we can figure out how to mount it for less than the other $1000 that flaming river wants..

Will post pics when we're done.. probably 30 days..

Gale Banks 80'

Steeroids can be used with or without a power steering pump. If You find that you don't like it you can always add a PS pump later on. Probably the same with the others.

Dalannex

Does anybody have a picture of the flaming river steering shaft setup by chance. Probably not, sounds like there are none of them out there. I am not terribly thrilled about all of the linkage in the steeroids arrangement. I don't now how else you would do it though.


-Justin

mrvette

I did a power rack install myself , about 6 months before Steeroids came out....it's a fairly simple install really, just found the simplest way to get rid of one unnecessary U joint was to cut a crescent chunk out of the rear lower section of the engine mount horn to allow the steering input to be tipped higher thereby relaxing the angle on the two universal joints I used....

the mounts I devised are not only stronger than anyting I seen commercially, but much smaller and lighter....been there since early 02 and street driven daily....

so yes, the issue is not that hard, the hardest problem is devising a adaptor block to the CTO rack and retain the stock tie rod ends, then you have to extend the tie rod collars....

not a issue.....the headers maybe have to be changed a bit on the driver's side, but that's true for most installs no matter what you do.....typically #1 pipe is in the way....I bought a set of Schoenfeld 'chassis' headers, cured that problem....

burners

The flaming river rack is a 4 turn lock to lock unit. Not exactly quick ratio and you have to hack up the car to install it. The Steeroids is 2.5 turns. I've run it manually and it is fine although a bit difficult when parking. Are you running your current steering in the quick ratio position on the steering arms?

Dalannex

Yes I am in the quick ratio setup. I just want to get rid of my powersteering pump and lines and cylinder/valve getup. My power steering pump pulley is so close to the frame that my belt hits on the frame and squeals when I put the car in reverse and I don't want to mess with it too much. I would rather just clean it up and do away with it. It would be great to find a smaller power steering pulley or something but that pump and lines and all of that is just in a bad location and a mess.


-Justin

burners

I agree with you. I never liked ps pumps on an engine and the stock Corvette mess of lines is very annoying. Just as a thought, have you shimmed the engine mount or changed to a slightly thicker mount to get the belt off the frame? Or perhaps the transmission mount is a little too thick?

Dalannex

I did install new/stiffer engine mounts. I haven't thought about the trans mount. I have a tubular trans mount and did have to do quite a bit of modification to get it to fit so I could modify that to drop the rear of the trans a bit. Maybe I should just think along that lines and look at steeroids.

Hey mrvette, would you be willing to share some pictures of your install?

-Justin

mrvette

Over the years in these conversations, I have photo'd the thing many times, and even had some diagrams I drew up were scanned, I don't know where any of that is now a daze, as I have switched computers maybe twice since then.....

gimme your email addy or send me one through here, and I see what I can find...no promises....I have stuck them online at my site, but doubt they are there now....

Dalannex

That's OK, I'll search the CF archives for them.

naasaa

I planning to mount a power assisted R&P on my 68 on my own.
Surely the installation will take a bit longer than replacing old with a complete R&P kit, taking all fabrication in account.
searcing through old post i notice that many others are considering this conversion as well.
Wouldn't it be great if others hard earned experiences, as mrvette, could be gathered in one document and saved under Tech Tips?

mrvette, which kind of R&P did you use?

BR
Lars

427V8

Look at my web site
<-----

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/427v8/c3randp.html

mrvette

There is the majority of your answers there, but as typical with any hand/garage build, there are slightly different solutions for a similar/exact problem....

he used the original tie rods from a GAm....I used the OEM vette tie rod ends and had a adaptor block made.......

I also tipped the rack as described above,

MY whole install took about a week, after finding the right RACK to use....that took a long time with all sorts of wasted efforts....

72LS1Vette

Did you look into getting a shorter belt for the PS pump? The replacement frame that I bought for my 72 was in excellent condition except for the hole that some meathead mechanic torched in the front crossmember for PS pulley clearance. I bet if he had just used a shorter belt there would have been plenty of clearance. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones.



Rick B.

Dalannex

You really don't gain anything by changing belt length because the pulley follows the same plane as the frame right in that area.


-Justin

naasaa

Thanks for your comments. Very helpfull.
Are the original C3 outer tie rods easy to pair with the Grand Am tie rods?
With Flamming River's kit it's necessary to make cut out at the engine mount. Is it not necessary with this R&P?

Thanks
Lars