Impreza steering rack mod

[Rowge]

Gathered parts to convert my 1996 chim 500 to power steering, TVR bottle, pump, hoses, and longer steering arm with UJ on each end, also a classic impreza rack and Impreza steering arm with UJs. Removed my standard rack, things noticed so far, impreza rack is longer, so the threads will need to be cut/ died back to get the correct overall length, the impreza Track rod ends seem to have a slightly different taper to that in the hubs, the Impreza mounts are square, so to get the centre of the rack to be in the same position as the original TVR rack, seems I need to fettle the chassis brackets to accomadate the square Impreza rack rubbers, has anyone else done this, or have I missed something?, will also remove pinion cover and rotate for trial fit before fetting chassis rack mounts
Cheers Steve

[Rowge]

Just had another look at TVR rack, I assumed the mounting lugs were on the rack centreline as the chassis has a curved cut out between the bolt holes, but no the mounting is at the edge so just measured both rack diameters/ and square on impreza rack, they are very close, so I now assume that I need to fit a plate between the 2 bolt holes then sandwich the impreza rack Between plate and bracket. Will measure more accurately and see how thick the plate can be, also need spacers if I iuse the Impreza brackets/ rubbers

[Rowge]

Great to see them some time, yes your right better iron a shirt as the family is waiting to go out, happy new year to all, and roll on the summer

[Rowge]

Hi All, current parts SO FAR
2 off plates that fit between rack mounts and chassis mounts 120mm long, 25mm wide, 5mm thick stainless, with 2 off M10 holes 80mm pitch. 4 off M8 bore, OD 20mm, length 25.4mm stainless spacers to fit between impreza brackets and chassis mounts, 4 off M8 hez head bolts 50mm long.
2 off new power steering pipes that are required due to rotating the rack pinion 180 degrees, so 2 off 1/4 OD pipes and 4 off M12 * 1mm pitch male ends. New impreza mount rubbers, note the impreza brackets can be 25mm or 30mm so measure before purchasing new mounting rubbers, will also affect the width of the 120mm long plates, my brackets were 30mm wide. Ford Fiesta 1.4 2008-2013 steering arm uj, this does not need a spline, just 2 flats on 18mm diameter, so will hopefully be an easy job, having my steering pinion machined to suit. Metric die M14 * 1.5mm pitch to die down the steering arms to allow scooby track rods ends to wind in further.
cheers
Steve

[Rowge]

I did a trial fit with the impreza rack and impreza uj as in photo above, sadly as Steve said it clashed with the chassis, so I cut of the end of the Impreza steering pinion, there is a pin going through the diameter so I cut mine 5mm away leaving the pin in place, the fiesta uj only needs 2 flats ground on so I will try this first. Will try to load some photos later

[Rowge]

A close up showing the pin, my pinion due back on Monday so will put some more photos of finished pinion and fiesta uj then also pic of trial fit of rack bush

[Rowge]

IMHO you will have to shorten the pinion, as the standard impreza uj is short but the pinion sticks out a long way, so when the uj is attached it fouls on the 45 degree chassis brace, see pic of original set up, also the OE power steering kit

[Rowge]

[Rowge]

Got my pinion back, and fitted the rack again, (chassis has been de rusted ready to paint with POR 15), fitted the pinion and the fiesta uj and it fits Yipee, next job is to work out the best way to join the original steering arm and the fiesta one, the fiesta is a tube so maybe the tvr one will go up inside,?anyway here's a few pictures of the pinion and the fiesta uj

[Rowge]

Change of plan as could not find a way of assembling the shaft and UJs without welding, so am also using the ka/ fiesta rack uj, amazed to find it fits on to the original tvr power steering shaft spline, but when I tried to fit it, the shaft was approx 10mm to long, or more accurately the splines needed to be longer, so a new shaft is required, the one I have is 320mm long and the spline diameter is 14.2 mm or 0.55"

[Rowge]

Any idea where I can buy a shaft, if not will have to have one made?

[Rowge]

I need one that is approx 320mm long, 250mm between splines, so 35mm spline length on each end is ideal, not found one yet, still looking though

[Rowge]

Great news if you can get a new tvr rack, but after reading all the forums the tvr rack seems expensive and unreliable, so if the old design is reproduced may not be any better, so impreza rack for me , but if the new racks prove reliable and good value magic many buy one myself,

[Rowge]

I was going to use standard Scooby track rod ends, I have increased the length of threes on the steering arms 14mm 1.5 pitch die, believe I may have to enlarge the taper in the hub , will have a look today, must admit not expert in bump steer setting/checking? How do I check /measure if it is close? Cheers Steve

[Rowge]

New steering shaft 400 mm long arrived from car builder solutions, very good service, trial fit today, new 9/16 36 spline to be machined on shaft next week in the area with paint removed. All parts removed and chassis given 2 coats of POR 15, not the best job, one of my Scooby TRE needs replacing so will have a look for a direct replacement that fits the Scooby hubs, M14 1.5mm pitch, also need to sort out the pipe work, again see photo showing standard impreza pipes and standard tvr pipes, still a bit to do

[Rowge]

Pipe connections

[Rowge]

Do you mean the standard TVR track rod end, may fit on the Impreza steering arms, if so I will try in the morning, tip do not get POR 15 on your hands and arms as it does not come off even with white spirit

[Rowge]

I used a 8 inch g clamp to hold a 17mm AF nut onto the small diameter in the picture and carefully filed until I had a 17 mm hex, easier for me as I had already had 2 flats machined as originally was going to use the fiesta uj, these pics were before I filed the hex on ,

[Rowge]

Ok will have a look in the morning, I only have a manual TVR rack though, fingers crossed

[Rowge]

Not many things surprise me but this today did, it fits, stripped the steering arms from TVR manual rack and impreza rack, the impreza uses locking washers that are tapped into 2 grooves on the nut to stop rotation, the TVR ones use only thread lock, so arms fit and also looks like i can use the nylon washers which limit full lock both ways. Happy days.