quick rack

[CNHSS1]

Dont know if its of interest to anyone, but ive just got a quick rack kit (just new rack and new pinion) for the chevette based racks i use, from TJ motorsport, along with a pr of the flashy ally rack clamps (yeah i know im a tart ). its not to use on the S, but if its effective i may well look at one for that too.
few Qs though. whats the std Tiv number of turns lock to lock? (cars in storage so cant check mine) is the S rack a RHD version or flipped LHD?
cheers
CNH

[Chris71]

IIRC it's 4.2 turns lock-to-lock.

Quite interested to hear how that turns out. The only major complaint I've got about the S is how long it takes to wind off large amounts of lock if you suddenly have to... Although since getting it setup I don't find my arms flailing quite so dramatically!

Edited by Chris71 on Wednesday 11th March 17:03

[CNHSS1]

hi Chris,

bloody hell 4.2! std chuv-it is 3.5t iirc, scimitar ss1 is 2.9t (although slightly reduced lock as compared to Chuv-it, although not enough to make .6t difference, and quick rack is 2.5t with std chevette travel (i believe as ive yet to build the new rack internals into spare rack). will report on findings in near future

my S2 was/is a road car (dont use it currently), and i always thought the steering rather slow to respond when 'arm twirling', 4.2t is the reason why! bet the 2.5t would make the S hard work at parking speeds.

[tozerman]

Not quite sure if it's a non standard rack or not but mine's less than 3 turns lock to lock!! I have a feeling it might be the original because it is quite dirty and a little rusty. I would say if it is more than 4 turns that it would make the steering quite vague!!
Has anyone got their car on axle stands so they can check easily?
Cheers.....Tony..

[phillpot]

I'll go along with Tony, 99% sure my S3 is standard, 2 and 3/4 turns !

[Sweet Thunder]

V6: 2.9 turns
V8: 2.5 turns

[Jed-S]

The only thing about quoting turns lock to lock is that it doesn't take into account what the full lock is and the resultant turning circle . It MAY be that at full lock the V6 has a smaller turning circle than a V8 because the wheels can turn a bit further, hence the extra lock to lock.

[Alan Whitaker]

Hi All,
I have 2.9 on my S1 but it is in need of a bit of a service, has anybody used any other racks.

Alan

[Sweet Thunder]

Jed-S said:

The only thing about quoting turns lock to lock is that it doesn't take into account what the full lock is and the resultant turning circle . It MAY be that at full lock the V6 has a smaller turning circle than a V8 because the wheels can turn a bit further, hence the extra lock to lock.

My S2 now has a V8S rack, I compared both racks when they were off the car. Full lock is determined by the rack, where the collar on the inner ball joint hits the housing, nothing else limits the angle of the uprights.

[Gerald-TVR]

Alan

The rack can be reconditioned, just had mine doing recentlly quite reasonable. I havent heard of a replacement, the central bit is Chevette and the bendy bits on the ends are ford. Athough Barkychoc has modded a Chim PAS rack for his V8S

Norman

[Alan Whitaker]

Hi Norman,
I saw the pas rack, I have changed the colum to a Corsa C electronic power steering. I only need a manual rack so may have mine reconditioned.

Alan

[mep12345]

Alan Whitaker said:

Hi Norman,
I have changed the colum to a Corsa C electronic power steering.Alan

Long term I would quite like to do this as would I am sure a few others. A thread on how you did this would therefore be good including wiring etc. If you like I would host a picture story of the modification on my websie, just forward me the details via the site www.gbsportscar.com

thanks

Mark

[CNHSS1]

Sweet Thunder said:

V6: 2.9 turns
V8: 2.5 turns

cheers, thought 4+ was a bit much!! but wasnt in a position to check muy own S.

does anyone know if the S racks are RHD or LHD flipped chevette items?

also agreed on checking lock travel, hence my first post point

Edited by CNHSS1 on Friday 13th March 09:10

[Barkychoc]

I thought about the electric PAS option but think about it - the torque is applied by the elecric unit which acts against the bracket under the dash - I wasn't really sure it was up to it.
Maybe not an issue but griff/chim are vauxhall based steering column, the the electric option is corsa based.
As the S column is ford based it may throw up a few more issues, but I'm sure it can be done.

The Chim PAS rack didn't really need any mods - I just cut a few mm off the end of the track rods as they were a bit longer than the V8S rack - it was the chassis that needed a bit of grind and weld, it wasn't that hard and if you can work a grinder its easy. If you're not confident with a welder you need to weld up about a 50mm hole so it wouldn't cost much if you paid someone to weld it, you need to make an indentation in the rack mounting tube to accomodate the rack pinion part - otherwise it fouls on the tube.
I ground a hole in the tube then made a new bit of metal to fit in the hole to give the required clearance.

[Chris71]

Sorry chaps. I'm sure I've been told it was about 4 and the figure of 4.2 rings a bell, but it appears I'm wrong.

Either way mine could do with being a bit more direct for arm twirling stuff.

[Sweet Thunder]

CNHSS1 said:

does anyone know if the S racks are RHD or LHD flipped chevette items?

I don't know. Is the rack on the Chevette placed in front of or behind the wheels? If you think about it, a rack that is flipped will steer in the opposite direction: steering to the right will result in wheels pointing to the left. The only way a flipped LHD Chevette rack in a RHD TVR would work, were if it were fitted behind the wheels on the Chevette. Otherwise it would have to be an RHD rack.

Edited because I mixed up L's and R's.

Edited by Sweet Thunder on Saturday 14th March 22:02

[Barkychoc]

There were american versions of the chevette (chevrolet) - which have a LHD rack.
I think it was also a Pontiac T1000.

They are also available in PAS form

Edited by Barkychoc on Sunday 15th March 08:04