Chevette Steering rack

[thegamekeeper]

Barkychoc, you are not too far wide of the mark. I had a batch of these racks made a few years ago and still have a couple of brand new racks (for my own use) but could probably get another batch made, same deal as the fuel tanks and the swirl tanks, or people could keep bodging them up like the above. It must be said that the bodgit and scarper approach puts me off with these forums. sTeVeR

[Hoover.]

thegamekeeper said:

the bodgit and scarper approach puts me off with these forums. sTeVeR

one of our local TVR memebers had a bodged rack by a previous owne and no one touch it when it needed refurbing/sorting out...

[Barkychoc]

thegamekeeper said:

Barkychoc, you are not too far wide of the mark. I had a batch of these racks made a few years ago and still have a couple of brand new racks (for my own use) but could probably get another batch made, same deal as the fuel tanks and the swirl tanks, or people could keep bodging them up like the above. It must be said that the bodgit and scarper approach puts me off with these forums. sTeVeR

Nope I'm with you on this - I did consider attempting to extend the track rods on the chevette rack I have - but when you consider what it could mean if it breaks / malfunctions etc its not worth it.
I have an inquisitive nature - I knew it was a modified Chevette rack - but I want to know how it is modified.
Just curious I guess.
Are you prepared to reveal what the track rods are or is it a trade secret?

What does upset me about the 'bodgit and scarper' comment is the number of so called garages out there that will do just that - time after time we have members posting on this forum that are upset with the level of service they have received from a local garage after having work done on their car.
As far as I'm concerned I'd rather fix it myself knowing that it has been done properly.
I do consider myself to be mechanically competent and am never afraid to ask for help if I come across a problem I'm not sure of.

Chris

Edited by Barkychoc on Sunday 4th November 21:55

[tvrgit]

Barkychoc said:

What does upset me about the 'bodgit and scarper' comment is the number of so called garages out there that will do just that - time after time we have members posting on this forum that are upset with the level of service they have received from a local garage after having work done on their car.
As far as I'm concerned I'd rather fix it myself knowing that it has been done properly.
I do consider myself to be mechanically competent and am never afraid to ask for help if I come across a problem I'm not sure of.

Exactly.

Not all home mechanics are "bodgers". This is not a pop at Steve R, because I've never read anything bad about his services, in fact everything I've read is good - BUT there seem to be a few "specialists" out there whose specialism seems only to be that they charge "specialist" prices but some of the bodges and horror stories we read on here are laughable.

We've read about attempts to charge £540 for a 2.9 water pump, and over £1,000 to replace 2.9 cylinder heads after an apparently bodged attempt at extracting exhaust manifold studs. If I was as poor a mechanic as that, time served or not, I'd give up...

I KNOW what has been done to my car. I know where things can be "repaired" and where replacement is better - I don't take chances with brakes and steering, for example, but I might have a go at repairing non-critical things. "Bodging" it is not...

[Barkychoc]

Yes Steve sorry - things can always be taken the wrong way on these forums - I certainly wasn't having a pop at you.

Chris

Edited by Barkychoc on Sunday 4th November 21:56

[Sweet Thunder]

Chris, I'm resurrecting this thread as I've found some differences between the V6 steering rack I've just taken out of the car, and the V8S steering rack I've bought from TVRCarparts for the LHD conversion. It would be interesting to compare this with the Chevette rack.

The first difference between the two racks is the lenght of the track rods: although the main body has the same length, the total length over the track rods is 117cm for the V6 (13,5cm from the edge of the boot to the thread) compared to 122cm for V8S (15,5cm edge of boot - thread). The difference in length actually makes sense, as the V8S has a 40mm wider track. What I'm interested in, is how this compares to the stock Chevette length.

Furthermore, the V8S steering seems to be more direct: 2 3/4 turns lock-to-lock, compared to 3 1/4 turn for the V6. How does this compare to other V6 and V8 models?

Edited for spelling.

Edited by Sweet Thunder on Thursday 13th March 22:15

[Barkychoc]

Ronald - I currently have both racks off the car but won't have chance to measure them for a week or so.
I'll measure them and let you know.
Note that the rubber boot isn't a good reference point - this can be moved.
Better to undo it and measure the track rod length from the balljoint underneath.

The track rod end thread I think is 14mm metric - if your track rods are too long could you get a 14mm die set and cut another 20mm worth of thread along the track rod, then cut 20mm off each end?

Chris

Edited by Barkychoc on Thursday 13th March 19:25

[Alan 1209]

Hi All. I have spent several months trying to deal with the steering rack issue on a S1. The centre tube of my rack had corroded to such a point that reconditioning was not an option, so this is how I fixed it :-
I'll start with a shopping list.

Escort MK 1 or 2 rack. I used 2.4 turn fast rack from Godspeed. http://www.godspeedmotorsport.co.uk. if you can get one without the tie rods so much the better.
2 tie rods FEBI 08768.these are for a mk7 escort (293mm long). note! Lemforder equivalent is 30mm to long.
ALLOY RACK CLAMPS Escort MK1 & MK2 (RD848) rallydesign.co.uk
2 x Track rod end Febi 11988 Tie Rod End
1 pair of Chevette rack boots.

Need making
2 x rack extensions

1 x rack packer. 24 x 29 x 7.5 nylon block.


the packer goes behind this clamp.
You also need to pull the triangular shaft further through, but there is plenty of spare up there.





That's it really. The extensions put the inner joints in the correct place so that the ackerman angles remain the same.the inner end can be staked, but i just used locktite and 2 27mm spanners to tighten the extensions. the Tie rods are not staked.

[phillpot]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!


I like it, nice job


With everything now Ford intrigued why you went for Chevette gaiters?

[Alan 1209]

The ford gaiters were to short with the extensions in. At full lock they were overextended and the left one came off the rack. So back to the new Chevette pair I had.

[phillpot]

Knew there'd be a good reason

[Top Gear TVR]

i just sent my oe rack to kylie clinton... top job refurb for not much money (c.£140) and all achieved within 4 working days, door to door.

[glenrobbo]

They do a better job than Bill Minogue

[GPW41]

Another thread resurrection.... Any idea where I can get hold of a LHD rack for an S1?

Dave

[Barkychoc]

I believe there has been some success fitting a subaru rack to a chimaera (power steering) but don't have any detail. Might be worth a venture to the dark side 😜

[Barkychoc]

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=14...

[magpies]

Barkychoc said:

I believe there has been some success fitting a subaru rack to a chimaera (power steering) but don't have any detail. Might be worth a venture to the dark side ??

wouldn't this only be suitable for the V8 as the V6 needs to be narrower?

[magpies]

GPW41 said:

Another thread resurrection.... Any idea where I can get hold of a LHD rack for an S1?

Dave

proably much easier to find and do the above mod to a LHD Escort rack

[TVRees]

magpies said:

proably much easier to find and do the above mod to a LHD Escort rack

Which can be bought here ......

LINK

[Barkychoc]

Subaru rack I believe is not too dissimilar to TVR rack to fit. LHD I would have thought not too difficult to source. Either way I think there's a lot of work here.