Chevette Steering rack
Discussion
Well alot has been said about the S having a modified Chevette rack - but with very little specific info.
My rack has some play - and I've just bought a recon Chevette rack off ebay for £16 (and local enough to go and pick it up).
The plan (assuming the Chevette rack won't fit on) is to have them both to bits and to see if I can make one rack for the S.
One clue to the difference may be that the chevette rack is specified as 3.5 turns lock to lock, whereas I'm sure the TVR is way less that this.
(Sad I know but I got a Chevette Haynes manual to look at this off ebay for £1).
Its probably going to take me a few weeks to get round to this, but I'll have the camera going when I do.
Watch this space.
Chris
My rack has some play - and I've just bought a recon Chevette rack off ebay for £16 (and local enough to go and pick it up).
The plan (assuming the Chevette rack won't fit on) is to have them both to bits and to see if I can make one rack for the S.
One clue to the difference may be that the chevette rack is specified as 3.5 turns lock to lock, whereas I'm sure the TVR is way less that this.
(Sad I know but I got a Chevette Haynes manual to look at this off ebay for £1).
Its probably going to take me a few weeks to get round to this, but I'll have the camera going when I do.
Watch this space.
Chris
Edited by Barkychoc on Sunday 14th October 19:40
Well a quick update.
The chevette steering rack has much shorter track rods than the S steering rack (we are talking several inches) and they are the wrong thread on the end of the chevette track rods for the S track rod ends.
I have yet to check if the travel lock to lock is the same on both racks.
If it is I'll probably swap the track rods over (assuming old ones are OK) and see how I go.
The kitchen has to be decorated first before I do anything else.......
Chris
The chevette steering rack has much shorter track rods than the S steering rack (we are talking several inches) and they are the wrong thread on the end of the chevette track rods for the S track rod ends.
I have yet to check if the travel lock to lock is the same on both racks.
If it is I'll probably swap the track rods over (assuming old ones are OK) and see how I go.
The kitchen has to be decorated first before I do anything else.......
Chris
I've had the rack gaiters off the chevette rack & it looks pretty straightforward to get apart.
The inner trackrods have some sort of staking going on to stop them coming undone. Looks like I may have to drill that bit out to free it off. I'm going to ask a few peeps I know as I want to be confident that its not going to come to bits while I'm driving along.
Incidentally the chevette rack I have is 2.9 turns lock to lock the same as the TVR, so it is looking like it is the track rods that are modified to fit the TVR, and not much else.
Your RHD rack may yet be of interest - give me first refusal!
Although you may want to keep it & fit the track rods to a LHD Opel Kadett rack (chevette equivalent) to give you a cheap LHD S rack.
Chris
The inner trackrods have some sort of staking going on to stop them coming undone. Looks like I may have to drill that bit out to free it off. I'm going to ask a few peeps I know as I want to be confident that its not going to come to bits while I'm driving along.
Incidentally the chevette rack I have is 2.9 turns lock to lock the same as the TVR, so it is looking like it is the track rods that are modified to fit the TVR, and not much else.
Your RHD rack may yet be of interest - give me first refusal!
Although you may want to keep it & fit the track rods to a LHD Opel Kadett rack (chevette equivalent) to give you a cheap LHD S rack.
Chris
Edited by Barkychoc on Sunday 21st October 20:39
What does the staking consist of?
On the chevette rack it looks like a small hole between the rack end and the inner trackrod that has been drilled, tapped then it looks like a small bolt has been screwed into it then sheared off.
I'd take another look at the parts list for the rack - in the chevette manual I have the original rack won't fit the TVR - it has a metal & rubber coupling attached to the input shaft of the rack.
There is a later chevette rack in the haynes manual that has a splined shaft out of the rack the same as the TVR.
According to Haynes the earlier racks are made by GM but the later ones by a company called cam gears.
Incidentally the rack I bought he said he had bought to fit to an opel kadett.
Here it is
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...
Chris
On the chevette rack it looks like a small hole between the rack end and the inner trackrod that has been drilled, tapped then it looks like a small bolt has been screwed into it then sheared off.
I'd take another look at the parts list for the rack - in the chevette manual I have the original rack won't fit the TVR - it has a metal & rubber coupling attached to the input shaft of the rack.
There is a later chevette rack in the haynes manual that has a splined shaft out of the rack the same as the TVR.
According to Haynes the earlier racks are made by GM but the later ones by a company called cam gears.
Incidentally the rack I bought he said he had bought to fit to an opel kadett.
Here it is
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...
Chris
Edited by Barkychoc on Tuesday 6th November 17:34
Yes I'd say the Chevette gaiters will fit fine.
Anyway a further update.
Both racks have 135mm travel lock to lock, so now I'm pretty convinced that the racks are identical apart from the track rods.
Here's a couple of pictures of just how short the track rods are.
Ignore the fact that the gaiters end at different points, the racks are both reasonably well lined up, the gaiters have just been fixed at different points on each rack.
I have been thinking about how to make it fit and I have a cunning plan (without taking either rack to bits)
- but I'm not sharing it yet!
Chris
Anyway a further update.
Both racks have 135mm travel lock to lock, so now I'm pretty convinced that the racks are identical apart from the track rods.
Here's a couple of pictures of just how short the track rods are.
Ignore the fact that the gaiters end at different points, the racks are both reasonably well lined up, the gaiters have just been fixed at different points on each rack.
I have been thinking about how to make it fit and I have a cunning plan (without taking either rack to bits)
- but I'm not sharing it yet!
Chris
Sound like they could be what I need - where can I get them?
The pic below was from a chevette rack on ebay which is the wrong type - the coupling that connects to the steering column is incorrect.
The one I have & later models has a straight splined shaft the same as on the TVR
Chris
The pic below was from a chevette rack on ebay which is the wrong type - the coupling that connects to the steering column is incorrect.
The one I have & later models has a straight splined shaft the same as on the TVR
Chris
Edited by Barkychoc on Tuesday 6th November 17:30
I was chatting with a friend I haven't seen for ages about this - he's a bit of a petrolhead and good with all things mechanical.
He dropped something very profound into the conversation - he said maybe its a chevette rack with ford track rods fitted to it.
He's really got me thinking now......
Chris
He dropped something very profound into the conversation - he said maybe its a chevette rack with ford track rods fitted to it.
He's really got me thinking now......
Chris
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
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
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
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