AutoFab................. http://autofabcart.net/afrc-rackandpinionconversionkitfor64-72gmabodybolton.aspx So far the fitment and quality look good. I'll reserve complete judgement until I drive it. Hopefully that'll be as good as the unit itself.
Hey Steve.....any chance you could tell how much steering radius you thin kyou will lose w/ this set up? Also which width did you go with? The car looks awesome! Jim
Jim, I'd have to measure to tell what width I ordered. Can't remember........... So far I'm not real impressed with the Autofab setup, at least not with my combination of parts. I have Gobal west drag race upper A-arms and their street version of the lowers. The only difference is that the street version have a sway bar link........and I wanted this option for street use. I also have Bell Tech 2" drop spindles and Wilwood street/strip vented discs. The Autofab steering arms fit the spindles, but only on the top set of holes, (stock spindles only have one set and the drop spindles have two). If you mount them in the top holes they'll work, but not with the sway bar link in place, as it hits when turning the wheels, left or right. I ended up making my own steering arms that fit my application. I also dropped them some by angling them more, to help with the bump steer. I have very minimal "toe-in" with 2" of droop and bump. I know the optimum is to have slight "toe-out" but I'll tweak that once the car is on the road. I already have progressed up to 2" spacers on the tie rod ends to lower the tie rods on the outer ends. I may need to go 2.5". Anyway, anyone looking to add this AutoFab rack and pinion to their 64-67, be ready to do a fair amount of assembling, testing, reassembling, re-testing, etc. I must have well over 20 hours just figuring out the steering geometry and trying to get it close enough to use. And Yes Jim......it looks like you loose a fair amount of turning radius. I could have made the steering arms shorter, but I'm thinking it may have made it much more difficult to steer and tougher on the rack and pinion. I did establish the ride height and I dropped a fender on just to get a feel for how it's going to sit. I think it'll look good. Steve
Hi Steve. Looking awesome man! I have the AutoFab rack, upper and lower control arms with coil overs on mine. Very nice stuff! Dave
Dave, Do you have the stock spindles? I take it you don't run a sway bar? How is the bump steer...any issues worth commenting on? How much of a spacer do you have between the steering arm and the tie rod ends? Thanks, Steve
Hi Steve, Stock spindles, Willwood brakes, 1/2" spacer. I had a great guy do the alignment, Troy at Oxford Auto and Tire in PA. haven't noticed any bump steer issues. As far as the fit, the only rack mount that wasn't too wide was about 1/2" too narrow . I made some spacer plates out of 1/4" aluminum. Didn't care for the slotted shock bolt holes in the lower control arms, so I fabricated a 1/4" ring that captures both bolts .
Tuna: what headers are you running? Were you able to connect the steering column to the rack using a one-piece shaft, or did you have to use a 2-piece shaft with a carrier bearing? I'm concerned about clearance for the steering shaft and the header tubes when using the rack. Thanks.
Dan, not to answer for Dave, but I have a set of TA 2-1/8 non-air headers that I thought were going to fit....hoping actually, but they didn't. The drivers side was relatively close, but the passenger side was a mile off. So.........I had two choices, use the TA 2" that are made for the 64-65 body or make my own, (again). With 535 cubic inches and a blower to boot, I really should be running 2-1/4" but I decided to build them from 2-1/8". Even that will be a tight fit, as you can see in the pictures. I "think" I'll be able to run a straight shaft from the column to a spherical rod end and a u-joint before heading to the rack. I'll know more in the next few days as I proceed with the header build portion of this project.
Thanks Steve. The photo with engine in place helps a bunch. I have the 2" TA stage 2 headers and am hoping I can use them. I don't mind making a 2 piece steering shaft but hope to avoid custom headers if possible. I hoped Tuna might have that setup in place. With your combo I thought you would probably want bigger tubes. Your car is awesome, by the way.
