57 Fairlane rack set up

[route66]

Well, after a month at the bone yard, we finally got the steering set up.
Because my father in law was working on a budget, we needed to get inventive and it worked out great. After it was all said and done, here's what we ended up with.

77 ford truck steering column out of a manual shift.
Geo Storm manual rack
09 Chevy aveo steering linkage rods and universals

[Harry]

Is this really heavy duty enough for a car now twice as heavy as the donor car?
Do you need a center support for the steering shaft?
Did you mock up the steering shaft around the motor, I know on mine the angle is quite a bit less.

[route66]

To answer your question........yes. The rack is the same size as an original "pinto rack" that is very popular with Chevy builders. My uncle has a 67 Camaro that does 8.6 in the quarter mile and he uses a pinto rack. As far as the shaft and universals, they are the same size as ones used on trucks and larger cars. We went with the set-up from the Aveo because the complete set-up fit right on the rack so all we had to modify was the end of the steering column.....which we figured we would have to do anyway. We do plan on adding a heims joint to support the shaft even though on certain websites we have seen that no support is needed unless you have more than 2 universals. It turned out great and was very cost effective. It does clear the engine.......90 Ford 302 with shorty headers.....engine was in there for the preliminary mock-up, then removed.

77 Ford truck column.......found on craigslist......$25
Geo Storm manual rack.......found at bone yard........$35
U-joints and shaft.......found bone yard......$10
Heims joint for support........online......$16

Not bad for under $100

[RICH MUISE]

Rt66....I was curious about your Route66 tag. I guess you must be in Socal going by your "local time" listed in your profile. Thanks for posting the pics and the breakdown. It's always great to see the new guys jumping in.
$100...heck of a deal. I think I spent more than that on one u-joint.
I probably shouldn't be commenting at all, cause I'm a definite rookie when it comes to this stuff, but like Harry, I am also concerned with what appears to be light duty stuff, primarily with the mounting brackets/u-bolts and also the angle of the top joint. That being said I sure admire guys who can put this kinda stuff together from junk yard stuff. I need an Indian guide and instructions with lots of pics.

[route66]

Actually, I'm in St Louis. Plan on changing the u bolts.......just haven't fab them up yet. The car the universals came out of had more angle on them that is on them now.

[RICH MUISE]

Sounds like it should work....keep us posted on this when you can test drive the set-up.
I love St Louis...proposed to my wife in one of those horse drawn carriages near the Arch. LOL...I have lots of fond memories of that weekend. She was stationed at Scott AFB for a year, while I was living in Colo. Sprgs.

[RICH MUISE]

Got any more pics?...I'm curious how the tie rods connect to the spindles on this setup.
Rich

[gasman826]

I have followed this post with interest.  It's great to see someone perfecting their hot rod skills by using things at hand.  It is great to have a relationship with a wrecking yard that allows you to pick.
I agree with you that the ujoints and steering shaft is adequate as well as the ujoint angles.  There is no need for a bearing.  The rack is equal to the task.  I hope the system works well for you.  However, I do have reservations.  One concern is the length of the rack.  '57-'64 Fords have long lower control arms and long tie rod assemblies.  The Caviler rack was used because it was a center steer rack and thus mimics the OEM drag link.  My concern is that you may experience bump steer.  If you don't have bump steer...super.  My other concern is the mounting hardware.  The use of ubolts may not keep the rack stable from left/right movement.  The same with the potential of the rack rotating.  Just to the left, the OEM mounting surface has flanges to limit right/left movement and a timed, flat surface to minimize rotation.  Either movement would be disastrous!  One solution might be to cut the frame mounts from the donor car and weld them into the project vehicle.  I'm not trying to condemn your work, I just want you to be safe.
The photo does not show it but the brackets are recreations of Caviler frame mounts which do not allow rack movement.

[LAUDY57]

IF you find the u-joints "humping over" when turning, you can try rotating the u-joints 90 deg out of phase, worked for me (and is used in heavy trucks as well).