4 Months and 4 days my CP Rack & pinion kit finnaly arrived.

Suppose to be the "NEW" version with more travel, but did a search and could
not find what they were, so I'll have to wait to check Pauls rack.

Now I can get it on, and get it ready for winter storage! woo hoo!!!!

 

Nice, congrats :-)

 

wut does "more travel" do to make it better?

carl.

 

Mine is on the way to me right now, so I have been told. The fact that you got yours gives me hope. The new design is supost to address the two big problems surrounding the first design, which were: 1) poor turning radius...the rack was unable to extend far enough to hit the steering stops ....and 2) binding on the u joints from the steering shaft to the rack.
thats all i know.

 

oh and to date, it's been 3 months and 17 days since i placed the order.

 

so if i order now i shoukd get mine by february

 

max7 and fd racer: were you guys given any explination as to why it took so long to get, or did they ignore you like it seems they do to so many other guys here?

 

They said they had to wait for the UPS Spaceship from the galaxy Certatipoula for the parts to
come in, said the parts are much cheaper there........

I sent an email to Chris about 9 days ago asking for an update since it was 5 weeks since his last email saying it was going out that week. He complained about UPS (Which must have mine) and sent another via Canada Mail thru to USPS mail. So either I've got a 2nd one tied up in UPS waiting to come to me, or it was BS..... hmm.......

 

Max7. I have the old version. Could you maybe post pics of yours. Perhaps I might be able to see what changes have been made. Maybe measure the length of the tierods and the u-joint shaft. I somehow doubt the rack, mounting frame, and steering shaft have changed all that much.

 

It looks identical to Pauls "1st generation rack"
I'm waiting to get to check his for how much travel it has to see if turning radius is better
unless you could measure that? Everything else looks the same, ujoints, mounts, ect.

 

I'd crank the rack (Out of the car) to full left lock, measure the distance from the tip of the tie rod to the rack body itself. Then take the same measurement at full right lock. That should give travel.

If that's the case, then they upgraded racks. That's the only solution I can come up with. Hence the $150 increase in price.

I also just made a hude ... If the tie rods were lengthened, it'd cause major toe in... Tie rods HAVE to stay the same. Location of the rack also has to stay the same or relatively close.

Perhaps the rack is rotated along it's axis so that the pinion is pointed in a different direction for the u-joint binding problem...

 

I'll compare it to Pauls on monday but it looks like no real change.

 

Measure the distance of rack motion that one turn of the input shaft will provide.

I still like the idea of replacing the provided steering shaft, with a steering quickener.

 

I got ignored for the most part. I spoke with him once a month or so after ordering which is when I heard about the version 2 rack and the improvements it was said to have. At that time he estmated It would ship in a couple weeks. Well 2 months and many phone calls and emails later I got a message on my machine that the rack was finally ready to ship and that he would email me a tracking number when it leaves. That message was earlier this week...I have not recieved an email or tracking number.

 

If I had unlimited funds and a machinist I could trust, I'd get the whole steering column re-made with a built-in quickener. But that's going to be much later

 

okay I lied. I just checked my junk mail folder and noticed that an email sent this morning was put in there. It was from CP to let me know the kit is in route. WOW! No tracking number, but oh well.

 

Hey all, First time posting here. I thought I'd put my $.02 in. I put in the RP kit about three months ago. I had to re-do the air tube to clear rack(1980 stock exhaust) but it all fit well. I did end up removing the steering wheel, steering shaft and all through the cockpit. My org. steering shaft was pinned in two places with a 'strap' brazed on the pins. Used GBW to take off the very large nut while shaft was in a vise.The steering is sweet. No wandering, straight, input is instant. Nice package. Noticed a loss of turning radius, especially while parking or turning around in my street. (I'd estimate about - 1ft. or so) A bit of a pain to put in, but well worth it, IMO.

 

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for the feedback. Do you know if your kit is Version 1 or 2? Did you notice any binding associated with the new steering shaft and/or u-joints?

 

losing a ft. turning radius? i'll pass on that rack and pinion kit
i'd rather switch up to the FC's manual steering rack
but that's just my .02 cents!

 

Losing a foot turing radius is a small price to pay for improve steering response and feel....not to mention getting rid of all the slop and excess play the stock steering box has. Besides, he might of been talking about the version 1 rack...the new setup might reclaim some of that turning radius loss.

What FC rack conversion are you talking about?

 

I would guess it's the v.1 rack. I bought it on CP's website. Didn't know there was a newer version. I was having quite a bit of steering problems, at that time. This conversion solved the steering. I have had no binding of the rack. The loss of turning radius doesn't affect my driving. I found this forum after I got the rack. Great place for info!

 

Whole FC subframe bolts up with a little bit if fabrication. Struts, springs, spindles, cross member, steering assembly, everything.

 

^

 

No ******* way! Ever seen a car like that? Well, look at the pics below.
Yes, it does bolt up. But your wheel moves forward in such a way it nearly touches the fender! And it actually did touch the fender under steering! It also changed the geometry of the suspension, so it's not all that easy.
The wheel sits way out of center, looking bad, and the spring/shock is angled way back. This car in the pictures was later cut, and a whole FC front (chassis rails and all) welded in. Works better, and it's perfectly balanced.
for all pics/German story:

http://www.zerniener-autohaus.de/html/fb_200_ps.html

 

Never done the swap myself, Only going offa what I've seen and heard here...

Besides, I did say it required a little fabrication.