I definately hear what you are saying, but part of his problem was that
the fenderwall is not the place for a brace for an intermediate shaft, it
isn't nearly strong enough. An improperly done car can be very unsafe,
but a properly done car can have a half dozen u-joints in the steering and
still be precise, and feel good. I am studying mechanical engineering
currently an I am putting into practice everything I am learning and I
can sympathize with your feelings about some of the things I have seen
done, but a little common sense goes a long way in this hobby, and if it
is employed some very creative solutions can be make to work, and work
safely I might add.
James Nazarian
'71 B roadster
'74 BGT with no sills
'63 Buick 215 eyeing another rolling chassis
On Mon, 4 Oct 1999, KILE, PAUL D wrote:
> I would be very careful if you are planning to modify the steering design to
> add an additional U-joint. I drove a car (1971 GT) that had this done to
> accept an SD-1 Rover V-8 with fuel injection. The owner added an
> intermediate shaft that was secured to the fenderwell with Heim joints. It
> looked kloodgy, and the car drove like a truck (with the steering wheel
> about 4 inches lower down in your lap). I was V-8 hungry at the time, but
> this car had so many jury rigs that I couldn't justify the $7 grand the guy
> wanted for it. Luckily I found a factory GT V-8 only 5 miles from my house,
> it cost a mint but it's original.
>
> Sure, the RB crossmember raises the ride height some, but you eliminate a
> lot of other headaches by using what the factory used on the GT V-8.
>
> Cheers,
> Paul Kile, Fair Oaks, CA
> 1974 MGB-GT V-8 (The Rustbucket, soon to rise again as The Phoenix)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Nazarian Jr [mailto:James.Nazarian@colorado.edu]
> Sent: Monday, October 04, 1999 1:30 PM
> To: Ron Howard
> Cc: buick-rover-v8@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Steering
>
>
> What I have designed (read as not yet built or tested) are a set of
> brachets to move the rack mounts foreward (to front of car) about 1.5
> inches on the plane of the old mounts. Rotate the rack about 20deg (not
> precise yet) down, to get the shaft under the rv8 style headers, and use a
> Borgesson 5 inch offset steering box from the steering column with a
> u-joint to a new steering shaft connecting the offset box to the rack
> with another u-joint there. Give this a look, like I said I haven't
> built it yet, but I think that it is going to work. BTW Borgesson does
> nothing but custom steering components, I don't have contact info infront
> of me but I'm sure if you searched on them on the net you could find them
>
> James Nazarian
> '71 B roadster
> '74 BGT bastardization with big aluminum heart :)
> '63 Buick 215 cubic inch 'heart'
>
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