Im in the process of building a drag car and my next step is a tubular k-member, coil overs, and a manual rack. I prefer something brand new. Does flamming river make one for thirdgens that will bolt into a tubular k-member? Also what kind of steering colum should i use? IM just looking for something light that will include the turn signal switch, and ingition switch. What do you guys recomend, it does not need to be adjustable cause i plan on welding the support to the roll cage crossbar, and i will make it one fit for me any suggestions?

 

nobody?

 

ttt

 

The upper half of the steering column doesn't car whats on the bottom side. A rack and pinion input shaft sits lower and inward than a steering box input shaft. I'm not sure if the lower part of the steering column will reach but it probably does. You're going to have to change the rag joint or buy an adaptor u-joint coupler since the GM input splines on the steering box will be different than the rack and pinion's.

http://www.profabracing.homestead.co...gassembly.html
http://www.paracing.net

The manual rack you decide to use will have to be know before purchasing the k-member so they'll know where to weld the tabs on. Most common is a Pinto rack.

 

you know of any aftermarket colums with turn signals and ignition mounted of them, but are still lightweight?

 

http://www.ididitinc.com/home3.htm

What does a drag car need turn signals and everything else in the steering column? Look at the pics on my web page. I stripped down a steering column in my car to remove all the extra weight.

 

I want to drag race her mostly, but i want to cruse the streets maby once a month and keep her somewhat "street legal"

 

I've got a Flaming River manual steering box with pitman arm and steering shaft for sale if you're looking for one. It's low miles, the car wasn't driven all the time, just a weekend street car.

$260 shipped will take it, quite a bit cheaper then buying it new from FR.

Let me know.

 

im buying a manual rack, and not for a couple months, thanks anyway

 

What are the benefits of a manual rack over a manual steering box?

This box only weighs 13lbs, I can't see a rack weighing much less.

Even with the other necessary parts (centerlink, idler arm, etc) I can't see it saving that much weight.

I'm just interested to see what your justification is, unless you just want to be different. lol

 

They are more compact, lighter, and usually have a faster turning ratio. Besides the 5-10 lbs centerlink, 5 lbs idler arm, 5 lbs pitman arm, 10 lbs in tie rods adds up quick, and i want the lightest front end possible, for i am building a drag car.

 

Plus the hundreds of dollers more to install a rack and pinion.

About the best advantage to having a rack and pinion compared to a normal steering box is chassis flex. I just had to reinforce my front frame rails. I was on an alignment rack briefly this weekend and they said when I turned the wheels, they could see the front of the frame flexing. The front of my frame is very stripped. I took the car home and welded in some braces which stiffened it up enough. Took it be get aligned again with no problems.

With a rack and pinion, it's mounted on the k-member so even if the chassis flexs, it won't affect the steering. You would probably notice it more on a road course than a drag strip.

I considered going to a rack and pinion but with the BBC and huge headers, there's absolutly no way I could run a steering shaft down to where the rack's input shaft would be. The header tubes are in the way. As it is I had to reloacte the steering column up and outward an inch just to clear the headers to reach the manual steering box.

A drag car doesn't need a quicker turning ratio steering system. The only real turn is at the end of the track.

 

Well i havent thought about header clearance with a BBC (i plan on running either a 502 or a 540, do you think custom headers would solve the problem, I know they are not cheap, but i dont mind spending the $$ as this is a car i plan on keeping for life. Oh and i know you only turn at the end of the track, I was just stating the advantages overall, not just for drag racing.

 

Any pics of what you reinforced?

 

Not yet. I've cut out the entire rad support when I installed a tiny rad, tranny cooler and fuel cell in the front. There's wasn't much holding the front frame rails together. All the original bumber support is also gone. I had some 1-1/4" roll bar tubing left over from my cage so I welded a piece from the top part of the shock tower down to the frame rail as far forward as I could get. I then used some 1-1/2" square pipe the same thickness as the roll bar tubing to fabricate a brace that goes down from the frame rails forward of the steering box then another pipe that goes across under the rad to join the 2 together. It's not pretty and it added some weight but the front rame rails are a lot stiffer now.

The only thing holding the frame rails apart before was the k-member, the front motor plate and some 1" square tubing I used to fabricate a rad/cooler support with.

I'll get some pictures later.

 

As for the BBC, I don't think even with factory iron heads you'll have any room for the steering shaft and a rack. I was using some Merlin iron heads with Hooker swap headers and there wasn't enough room. I now use Canfield aluminum heads with Ed Quay header. 2-1/4" primary tubes don't leave a lot of room anywhere. The trouble with the Merlin and Canfield heads is that the exhaust ports are located higher. The Canfields are even worse. This lifts the headers up higher than where they would normally sit with factory heads. Lots of clearence issues getting the headers in. I couldn't even use the Hookers with these heads.

Using a 502 or a 540 means you need heads that are going to flow a lot. That means no factory heads. A custom built set of headers will probably be needed. Expect to pay about $1500 or more for a set of custom built headers. Unless you're really good at welding and fabrication, don't expect to build a set for much less. At least with a custom set of headers, they'll fit your car perfectly. I'd still like to make a custom set to allow better clearance. The nice thing about the Ed Quay headers is that each pipe is seperate. The collectors unbolt and each pipe can be taken off the heads one at a time. That's the only way they can be installed without pulling the engine.

I've got the engine dropped down as far as it can go to get the headers under the floor (raised exhaust ports remember). There's about 3" clearance between the ground and the collectors.

 

OK. Some pics. Might not be the best forum but the request was made here.

Here's the steering shaft I modified. You can see how close it comes to the header tubes which are right up the the frame rails. I used u-joints from an Astro Van and welded them to the F-body steering shaft to eliminate the rag joint and upper coupler. Worked out pretty good and a lot cheaper than buying Flaming River stuff.



Next we have what the front end looks like. You can see how much was cut out from an original third gen. If I did it again, I'd try moving everything forward a few inches. Roughly in the center is a rad/fan from a turbo Firefly. Beside it and behind the fuel cell is the tranny cooler. It's almost as big as the rad.



The engine for this year. You can see the braces welded from the top of the strut towers down to the frame. I'm going to put the same thing from the other side of the strut tower to the roll cage very soon. That will make my roll cage a complete 12 point. I couldn't get a good pic of the brace I welded between the frame rails under the rad. There's no easy way to take the pic and get the full idea of how it looks. I may add some extra gussets in yet to triangulate it for more strength.



One last pic of the steering shaft. It really shows how close the headers are to the frame. There's not as much room between the fenders like a SBC has. To run the steering shaft down to a rack and pinion, the shaft would have to go through the front 2 tubes. With a shorter/narrower engine like a SBC, you don't have this problem. You can see the upper u-joint that replaces the original coupler. You can also see the modifications I did to move the steering shaft on the firewall. Nothing special. A 1" shaft going through a bearing with flanges bolting it to the firewall.



About the only way you can run a BBC and a rack and pinion is to cut out the firewall and move the engine back at least 8" just to get the steering shaft past the exhaust. A good drag race setup will have the front of the head inline with the steering axle. My engine still sits forward of that. I'm not willing to hack up the car that much to move the engine back that far. Mine is only back about 1" from stock. The front frame rails taper inward at the back of the engine compartment. The header tubes are right up against the insides of both frame rails. To move the engine back that far would mean going to a full tube chassis car.