Chevette Rack Install

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Postby v8astregt » Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:39 pm

Hmmm... there were a couple Chevettes at Ecology this last weekend. Maybe I outta pull a rack just to have it? There's a really sweet all original car there... too bad there is no following because the interior is mint.
75 Pontiac Astre GT: 406SBC/TH350, roll bar, S10 goodies, down to 11.47 so far, more to come later.
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Chevette Rack cont'ed

Postby Vega75randy » Wed Feb 07, 2007 7:01 pm

v8astregt;
What do ya mean no following? A blown 3.4L V6 in a Chevette is killer! I've seen pictures of it but I have forgotten where. Since you've seen a couple and your in AZ shoot me a price for one shipped to 76084 Texas. 8)

One thing? DO WE NEED TO CUT IT DOWN? this question was not answered yet. Tim McCabe seems to think so. (haven't heard from him yet)
Randy S. Hager
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Postby v8astregt » Wed Feb 07, 2007 9:02 pm

I mean no following in that the last one I've even seen was at the Car Craft Summer Nats 4 years ago. At least that's what it's like here.
75 Pontiac Astre GT: 406SBC/TH350, roll bar, S10 goodies, down to 11.47 so far, more to come later.
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Chevette Rack Install

Postby Vega75randy » Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:49 pm

I'd still like to hear from Tim McCabe about his finding on the Chevette rack. I'll try to PM him to chine in on this discussion. Has anyone found a way to make a almost straight run from the steerin shaft to the rack? I really want to do the conversion and in the next month my car is comming down for media blasting and body work. I'd like to work on this while it's tore down. Keep the ideas comming. 8)
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Postby Fastmax32168 » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:14 pm

Just another example of how odd we all must be. The entire Street rodding world is buying Vega steering boxes to swap in, and we are busy figuring out how to swap them out. :shock:
Roy
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Postby Vega75randy » Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:48 pm

Roy
But even they have a rack alternative now! We just want the same consideration. :?
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Postby NixVegaGT » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:39 am

Ha ha! No kidding, Roy. Josh, what you said about the Chevette. Makes me think about our cars... I NEVER see any Vega's around here. The last time I saw one was about 10 years ago... DAMN. It makes me wonder if there is a group of guys like us for the Chevette crowd out there...

Randy, sorry I don't have a decent answer on the length of the rack. Just as I started researching it I discovered the Appleton and dropped the search for info. The Appleton I bought fits as is I'd have to measure it again but I think the overall length was 18", it might have been as slim as 16" though. I'll measure it when I get the chance. I haven't seen anybody else use one yet so I'm the guinea pig on this one...
- Nic '73 Vega GT "DogBoxx" Batwing LS1
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Postby Vega75randy » Fri Feb 16, 2007 7:03 pm

Nick:
Well, feed us the info on the Appleton rack. If it's almost a direct fit we would like to hear about it and tell us your plan of attack.
BTW: There is a group like ours for the Chevette. I'll have to dig up the URL on it and post it here. I really want a rack on my Vega. The new boxes are sure getting cheaper by the day but, that's still the same old box. I want something a little quicker then 20:1. :lol:
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Postby NixVegaGT » Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:07 pm

I measured it last night. It's 18.25" center to center. That works out to the right width taking into account the LCA pivot width. They are a bit expensive new. Here's a link to the website:

http://www.appletonrackandpinion.com/12232/4511.html

I got mine used from a racing team on ebay. I got it for $100! It's light (?6lbs.). The ratio is aggressive: 2.5:1. That will make it hard to use at a dead stop but that's ok... The pinion angle is low if mounted flat. I'm likely going to mount it at an angle to point the pinion in a better angle.

I'll get some pix of it soon. I can hold it up in the approx. finished position. It's going to put the steering shaft close to the engine block... There is a lot to plan for. I'll keep you guys posted. I think I'll be fabricating the crossmember for it during the last week of March.
- Nic '73 Vega GT "DogBoxx" Batwing LS1
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Postby UR50SLO » Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:14 pm

This is Carl's 77 Sky Hawk. It's using a Chevette Steering rack with the stock outer tie rods.

I need to make two more braces to the main bracket I built but it's

a good fit.

Hope this helps someone,
Scott~
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Postby TimMcCabe » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:17 am

I have not had a chance to do any more on my Chevette rack conversion..

I have the rack housing narrowed 4" so that the inner tie rod pivot point is in line with the lower control arm pivot point. I think this is the best way to avoid bump steer (something the drag racers don't worry too much about).

The problem with narrowing the rack is that the pinion shaft is now very close to the engine block, not leaving much room for the u-joint.

I bought 2 appleton racks off of e-bay, but they were both too trashed to even try rebuilding. The size of the rack looked good, but I was also worried about it being only 2 turns lock to lock, it would be pretty heavy work in a parking lot :)

Rather then mounting the rack to the K-member, I plan on making a new mount that will bolt to the frame using the original motor mount location (my engine has front mounts)

Hopefully the weather will warm up enough that I can get out in the garage and play a little more with this.

Cheers,

Tim
1972 TPI Vega T56 6 speed

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Chevette Rack

Postby Vega75randy » Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:58 pm

Thank you very much Tim for taking time to let us know how you are doing and for your ideas on this disscussion. I do not have the original post from V8Monza.com that you commented on your experience with the Chevette rack possiblities. Since I want to do a Chevette rack or another rack that may work with out any modification to the rack itself. I also will make up a new frame work to hold the rack but more than likely will replace the cross member with a tubular one that will be attached with more than just the 4 bolts that the stock one has. Please keep us up on your progress and success. :)
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Postby greg72 » Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:40 am

The one Scott has fitted to Carl's car appears to be fairly straight forward.

After Tim has worked his out we will have a few possibilities for converting h-bodies over to rack and pinion steering.

Thanks guys for sharing this information.
Greg
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