has any one tryed to put rack and pinion steering on a 65/69 corvair
if so what parts worked the best and was it worth the time and money
thanks fot your time


Craig Hall
66 corsa V8

There have been a few, and I have been thinking about doing it too, maybe later in the summer. It seems the popular choices are 350Z racks and Mustang II racks...you can make almost anything work, I think its pretty simple once you have the rack mounted. Matt will probably post a pic of his Crown which has a rack from I belive a mid 70's Ford installed in it.

_________________________________________
Ryan Counterman (Moderator)
1965 Corsa Kelmark V8 400 HP ///1965 Monza Sedan 110/PG /// Ultimate Corvair Hauler/// Don Eichstaedt's 1965 Corsa Racecar
Chairman - 2013 CORSA Convention "A Vairiation In Kalamazoo" /// President - West Michigan Corvair Club /// New Build! 1966 Corsa GTP Convertible Mid Engine 3.8L Supercharged!

fastvair guys talk about notching the bottom of the gas tank.
recommend checking the archives there.

Noah
Milwaukee/Chicago
64 110/4 Rampside, parting out. RIP Ye olde rusty truck.
63 convertible Spyder, engine rebuild
65 Corsa HT, 180 mothballed
2002 Golf Tdi

I did my conversion using a Mustang II unit from Flaming River. The problem was I had no idea what I needed to look for and eneded up with a system that the rack travel was shorter than I needed for the corvair fast steering arm geometry. I had to shorten the fast arms 3/4" so as the lock to lock travel would match the Mustang unit. Then I had to lengthen the passenger side tie rod and shorten the drivers side tie rod. The steering arms required to be reamed out with a special tapered reamer (7 degrees) so the tie rod ends would match up. And the special bracket was fabricated for mounting that was welded on the cross member. Other than those little issues the project was &*&%$#@(*&)*&!

hey, I down here with my dad on leave putting a 1965 covair front end on a 26 t model,but he wants to put rack and pinion on it.So far you are the only one I've found that has done succesifully.If you can give us any advise it would help alot.

Thanks
rob

DR Yenko sells a kit, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

It's based on a Datsun 280Z rack.

I think a good quick steering box works plenty good enough . Mine is 2.5 turns L to L with quick arms.

"UNSAFE"
Kevin Willson
65 Monza
Juneau. Alaska

Robert, it's not that simple.....you'll need to read some books on front suspensions...and most likely you'll want a "rear steer" setup...

I could post a picture...but your "T" is totally different....

Like Max said...you want a Rack with the same amout of total travel as the Vair requires....

And placement [ verticle and front to rear distance compared to the steering arms ] is critical...

Ask Frank Parker over on Virtual Vairs. He has a pretty good description and some pix. It's not a trivial job as the pivots for the tie rods on the rack must be precisely located or the bump steer goes wacko.
Jim B'
'66 turbovert

I've seen a Corvair with the Pinto/Mustang II power steering rack and pinion that worked pretty well- there was significant mods to the trunk floor needed to make it fit, and the power assist was overkill- the grumpy old man owner had some suspension issues causing hard steering that he wouldnt track down and fix so went overboard correcting it.

I would stick with the factory style box personally, its not bad- the repro fast boxes probably are the best compromise for most people. Fast steering is a very nice option in most Corvairs, particularly on radial ply tires which are sorta mushy feeling compared to the factory bias ply ones.

On a V8 car the power assisted rack might be a nice touch if you go that route-

Brent