[ajzride]

To replace my shot gearbox, leaky control valve, and busted steering ram, I elected to go with a manual rack and pinion setup. I chose to use a manual rack instead of a power rack for three reasons:

A) I hate power steering fluid, it leaks everywhere, its really slick, you can't see it, and it will make your skin and eyes burn.

B) I wanted to eliminate my power steering pump so I can install my AC compressor in that location.

C) About half the price of a power setup.

This thread picks up with the install of the new cradle, if you are curious about how I removed the old stuff, you can check out my build thread here:

'65 Coupe 351w

[ajzride]

The kit I got was 8001110-01, this is an updated version of their original design for the 1965/66 mustang, which is supposed to have better clearances for headers and z-bars (dear lord I hope so). Stock pic here, but trust me this is what it really looks like:



Since all of my stuff was already out of the way, the first thing I did was try to bolt the cradle into the holes that were used to mount the stock cross member.

So there is this nice little picture in the manual that says you may need to grind here:



Let me tell you what happened there. An engineer wrote down what you are really supposed to do, and some PR guy, said "that might scare people off, lets tone it down a little"

here is what the original directions looked like before the PR guys got ahold of them:



Here is what mine looked like stock (from the transmissions point of view):



Here is what it looked like after I ground a little based on what I thought there instructions were:



And here is what it looked like when I was totally done grinding on it:



Really, I'm not sure I had to take anything off the bottom, thats just what I did first because that seemed to be what their instructions were indicating. Turns out most of my clearance issues were at the top on the passenger side.

Now since I had planned on doing this with the engine in the car, I was keeping a mind out for things that would be problematic if I had actually attempted that. This is one step that would be tricky. Not only would you not have much room to angle the grinder from underneath, but you would be throwing sparks all around your fuel line and oil pan, and that just doesn't sound smart.

After about 30 minutes of grinding, the cradle bolted right in. Torqued to 65lbs and moved on to the tie-rods.

Drivers side (from transmission point of view):



Passenger side (from transmission point of view):



Cradle (from transmission point of view):



Cradle (from top):

[ajzride]

Nothing special about tie rod ends, right?

Twist 'em onto the linkage, push 'em through the hole, and tighten 'em up. Should be really really simple. Which means I was totally dumb founded when I spent an hour trying to adjust the tie-rod ends to get my alignment anything close to straight. The problem I am having is that I can't thread the outer tie rod ends all the way up on the inners, I have plenty of spare thread, but it tightens down:





Which means that my alignment looks something like this:



That picture is an attempt to show how far inward my passenger tire is pointed, while my drivers tire is perfectly straight.

I decided to move on and let the guys at firestone deal with it, because I still had to get the steering shaft in. After I cleaned up for the night and came inside, I jumped on the internet, and seems I'm at least the fifth person who has had this problem. The solution appears to be to trim the inner rods by about 1.5", so that the outers do not bottom out. I will probably attempt that this weekend, but I have to go rent a tie rod puller, so it's not happening tonight.

[ajzride]

Before I could move on with the steering column, I had to take care of a loose end first. The steering column is held to the bottom of the dash/instrument panel by two bolts that stick downwards, and you run two nuts up onto them, using a u-strap to hold the column up. I'm sure whoever thought of how to implement these bolts thought it was a brilliant idea 40 years ago, but after they get old and worn out, they are a bugger to fix.

Inside the dash, directly behind the speedometer there are two rectangular "channels", one for each bolt sticking down for the steering shaft. Inside of these channels, are two square nuts, which the bolts thread through, it works very much like a carriage bolt, except that you can't pull up on it and remove the bolt, its just stuck there forever. The problem I have is that the channels have become weak, and the nut slips inside of the channel, and I can't run the bolt down far enough to get a nut on the bottom side. Drilling the bolt out won't help, because there would still be a slipping nut inside the channel. I was forced to cut the channel open with a roto-zip to remove the nut, and then replace the setup with traditional nuts and bolts. The downside this solution is that I have to take the speedometer loose anytime I want to remove the steering shaft. Considering it is only 5 phillips head screws to loosen the speedometer, that seemed like a fair trade to me.

The work area:



The channel cut open:



Standard bolt as a replacement:



The perp:

[ajzride]

Now that I had taken care of the dash, I could go cut my steering column 3 1/8" shorter:

Measure a bunch of times:



Connect the dots:



I could have done this the old fashion way, with a hacksaw, but even at 9:00PM it is 96 degrees and 82% humidity, so I took the lazy way out:



Half way there:



All done:



I had to grab a half-round file and clean up the inside edges, but it only took a few minutes.

Next was to install the cap and bearing on the bottom. The instructions say to "tap it in" with a hammer. I can assure you, that if you tap too lightly, you will be there for a very long time. I can also tell you that a folding table has too much bounce in it to be a very effective brace. You can't set the column on the ground to hammer it because of the blinker lever, so I found some concrete steps that worked much better as a brace:





After I had cut the column, things went fairly smooth. The bracket that they give you to bolt to your firewall that holds the shaft uses the same sheet metal screw holes as the stock flange, and my u-joints didn't need any trimming, although I've read that some people had to.



My only other thoughts on the u-joint were that I don't know that I would have ever gotten them lined up and torqued with my engine in the bay. At the very least I am positive I would have to remove my z-bar, and possibly even try to slide a header out of the way.

[ajzride]

So far I'm happy with it. I mean, the car is still in the air, so I have no resistance turning against concrete, but the ratio feels good, and I can already tell that it definitely turns easier than my old gearbox did.

I won't be able to pass final judgement until

A) I get the motor in and see if the headers and z-bar clear the cradle
B) I trim the inner rods and get it lined up better.

Hopefully I'll have a better update for you guys by the end of the weekend.

[ajzride]

My steering wheel seems to be missing a piece, and it was this way when I bought it, not related to the R&P conversion.. The wheel pushes onto the steering shaft, and then a nut screws onto the shaft to hold the wheel on. But it seems like there needs to be a spacer that goes around the shaft and behind the steering wheel to tighten it up. I saw mention of a "Tapered pinch ring removed from stock shaft" in my instructions, but there was nothing on my old shaft. Does anyone know what this would be called if I were to go looking for it at autozone or one of the mustang wharehouses? I tried searching for steering wheel tapered pinch ring and came up empty. The closest thing I have found so far is this:

Mustang Parts from Mustangs Plus :: Steering :: Steering Column Parts :: 1965-67 Steering Column Sleeve

Is that what I am looking for?

Thanks guys

[ajzride]

I wanted to wait until I had the motor in to finish working on my rack and pinion. I feared that I might have to make some adapters and drop my steering linkage down an inch or so to clear my headers. Since it is going to be this weekend before I put the motor in, I didn't want to wait that long to work on the rack and pinion. I decided I could install the headers, measure where they will sit on the motor, and use some braces to hold them in place while I checked for stuff to clear.

In case you've never seen them, Headers go through a collector into a flange:



That flange sits around the corresponding flange on the exhaust pipe:



And for some reason I forgot to take a picture of them coupled, but it will be pretty clear once you get down there.

Next I measured the distance from my motor mount to my exhaust manifold bolt holes (10&1/4"):



Turned out a 2x4 and a quart of oil made for just the right height to brace the header in place:



As you can see in the picture, I've got almost 6 inches of clearance between the rack and my headers. The rack has a drastically smaller footprint than the old gearbox and control valve had.





Although I couldn't find anything to hold it in place while I took a picture for you guys, I also held the Z-bar approximately where I think it will sit, and it appears to clear the u-joints on the steering shaft.

[ajzride]

Now that I was comfortable I wouldn't have to move the cradle, I was ready to trim the tie-rods. First I had to remove them from the spindles:



Use a tie-rod puller rented from autozone:



After removing the outer tie rod from the inner tie rod, I used a bamboo skewer to measure how deep the rod was:



I then measured the skewer and made a 50% mark:



And taped the marked up skewer to the tie-rod:



The goal is to have the tie rod adjusted to 50% when the wheel is straight, that will give me the most adjustment in either direction for correcting alignment.

I aligned the wheel as best I could by eye:



and then lightly bolted the outer tie rod to the spindle, while holding the inner tie rod up in place. I measured how much I needed to cut off to make the inner tie rod land exactly at my mid-point mark on my skewer. It was hard to take a picture of what I was doing, but here is an attempt:



The end-game was that I needed to cut off 1.5" to get my inner tie rod exactly half way into my outer tie rod, at center. Thanks to roto-zip, it was a breeze:



I then threaded the outer tie-rod back onto the inner, and lined the tire back up straight again. Torqued the tie-rod to 65 lbs:



Satisfied with the results, I repeated the process on the passenger side. The end result is pretty good alignment for eyeballing it. After I get the motor it, the first place I go will be Firestone for an alignment.

[Countryboy_99]

Inspiring. I'd be flipping out if got it put together and it was as far off as it was for you before you trimmed it. I'd be wondering what I did wrong, and worried as hell about having to cut anything.

[ajzride]

The motor, headers, and z-bar are all installed. There is way more room in the bay with this rack than there was with the old system. Zero clearance issues with anything. Took me 3 hours less time to install the z-bar this time. The car should be driving soon and I'll give an update on performance.

[mustanggarage]

nice writeup. in my thread you asked about the total control rack and I have to tell you the total control products unit is way easier to install. there is no trimming or grinding involved. you use your original inner and outer tie rod ends and the steering linkage with the double u joints looks the same. one other hint for anyone else doing this swap if you put a large hose clamp on the steering column it really helps to keep the cut straight. I just used the hacksaw but it only takes about a minute to cut through that thin metal. all in all though I highly recommend anyone who wants to actually drive one of these old cars should do the rack and pinion conversion.

btw how close are you to driving this rig?

[ajzride]

Originally Posted by mustanggarage nice writeup. in my thread you asked about the total control rack and I have to tell you the total control products unit is way easier to install. there is no trimming or grinding involved. you use your original inner and outer tie rod ends and the steering linkage with the double u joints looks the same. one other hint for anyone else doing this swap if you put a large hose clamp on the steering column it really helps to keep the cut straight. I just used the hacksaw but it only takes about a minute to cut through that thin metal. all in all though I highly recommend anyone who wants to actually drive one of these old cars should do the rack and pinion conversion.

I looked at the TCP, Flaming River, and Ron Morris R&P Kits as well. I chose the Unisteer for 3 reasons:

A) Price (it's 1/2 the price of the others)
B) I had heard some negative comments on the bump-steer and turning radius for the TCP, although you seem to have dispelled them, I couldn't find anyone at the time who was using one to ask.
C) Customer service. I found several threads on installing a unisteer, where a company rep had actually been scanning the forums, and popped in with information or advice. To me this seemed to indicate that the company cared about how their product was perceived, and would provide good customer support. How true this is I don't know because I haven't had to contact them yet.

Since I don't have any stick time with unisteer installed yet, I can't speak to it's true capabilities yet. But so far I wouldn't rule it out just because it is little more difficult to install than the TCP, based on the price savings.

Originally Posted by mustanggarage btw how close are you to driving this rig?

I've taken it around the block a few times, but I only have one working brake light, and no front end or fenders on, so it will be a few months before it is fully assembled. My next goal is to get up at sunrise one day before the cops hit the road and run it up for an alignment.

Even though I have taken it around the block, I need to correct two things before I pass any judgement on the kit.

A) Alignment, this hugely affects steering.
B) The missing bushing in my steering column (mentioned earlier). If I grab my steering wheel, I can shake the steering shaft from side to side or up and down inside of the steering column. I know there needs to be a bushing in there to keep the steering shaft centered inside of the column, I just can't figure out what the name of that bushing is so that I can order it. I have to find time to pull out all of my catalogs and find an exploded view of the column so that I can order one.

[Blackwid0wXR7]

That would drive me nuts, that's too much time and effort for me lol.

[mustanggarage]

I agree with you on the cost. the power unit was over 2000.00 for sarah's car I don't know if any of the others perform better than the total control unit as I have never driven any of the others but I am sold on it. I now have bought 2 of them. As far as the customer service goes I can say this, back before they sold out to chris alston chassisworks the customer service was better. now I think they are just to big. I hope that the whole thing works out like you had hoped. as far as the bushing for the column I think you probably are referring to this.
Mustang Parts from Mustangs Plus :: Steering :: Steering Column Parts :: 1965-67 Steering Column Sleeve

anyway. I congratulate you again on your perseverance. I think your car and my 65 must share some DNA I jokingly referred to it as christine because every time I try to do something with it it takes twice as long and is twice as hard as I think it should be lol.

again great job on the stang.

[ajzride]

Thanks very much, I do believe that is the part I am looking for, it should help things tremendously.

It is very ironic that you should mention the name you have given your car. Just last night someone called my car Eleanor, and I had to scold them, because my car is no Eleanor. But we then spent 30 minutes debating names. We settled on Amanda, because she was this smokin' super high maintenance girl my buddy used to date.

[ajzride]

Thanks MustangGarage, that was exactly the part I needed. Feels much tighter now. If the weather is good tomorrow I will go get an alignment, and give you guys a final analysis.

[mustanggarage]

excellent, glad to help. good luck on the alignment and test drive. btw I got my 67 started last night so I feel I have accomplished something this weekend too.

[ajzride]

Believe it or not, I just got this thing aligned last weekend, although I have been driving it around the block for about 3 months using my eyeball alignment. I love the way the R&P feels when driving, it is night and day compared to the old gear boxes. The only regret I have is that I wish I had spent the extra money for the power setup. I know I detailed a lot of reasons above that I didn't want power steering, but with the heavy 351w sitting over the rack, and 8" wide z-rated tires, this thing is a beast to turn in the parking lots.

[yuttay]

I just installed my Unisteer R&P kit in an early 67 long-shaft and found this post when trying to determine if there was a part missing in the steering wheel hub. Thanks for linking to that part.

As far as my experience goes, the R&P installed relatively easily even with a manual/z-bar set up and tri-y headers. There is zero play in the system now vs. 1/4 turn prior to the change. I did have to shorten the intermediate shaft between the rack and the steering column by about an inch, and I bottomed out on the tie-rod ends, but I'm just about aligned so I'm leery to undo the whole thing and cut them down...

Anwyay, great post and thanks for the tips.