Rack and Pinion Steering in 66 GTO

[old66tiger]

Anyone do this yet without cutting up the frame? Would be a cool addition if one could use the factory idler arm and steering box holes for an aftermarket rack.

[astroracer]

Do a search here. This has been discussed many times and the answer always comes down to this.
You would be much farther ahead to put your money into a good steering box upgrade rather then chasing a rack swap. A good box will have it all over trying to get a rack to work in a non-rack suspension design.
Unless you are redesigning the entire suspension to work with a particular rack there is nothing to be gained by doing this.

[dontlifttoshift]

One more vote for not worth the effort. If all the parts were free and two engineers donated their time to make it work I would still BUY a good steering box over putting a rack in a car.

[tlillard23]

really? How can it be that hard? although I think I am about to find out.... Dontlifttoshift, awesome name...

[astroracer]

really? How can it be that hard? although I think I am about to find out.... Dontlifttoshift, awesome name...

Swapping to a rack involves a whole lot more thought than most people realize. That's why this question gets asked so often. Swapping a rack (pick a rack, any rack) into a suspension that was not initially designed with that intent usually creates a suspension with unusual amounts of bumpsteer and drastically reduced (or increased) turn radii. The racks inner tierod pivot point locations are tied directly into the upper and lower control arm pivot points. If the inner tierod points aren't in the right location (both cross-car, longitudinally AND vertically) this will cause all kinds of issues with bumpsteer, road feel, turn-in and turn-out.
Read this Longacre article. Best explanation I have found of why NOT to try to adapt a rack where it doesn't belong....
http://www.longacreracing.com/articles/art.asp?ARTID=13
Like it says in the article, to do this right you need to start with a clean sheet of paper and design the suspension (read that suspension AND frame) AROUND the rack.

[dontlifttoshift]

Then after you are done ruining the geometry to get that rack and pinion feel you get to fight with headers and steering linkage....YAY! Linkage is almost always in a bind and headers are full of dents. Oh, and don't forget about the terrible ground clearance.

I have been there, I have friends that were there, I am proud to say I have taken more rack conversions off than put on.

[bret]

Short list of items to consider with an aftermarket rack "kit"

1. bumpsteer geometry
2. oilpan clearance
3. ground clearance
4. flex in the rack itself and/or the mounting system
5. linkage from rack to steering column

[ace_xp2]

Well, if you've got a lathe you can shorten most racks, or you can pay for a custom length one. I've found though, that a lot of steering box setups have a lot more "rack travel" than most factory racks do, so some loss of turn radius may come up. Then whether or not it will fit in the same place as your center link is a whole other issue. In the end you don't necessarily gain or lose anything, a steering box can be just as tight, it all comes down to design.

[KnightMare]

You could probably try the flaming river kit for a 66 Chevelle. I'd talk to them to see if their bolt up cradle kit would work

[robbie9999]

have anyone of your put the rack into your 66 A body ?