ehummelman
06-12-2012, 08:05 AM
I recently put a Milodon 7qt pan on and my passenger tie rod joint now hits the pan on right turns significantly decreasing my turning radius. It is barely hitting, but it does hit. I know I can take the old BFH to the pan and give myself some room, but would prefer not to do so. So here's my question. The PO (Josh69) swapped out the Firebird steering linkage for the Camaro for the following reasons:
His quote from a build thread on Lat-G:
I did so because it's easier and cheaper to replace the tie rods with Camaro parts in the event of a failure. I used a '69 Camaro centerlink, idler arm, and tie-rods. I used the stock Firebird steering arms and spindles (s/b the same as Camaro parts, the arms could differ but not likely). You will also need a '68 Firebird pitman arm because it's curved to fit around the headers. The Camaro pitman is straight and will hit the exhaust. The Firebird centerlink is not serviceable, meaning the balljoints cannot be repaired, you need a whole new centerlink if it fails. The Camaro part is just a bar with tapered holes for the joints, so much simpler. Plus, the Pontiac part is crap and was designed terribly. There is what is referred to as a 'tight' joint on one end of it to give it just enough play to not bind, but is not actually a balljoint, and that is the reason it's not serviceable. Using all new parts, the cost is about the same. I had the used Camaro centerlink and my steering arms and spindles powdercoated. Everything else was new. The '68 pitman wasn't cheap at around $130, but spending $300 on a '69 Firebird centerlink was less appealing, much less so dealing with a repair. This car is a driver, so it was worth it to make the change IMHO.
So, I wonder if I go back to the Firebird setup if I will gain back enough clearance? In other words is it different enough in shape? Not sure if anyone could comment on this, but thought I'd ask since I don't want to order all those parts just to find out it doesn't work for me.
Thanks.
Here's the problem, it' does hit the circular part not the zerk.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/06/35d1end-1.jpg
I've looked through David Pozzi's pages but can't answer my own question. What do you think about reaming out the hole in the center link so the ball joint stud would go further forward? I'm shooting in the dark for ways to clear that pan. I think Josh made the right choice with the Camaro steering considering all the threads I've read on the Firebird linkage. Maybe I should just bash the pan in, I don't know.
His quote from a build thread on Lat-G:
I did so because it's easier and cheaper to replace the tie rods with Camaro parts in the event of a failure. I used a '69 Camaro centerlink, idler arm, and tie-rods. I used the stock Firebird steering arms and spindles (s/b the same as Camaro parts, the arms could differ but not likely). You will also need a '68 Firebird pitman arm because it's curved to fit around the headers. The Camaro pitman is straight and will hit the exhaust. The Firebird centerlink is not serviceable, meaning the balljoints cannot be repaired, you need a whole new centerlink if it fails. The Camaro part is just a bar with tapered holes for the joints, so much simpler. Plus, the Pontiac part is crap and was designed terribly. There is what is referred to as a 'tight' joint on one end of it to give it just enough play to not bind, but is not actually a balljoint, and that is the reason it's not serviceable. Using all new parts, the cost is about the same. I had the used Camaro centerlink and my steering arms and spindles powdercoated. Everything else was new. The '68 pitman wasn't cheap at around $130, but spending $300 on a '69 Firebird centerlink was less appealing, much less so dealing with a repair. This car is a driver, so it was worth it to make the change IMHO.
So, I wonder if I go back to the Firebird setup if I will gain back enough clearance? In other words is it different enough in shape? Not sure if anyone could comment on this, but thought I'd ask since I don't want to order all those parts just to find out it doesn't work for me.
Thanks.
Here's the problem, it' does hit the circular part not the zerk.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2012/06/35d1end-1.jpg
I've looked through David Pozzi's pages but can't answer my own question. What do you think about reaming out the hole in the center link so the ball joint stud would go further forward? I'm shooting in the dark for ways to clear that pan. I think Josh made the right choice with the Camaro steering considering all the threads I've read on the Firebird linkage. Maybe I should just bash the pan in, I don't know.