RK
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 12:28 AM |
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Lotus Europa or Austin Mini steering rack??
Would either a Europa or a (new) Austin Mini steering rack work for a Seven?
I can't have any welding and the specially made ones are big bucks.
Thanks everyone.
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Doug68
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 06:27 AM |
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They probably could be made to work but getting the location right to eliminate bump steer will be the issue.
I'm in Australia and I and at least one other bloke here have bought new MKII Escort quick-racks from the UK for ~90 pounds plus shipping.
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Humbug
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 07:06 AM |
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As Doug says, Escort racks are available in the UK... e.g. Rally Design has LHD ones for £99.50 +P&P
http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=steering+rack
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britishtrident
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 07:24 AM |
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Mini one won't work it would work the the wrong way.
The Europa one is the same rack used on the Lotus Seven S2 to S4 and the Caterham, problem comes is getting ball joints with correct taper to mating
it to what ever front uprights you use.
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 10:08 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Mini one won't work it would work the the wrong way.
If a RHD mini rack was used and flipped over to put in a LHD installation, the front steer Cortina hubs should correct everything.
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RK
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 12:46 PM |
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Ha Ha.
The Mini is LHD.
90 sterling is over $200 cdn (not including shipping and import duties) and that is basically my limit. Also there are no Cortina, Sierra or RWD
Escorts here in Canada, so no uprights from them.
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Humbug
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 01:08 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by RK
Ha Ha.
The Mini is LHD.
90 sterling is over $200 cdn (not including shipping and import duties) and that is basically my limit. Also there are no Cortina, Sierra or RWD
Escorts here in Canada, so no uprights from them.
What about Hyundai Pony or Stellar? I think at least one of them had Cortina uprights.
Here are some thread referring to Hyundai Stellar
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=58060
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=31639
[Edited on 26.02.2007 by Humbug]
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RK
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 01:20 PM |
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I've looked high and low. Not much like that left where I live.
Thank you anyhow! I'll keep looking. I'm trying to avoid spending the $400 US. on a new one. Importing from the UK would be a pain. The
costs soar pretty quickly.
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andyps
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 01:50 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by RK
Ha Ha.
The Mini is LHD.
The mini rack is designed to be behind the "axle" therefore a RHD one put upside down to provide LHD would work with uprights having the
steering links at the front.
Andy
An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less
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DarrenW
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 01:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by RK
I've looked high and low. Not much like that left where I live.
Thank you anyhow! I'll keep looking. I'm trying to avoid spending the $400 US. on a new one. Importing from the UK would be a pain. The
costs soar pretty quickly.
Just a thought - but if someone off this site in UK can get hold of one for you, would the importation be a pain if its valus was declared as £20 or
£30 - ie sent over as a second hand sale rather than as new direct from supplier? I guess the courier charge may be a bit high though.
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Arthur Dent
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 03:57 PM |
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You can get a LHD Escort MkII rack from Haler Concepts - http://halerconcepts.com/Canada%20Luego_price_list.htm not super cheap but not insane either.
I've got that rack plus Stellar spindles - works excellent.
'The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go
wrong goes wrong, it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair.' Douglas Adams
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 04:11 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by RK
Ha Ha.
The Mini is LHD.
90 sterling is over $200 cdn (not including shipping and import duties) and that is basically my limit. Also there are no Cortina, Sierra or RWD
Escorts here in Canada, so no uprights from them.
So have you already decided which uprights you are going to use? If not maybe consider rack and uprights from an MX5 (Miata)?
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paulf
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 09:01 PM |
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I have heard that MGB or midget steering racks are a good choice, they are supposedly shorter than the escort one and improve the bump steer
problem.
I would imagine that there must be some MGBs over there.
Paul
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RK
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 10:56 PM |
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Hey, that Escort rack from halerconcepts in Alberta is not that expensive ($235 cdn). I wonder if it's a quick rack? I'll call them. Thank
you.
I am considering bidding on a Europa rack (from California) on ebay at the moment, if anybody else is interested!! I don't know if it would work
yet for me.
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cs3tcr
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 10:59 PM |
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I've got a customer here in Vancouver who used an MGB rack on his car. Fits very well in the book frame.
As for the Europa rack, its basically the same as the Spitfire rack, and the later Midget racks (the midget having some minor detail changes).
I've got the Spit rack in my Seven, and the Eleven is getting the same, albeit moved behind the axle line to make the car RHD (also swapping the
Spit uprights right to left).
Cheers,
Rod
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RK
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| posted on 26/2/07 at 11:12 PM |
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I would love to make mine into a RHD (just because I've always wondered what it felt like to drive from there - shifting with the left hand, how
odd), but it complicates things too much. I have a Toyota 22re which has room on the left for the steering column...
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RK
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| posted on 27/2/07 at 03:05 AM |
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Just bought a Spitfire rack off EBay for $20US plus $20US shipping, no duties etc because it's fairly local. Thank you very much for all your
replies.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 27/2/07 at 06:50 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by cs3tcr
I've got a customer here in Vancouver who used an MGB rack on his car. Fits very well in the book frame.
As for the Europa rack, its basically the same as the Spitfire rack, and the later Midget racks (the midget having some minor detail changes).
I've got the Spit rack in my Seven, and the Eleven is getting the same, albeit moved behind the axle line to make the car RHD (also swapping the
Spit uprights right to left).
Cheers,
Rod
Istr switching spifire uprights right to left won't work, get GT6 ones as they have bolt on steering arms.
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cs3tcr
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| posted on 27/2/07 at 07:04 PM |
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I've looked at the Spit uprights and cant see any reason why you couldnt swap left to right. They still use a trunnion for the lower
"swivel". So setting the castor is still done by having the wishbones on an angle. The only problem might be the positioning of the
steering rack.
As for the GT6 uprights, i've thought of this, but the hub bearings are larger than the Spit and the early Herald uprights. So, to swap them
over to wire wheels would require a different adapter. And, i'm not going to be using the Triumph style bolt on adapters as this would increase
the track (not a wise idea on an Eleven).
Cheers,
Rod
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