Just curious as to what you guys are doing when cutting down a rack to get a chance at minimal bump steer. The rack gear on mine is hardend so tapping it without a lathe and carbide tips is going to be difficult. I have been told that just cut out the section of the gear I dont need bevel the edges down and reweld in a jig to keep it straight and it will be more than strong enough, this way I keep the original threads on the end for the tierods.

????
Dale
Dale

have you thought of getting mk to do this.

ASLEEP MISSED THAT GOOD POINT

However there was a stateside post that said they did mustang rack width conversions Cant find it at the mo

[Edited on 8-5-04 by mangogrooveworkshop]

I think he is in the US....

Ontario, Canada actually, I can cut it down and weld it back without any trouble I think, Ideally it woudl be cut and rethreaded but I dont want to got to the extra expense if not neccesary as I will have to get someone to reweld the cassing as its alloy for me.
Dale

I've not done it yet but....
As far as I can see, the gear teeth part of the rack is heat treated but the rest isn't so I hope I'll be able to saw/ drill etc the nearside part where it's round & where a peice needs taking off - all done in the lathe including the thread. The outer case I was going to take a slice from the middle & turn a sleeve accurately to the outside diam of the rack tube so it would have to weld back square. My main worry with the whole procedure is that the rack mountings thus move 4" closer together so the whole thing will be a bit wobblier - may have to ditch the rubber & mount it solid! Also I'll need to weld right round or the oil will leak out....
cheers
Bob C

Looking at the original post you clearly don't have the escort rack that I have..... If you DO have a hardened item you won't get away with cutting up & welding the toothy bit
1) you'll never get it accurately in line so it will likely bind at full lock
2) weld a hardened item - I wouldn't trust it to hang my shopping on after that!! It either won't be hard any more or more likely so brittle near the weld that a tap with a toffee hammer will snap it off. & steering's kinda important..... It might work but do be careful!
cheers
Bob

would strongly recommend thet you do not cut and reweld a component like this, im sure you local machine shop would charge very little to do it proparly, why not find someone in the us to supply a shortened quick rack for you, then you have the besty of both worlds

regards

marc

Its a power rack from a full size ford t-bird , being converted to a manual. where I want to cut it is not where the teeth are but in a spot where the rod just passes through the tube and no bushings are there. I can mark it with a file but its not as easy as mild steel so I dont know if its just surface hardend or what. I have to cut it anyway so I may as well cut it off at a spot that it can be threaded still and see if the cuttoff is harded on the surface or entirely. I like the rack as its only 2.3 turns lock to lock compared to 3-4 for standard
Dale