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Quick Rack
sting - 26/2/03 at 11:04 AM

Any ideas of the best place to purchase a escort quickrack I`ve seen 2nd hand ones in Motorsport news but perfer the safety of new.
Any replies greatly recieved.

eddymcclements - 26/2/03 at 12:00 PM

Rally Design, part no RD816 for the complete 2.4 turn MkII Escort quick-rack. It's nearly 100 quid plus VAT.

Alternatively rebuild your own MkII Escort rack with a 2.4-turn rack and pinion kit, part no RD831 and less than 50 quid plus VAT.

Cheers,

Eddy

Rorty - 27/2/03 at 04:56 AM

Save your money by shortening the steering arms, and tuning the rack position. The steering arms will need to be professionally welded and relieved.
Some spoilsport is bound to leap up and say Mr. SVA will fail it. So do it nicely, paint it, and don't tell him.

Jasper - 27/2/03 at 11:28 AM

Check the Yahoo BEC list, Chris Gamblin is organising a bulk buy of their own spec 1.8 (ish) turn quick racks - very quick they will be too.

Findlay234 - 27/2/03 at 12:23 PM

try burton power, they do an exchange as well.

cheers
fin

GO - 27/2/03 at 02:23 PM

Jasper, or anyone else for that matter, do you have a link for the Yahoo BEC list? I've tried searching the groups with various terms but no luck so far.

Cheers.

Jasper - 27/2/03 at 07:41 PM

Here you go:

http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/bike-engined-cars/messages

Northy - 27/2/03 at 10:11 PM

Any idea how much they'll be?

Thanks

Rorty - 28/2/03 at 02:05 AM

Jasper:

quote:

Check the Yahoo BEC list, Chris Gamblin is organising a bulk buy of their own spec 1.8 (ish) turn quick racks - very quick they will be too.


No offence meant here M8, but 1.8 means absolutely nothing.
"Oh cr4p" you sigh, "here he goes again!"
Is that 1.8 turns lock to lock, or is it 1.8:1 ratio (1.8 turns of the steering wheel to 360 degrees of road wheel rotation)?
You could take a "quick rack" from something like a Crosle, and stick it in a Marina, and it may or may not make any difference, depending on the length of the Marina steering arms.
You need to firstly, work out how many mm the rack moves for one complete turn of the steering wheel, then do a little maths with the length of your steering arms.
As I mentioned in my last post above, shortening the arms is the simplest and cheapest option, especially, as you're building the entire car. It would be a different story if you were just wanting to alter the ratio in a saloon car, as it may be difficult to reposition the rack after shortening the arms.
As you have to make up the rack mounts, and position it yourselves, why not just shorten the arms, and move the rack (ever so slightly from Ron's spec) to suit the new arm lengths?
If you want to see how it works for yourself, fit some old knackered tie rod ends to the tie rods on your rack, and tack weld the ball joint's tapered studs to the sides of the steering arms (obviously use spare ones). Try it with the studs at different positions along the steering arms, until you achieve a ratio that you're happy with.
This will give you an idea how much the steering arms need to be shortened by.
Bear in mind though, the "quicker" the rack, the more effort is required to turn the steering wheel. In a heavy saloon car, this could be a problem, but in a 7esque Locost, the whole car is so light, a little more steering effort won't be a problem.
Don't make it too quick, or the car will be very twitchy at speed. For quick road use, the best "ratio" is when you can keep both hands on the wheel (without shuffling them around), and you're glad when the rack hits the stops, because your arms won't move any more.

Jasper - 28/2/03 at 02:02 PM

As for the exact spec 'm not sure, but the boys on the BEC have been using lots of different 'quick' racks from various companies with varying degrees or happines. They are in the process of getting their own spec one made up by a specialist company to suit small (260mm)steering wheels and 7's on tight circuits.

I dont have the required skill/brains to attempt this sort of thing myself, and am happy to go with the amount of experience these chaps have driving the kind of car I'm building.

johnston - 28/2/03 at 02:13 PM

quote:

Crosle


is that the same as the one from ards rorty????

sting - 28/2/03 at 05:38 PM

Cheers all

Rorty i understand what you are saying but i have no welder and brought the chassis ready built from stuart taylor motorsport therefore its my only option i feel.

Cheers Sting

Rorty - 1/3/03 at 06:20 AM

Johnston, yes, they certainly used to be somewhere in Co Down, I should know, as the old man was a distant cousin of my mother's. I'm not sure where they currently are, as I have a feeling they had a come back, or perhaps were bought out by an english firm. Anyone?