KatoKid

Well picked up my rack from Robco yesterday. I wanted to get the WRX rack as close as possible to the width of the Z rack. The WRX rack was originally 642mm from inner tie rod pivot to inner tie rod pivot and the Z rack was 610mm so I needed to lose 32mm in total. Fortunately the body of the Celica pivot is 3mm shorter than the WRX so I lost 6mm there but still need to lose 26mm, hence I asked Rob to take 13mm off each end of the WRX rack. This required new 14 x 1.5 threads to be cut on the inside and a slot milled to accept the fingers of the locking washer for the tie rods. Rob did a great job and was able to do the mods without disassembly of the rack saving on a seal kit a rebuild costs. Word of warning....and I didnt know how this will turn out until I drive the car, but taking 13mm off each end reduces the steering stop distance at centre to 56mm each side when the Z rack is 60mm. Essentially Ive lost 4mm of lock in the rack on each side, doesn't sound like much but this equates to 1/4 of a turn. Total turns from lock to lock was 2.75 and is now 2.25. Don't think this will be a major issue but something to be aware of. Total width of the rack from the outer tie rod end ball joint to ball joint needs to be approx 1170mm for stock suspension. With the Celica inners Ive only got 20mm of thread available to screw into the Subaru outer ends. Believe minimum requirement is 1.5 x thread diameter so Ive only just got sufficient, I'm planning on adding some more camber latter so I'm investigating inners that will be 10 - 20mm longer which should give enough adjustment for those people who want to get more camber or improve bump steer by relocating the LCA pivot point or when using adjustable LCA's. The LH Subaru inner pivot body has air balance holes so that the rubber boots dint expand and collapse as you move the rack, the RH doesn't have them as the rack has a hole in it already. I asked Rob to drill the same in the Celica pivot. 5mm up the guts and 3.5mm right through the side, these intersect to provide the air path up the centre of the rack. Just need to mount to the crossmember now.

Yep

Ok, just measured mine. Was the same both sides. 275mm from front of the guard. 190mm from the inside edge.

You can have mine Rev...its an 8x5 tandem so will need a real car to tow with. In The Basin which isn't ideal though.

I have the original guards that came on my early 70 240. On both guards they have had plates brazed underneath to block off what I assume are mounting holes in the approximate location of the JDM mirror placements. I read somewhere that early cars were delivered from Japan with these mirrors but they had to be removed to comply with Aus regulations, if this is the case then my guards should be a good source for original mirror locations. If anyone is interested then I will measure them and take photos tomorrow? David

Warren at All Z Parts in sydney still had new unvented bonnets a few weeks ago.

PM sent Gareth

Hi all. I'm going to upgrade to an R200 in my early 240 so believe I need an R200 moustache bar. Anything else I need to change to fit the diff? Will also convert to CV's as well so standard shafts not required. Thanks.

Yep, mine as well yesterday

Mossy. When you say low...how low? Will the reds work with standard springs just until I get a RWC?

Thanks Loui, very happy to hear that! How was the fit for the new ones? Any tips? Lurch, they could have depending on the order they assembled and welded the parts.

Hi all. Have been working away slowly on the rust repairs on my project and am determined to make my car as rust free as possible....do it properly and do it only once is the motto. Ive got rust in both the front ends of the sills as well as the typical dog leg area, dog legs are pretty bad but Ive nearly rebuilt the internal section of the right hand dog leg and its come up pretty well. Ive bought full length sills from Warren at All Z Parts and they look pretty good so I'm ready to tackle the removal of the originals but I need some advice before I start..... The structural box section that the door hinges bolt to is spot welded where it meets the top of the sill panel. The sill panel runs right through under this section but I don't know if the top edge of the outer sill panel is spot welded to the inner sill panel underneath the hinge box section? It will be easy to unpick the spot welds where the box section meets the sill and remove the complete sill if its not spot welded underneath. If it is spot welded it makes things a lot harder and may mean I have to cut the sill panel around this area and butt weld as per my picture? So has anyone removed a complete sill and know if the top edge of the outer sill is spot welded for the length it runs behind this box section? Adam (Brown Hornet), how did Nat do yours? Thanks. David

Which clutch master cylinder are you going to use?

That's the one!!! Any wonder I couldn't find it. +1 for the sticky Lurch or Dimitri.

Ive looked and searched everywhere but cant find the post on the pics and mods required for the R31 caliper mounting bracket. Can anyone help, Ive seen them somewhere but for the life of me cant find them now? Thanks. David

Try SAU forum.

Craig, PM replied. While I'm waiting on Rob to shorten the rack I had to sort out the steering universal to connect to the Z shaft. The uni joint that comes with the WRX power steering rack is a weird double uni joint which we cant use. So I needed to find a single uni joint that had the same spline count and size. Once again Johnny RBZ 260 was very helpful. Went to the local wreckers and had a look at all the Subi's and most of the mid to late 80's L series Subaru (Leonie or Sports Wagon) with manual steering have a complex multi jointed shaft between the rack and the base of the steering column but critically this is can disassemble into components and you can unbolt the bottom single uni that attaches to the rack. This uni bolts straight into the power steering rack and the Z steering shaft fits neatly into the other end its the wrong spline count but a neat fit and then you can do up the pinch bolt and weld to the Z shaft.

E46 M3 for me. The wife (or your Nana) can drive it to the shops and then you can do sprints or other such stuff on the weekend. Unbelievably capable car.

As the title reads, have decided to go with this set up so starting to get bits together. Looking for Melbourne area pick up preferably. A member in Sydney has the R31 stuff but want to avoid the freight costs if possible. David.

Thanks Johnny and the others that have contributed. The latest Street Machine magazine (July 2010) has a very interesting article on a power steering conversion in an LH Torana using a Suby rack where they have rotated the rotary valve by milling the original mounting "ears" off the rotary valve, repositioned the valve so it and pipework doesn't interfere with the crossmember and then welded on new "ears". Not a cheap process though. I spoke with Len Brown and he believes that apart from ratio's there were some subtle differences between the various model Sub racks, his preference is for late model outbacks but he has used WRX as well. Before I committed to one rack or the other I spent a couple of hours at various wreckers looking at other racks and comparing the various Suby alternatives and to be honest while there are differences in the design of the Suby housing the rotary valve and the dimensions are all so similar its hard to say there is a difference (without pulling them apart and taking detailed measurements). Reading posts on Hybridz it does appear that the latter model ones used a larger M16 x 1.5 thread for the rack ends as opposed to the M14 x 1.5 on mine and most of the earlier ones but apart from that they all seem to be very similar. In summary it would be reasonably safe to say that most Suby racks are good candidates for this conversion, really comes down to ratios and that's the easiest thing to check! I had read that someone had used an MR2 rack (second generation SW20 model) and did find one and thought it was a chance as the inner tie rod pivot to pivot distance was exactly the same as the Z rack...but fitment would be a problem as the piston inlets and outlets were in the wrong location, if you could move these the MR2 rack would be a good alternative. Ive decided to go with WRX rack in preference to the MX5, primarily because I want to ensure I don't aggravate any bump steer issues. (My car will need to be engineered for rego so the closest it is to stock geometry and look the better, I can change LCA position and fit adjustable suspension once its regoed). While the MX5 rack is a far easier and better looking installation the inner tie rod pivot to pivot distance is 40mm more than the standard Z rack and will definitely cause bump steer issues...and the rack cant be cut down without loosing a significant amount of your steering lock meaning you will be doing 3 point turns everwhere. Too many compromises in my book. The Suby rack is 32mm longer (inner tie rod pivot to pivot distance) than the standard Z rack... but it can be cut down because it has 9mm more travel in each direction from centre than the Z rack (see my first post for "stop" measurements). Essentially you can cut 9mm off each end and still have the same turning circle as a standard Z. However taking the 9mm off each end will still leave the Suby rack longer than the Z rack so I'm going to take 13mm off each end which will sacrifice a small amount of turning circle but this combined with the shorter inner pivots (explained below) will end up with the rack being the same pivot to pivot length as the Z rack. All good. Courtesy of Hybridz and others there are a few alternatives for tie rods: 1. Cut and re-thread the Suby inners and use N14 Pulsar outers. 2. Use Volvo S70, or 82-88 Tercel or 91-95 Camry inners and use standard Z outers but you will need to have two of the RHT Z outers as most modern stuff is all RHT not a combination with LHT like the original Z's. 3. Use the standard Suby outers (same tapper as the Z steerring knuckle so it bolts up) with 84 Celica (model code RA65 for the Aussies) inners. Ive chosen to go with option 3. as I can use the Suby outers that came with the rack and one of my inners was worn and had to be replaced anyway so buying the Celica inners was easiest. The local powersteering shop I went to was very helpful (Supasteer in Bayswater), they had the Celica inners on the shelf and they were exactly what I needed. Reality is that there are hundreds of inners made and if you need something slightly shorter or longer it will be easy to find as there are many cars that have M14x1.5 thread at both the rack and outer end of the inners. I took the rack to Robco Engineering this arvo and explained what I needed done and Rob C was very helpful, in fact he can cut the rack down without disassembling which saves on the cost of new seals etc which you would need to replace if you do disassemble it. Will post some pics when I get it back. Pics below show how the distance from the base to the pivot point of the inner pivot is shorter on the Celica compared to the Suby inner...bonus as this effectively shortens the rack another 2 - 3mm each side. Also pics of the Z tie rod compared to the Suby/Celica version. Cheers.

Im with you Adam, the 432 is awsome. Just the look Im hoping to recreate. David

Not only 11 toes they're webbed as well!

Yes Gav, going to keep it Safari Gold.

Foot well....

Been a bit distracted with other things but have manged to get some work done on the 240. Striped all the bitumen sound deadening from the floor with a heat gun...what a PITA! Good news is that I didn't find any surprises. Next was to get started on the rust repairs....both strengthening plates on the chassis rails just forward of the firewall had rust holes in them so I drilled the spot welds and then cut out what was left of the rail just enough to get back to some decent metal. Because if the location I decided to overlap rather than butt weld the new section of rail in place and then made a new strengthening plate to replicate the original and plug welded it in place. Will seam seal prior to painting to exclude any moisture. The passenger footwell had been clobbered by something in its previous life and the PO had used a bit of heat and a hammer (not very successfully) to bash it back into shape but had left it with some serious creases and no amount of massaging was going to get it looking good so I decided to cut it out and start again.