Converting Crowns to Rack and Pinion

[Seedy Al]

Hey guys.

So I am currently under taking the job of trying to fit a 3V engine into my MS110 Wagon. the steering box is a pain in the ass, and someone I know mentioned that a few people have converted there crowns to Rack and pinion.

Does anyone have any info, suggestions pics or advice for this conversion? I figure if it has been done once before, then i might as well learn from what has been done in the past than tackle it all from nothing

Cheers guys



Seedy Al
(i had better get my build thread made to I guess haha)

[TheStitt]

The two people that I know have done it have used commadore racks.

On was to a 40 series (GT on here)
the other a MS51 (can't remember the guys forum handle though.

[WDE_BDY]

Hmmm, that flat sump engine looks familiar. I looked at buying that when it was still in the Hilux in Auckland. Got a bit of grunt and sounds sweet, plenty of vids on youtube of it.
Spencer is the only one I know who has had a detailed look at fitting the V series into a Crown, Sheepers did some rough measurements for his which didn't look very promising. One issue I had with rack for the 4V in the Corolla was the starter motor gets in the way of the steering column, we are shifting the starter motor to the other side of the engine to solve that one so just be aware that it could cause an issue depending on the width of the rack you need. I have some spare factory exhaust manifolds I got from Spencer if you want to try those for clearance.

Callum

[spencer]

Ive all ready shared with Al my concerns on the V series fitment In a crown. Ive only dummied it up in a parts car and it seems do-able but things are very tight!

as for the rack conversion it was GT's conversio I was talking about Al, but his project thread seems to have gone AWOL. Heres what he posted on performance forums, the links to his pics are dead

Also the RHS bank of cylinders wanted to be intimate with the steering box, so the steering box had to come out and a VN Commodore power steering rack has gone in its place. The rack is hanging off a custom fabricated crossmember made out of cold drawn seamless mild steel tube (as used in roll cages). Its height has been set to give the least amount of bumpsteer (approx 1mm at full bump).

Basically get a VN rack, build a custom x-member for it to sit on and pay attention to the correct geometry.

[gianttomato]

As above.

I have seen a 4V in an MS45 about 20 years ago. Rack and pinion job but they used one of those compact little jobs mounted on the firewall. It looked like an absolute basket case.

I'm going to say it again at the risk of being called a heretic. Drop in an LS1 - it will be 20x more awesome and eleventy times more easy.

[Seedy Al]

heh sweet as, will just get all the power steer stuff from pick apart next time im in Wellington, My starter is on drivers side but doesnt look like it is going to be any sort of issue.

AS for the LS1, na man, not my scene haha