66 Galaxie Rack and Pinion Conversion

[randomologist]

...As a '70 Mustang owner, knowing that Ford ran in the '69-'70 Trans-Am series with mainly OEM steering, I copied the few changes Bud Moore made onto my car. No P/S but a lightened front end (all aluminum save the block) makes for a wicked, sharp cornering track ready car. I'll also note Rory's post where folks grafting Mustang II lightweight suspension and steering components to big heavy cars is highly suspect. R&P's made for lightweight cars as well are also questionable when used on big cars, let alone if one tries heavy and repeatable cornering.

The only reason I think rack and pinion is worth considering is if a person does a lot of highway/freeway driving, which I do. My car came with factory power steering, but everything was totally shot so rack and pinion seemed like a reasonable upgrade. I'd go with a different vendor if I had to do it again. Maybe TCS. I can say the Unisteer system drives really nice and since I eventually had to go to Hydroboost and the factory Ford pump isn't a great choice for Hydroboost, I guess it worked out.

Oh, and in regard to my patience... well, I can't exactly remember how many wrenches were slung or curse words screamed, but it was probably more than one. You gotta do what you gotta do. Doesn't matter how mad a guy is while doing it, haha.

[AlanCasida]

...As a '70 Mustang owner, knowing that Ford ran in the '69-'70 Trans-Am series with mainly OEM steering, I copied the few changes Bud Moore made onto my car. No P/S but a lightened front end (all aluminum save the block) makes for a wicked, sharp cornering track ready car. I'll also note Rory's post where folks grafting Mustang II lightweight suspension and steering components to big heavy cars is highly suspect. R&P's made for lightweight cars as well are also questionable when used on big cars, let alone if one tries heavy and repeatable cornering.

The only reason I think rack and pinion is worth considering is if a person does a lot of highway/freeway driving, which I do. My car came with factory power steering, but everything was totally shot so rack and pinion seemed like a reasonable upgrade. I'd go with a different vendor if I had to do it again. Maybe TCS. I can say the Unisteer system drives really nice and since I eventually had to go to Hydroboost and the factory Ford pump isn't a great choice for Hydroboost, I guess it worked out.

Oh, and in regard to my patience... well, I can't exactly remember how many wrenches were slung or curse words screamed, but it was probably more than one. You gotta do what you gotta do. Doesn't matter how mad a guy is while doing it, haha.

I swapped the OEM steering box for a Borgeson p/s unit on my 66 Galaxie. I went from over 5.5 turns lock-to-lock to just under 3.5. I really like it.

[Urgefor]

I have a 66 Galaxie 500XL and putting an EPS unit under he dash would be a challenge.
For the size of the car, they have very little room under the dash.
A Borgeson box would be my choice.
My car has factory P/S but I'm considering swapping to the Borgeson.

On room under the dash....
My car did not come with A/C so I installed a Vintage Air Magnum Gen IV unit.
I had to fabricate a "kick out" box on the firewall to get the VA unit to fit.
It gets very tight under there... esp with all the AC duct hoses.
I'm not surprised VA does NOT offer a "Direct Fit" AC system for these cars.


Edit:
I looked at the Unisteer Rack conversion.
Seems like a lot of monkey business for not much gain.

I would be curious where approximately your scrub radius lands in relation to the wheel center.  Mostly because I assume your 500XL had PS from the factory and mine was manual steer from the factory.

I currently have 20" rims from a '17 Mustang on the car to allow for any disc brake conversion I might want to use when the time comes.  The specs for the rims are 20x9 with a 42.5mm offset (1.673228 inches). I'm using forged aluminum spacers that are 1.5" thick which, in theory, moved the centerline of the rim/tire inwards ~.170". Overall diameter of the tire has remained basically the same at a bit over 27". While gathering info about angles of each wheel at full turn, I peeked at the upper and lower ball joints to see where the kingpin axis/steering inclination line was in relation to the tire's center.  It is positive as shown in the picture, but much more so.  I would estimate 2 to 3 inches inward from center.  Basically I'm curious if Ford used the same scrub radius for both power and manual steer.  Any info would be appreciated.

[FrozenMerc]

One more thing to think about.  I converted my '62 Mercury Monterey (read: badge engineered Galaxie) to rack and pinion during the build because the OE steering gears and assist cylinder were trashed and rusted badly, and a complete system replacement was going to run into the thousands of dollars.  I also used the late 80's / Early 90's GM Cavalier / Sunfire power rack ($99 from Napa at the time) Heo mentioned.  I had to modify the steering column by adding a support bearing to the end of the tube.  I made my own tie rods, and fabbed the mounting plates.  I re-used the OE FoMoCo power steering pump, and had the local hydraulic shop make up custom lines.  FPA actually made (hopefully still makes) headers to work with this conversion, and that is what when onto the car. 

My only complaint is that I did lose some turning radius, not that a 19 ft long wagon had that tight of a tight turning radius to begin with.  Shortening the knuckle steering arms a bit would solve this problem.  That said, the car drives great, the steering is tight and very responsive. 






 

[Heo]

One more thing to think about.  I converted my '62 Mercury Monterey (read: badge engineered Galaxie) to rack and pinion during the build because the OE steering gears and assist cylinder were trashed and rusted badly, and a complete system replacement was going to run into the thousands of dollars.  I also used the late 80's / Early 90's GM Cavalier / Sunfire power rack ($99 from Napa at the time) Heo mentioned.  I had to modify the steering column by adding a support bearing to the end of the tub.  I made my own tie rods, and fabbed the mounting plates.  I re-used the OE FoMoCo power steering pump, and had the local hydraulic shop make up custom lines.  FPA actually made (hopefully still makes) headers to work with this conversion, and that is what when onto the car. 

My only complaint is that I did lose some turning radius, not that a 19 ft long wagon had that tight of a tight turning radius to begin with.  Shortening the knuckle steering arms a bit would solve this problem.  That said, the car drives great, the steering is tight and very responsive. 

That looks almost exactly as the coversion i did although i bolted the brackets to the frame
in the holes for the box/idler arm. Problem was to close between the exhaust and rubber boot
on the driverside with hp manifolds and should have been much fabrication to keep the shifter
on the tree. Well i plan to reinstall the four on the floor manual trans and build a slightly modified
"HP" manifold out of thickwall tubing then i can reinstall the R/P conversion

[TomP]

Local guy put the electric assist that sits in the column on two 63 Falcons with manual trannies. Those are tight but it fit well.

 One thing with a rack is you need to watch bump steer. There are not many racks that can be mounted the right height and have the pivots in the right place for older cars. Most are way too wide and have to be mounted too low to clear the engine. I've seen some flagrant examples when cars are parking and one tire is leaving a black streak since it's 20 degrees off angle from the other and turning radius that would have truck drivers laughing.

[Heo]

Local guy put the electric assist that sits in the column on two 63 Falcons with manual trannies. Those are tight but it fit well.

 One thing with a rack is you need to watch bump steer. There are not many racks that can be mounted the right height and have the pivots in the right place for older cars. Most are way too wide and have to be mounted too low to clear the engine. I've seen some flagrant examples when cars are parking and one tire is leaving a black streak since it's 20 degrees off angle from the other and turning radius that would have truck drivers laughing.

The good thing with that GM rack is that the centersection moves and have two mountingpoints close to the middle
so you fabricate a mount for the tierod ends on the correct distance and height