66 Galaxie Rack and Pinion Conversion

[Urgefor]

So I thought it would be nice to "unclutter" the engine bay a bit by doing away with the steering box and reduce the number of bushings and joints in the steering linkage. The Unisteer option would be the easiest route from what I've seen after a bit of searching. Bolts up to the frame where the steering box and idler arm bracket attach. Power steering would be a nice addition (the car is currently manual steer which is super fun with the 390 sitting in the engine bay and not in motion), but pumps, lines, and power steering fluid are soooooo 2001.  EPAS attached to the steering column would address that issue and allow a manual rack to be used but why add clutter to one area while removing it from another?  Modern racks have EPAS built in of course, but most (if not all) rear steer EPAS racks have the electric motor mounted vertically since the vehicles are FWD by default and present clearance issues.  Vehicles like Mustangs or Navigators have racks with the motors mounted horizontally but they are a front steer configuration.

So my thoughts are:

1) Use a rack like the one in the picture (front steer) only modified so it will be a rear steer center take-off style. That means replacing the tie rods on the rack with something to attach to the existing spindle connector rods. Also, some sort of setup will be needed to turn the input shaft of the rack in the opposite direction the steering wheel is being turned so turning the steering wheel left or right will result in a turn in the same direction.  Yeesh!

2) Use the rack as designed by switching the spindles to opposite sides and converting to front steer.  Then the only hurdles would be mounting the rack, attaching the steering column to the rack's input shaft, wiring it up, and most likely an alignment.

I'm not sure what clearance issues the oil pan might present if going the front steer route, but elimination of the spindle connector rods means a rear sump oil pan would be an option.  I believe the rack could be mounted and not interfere with the strut that attaches to the frame and lower arm or the stabilizer bar. That leaves my biggest concern.  What effect will swapping the spindles have regarding caster? Adjustments to caster can be made of course, but a visual inspection with the spindles installed is a bit inconclusive when trying to determine if a swap would be feasible or not.  Thoughts?

[frnkeore]

If you reverse the spindles, to a front steer, it will also mess up the Ackerman steering, that makes the front wheels turn at the different angles that they need.

[machoneman]

That's a lot of work and money for mainly visual gain. No fan of that era's power steering in full sized Fords but.......

[Katz427]

All these points are valid. But if one really wants a front steer car, then the correct way is to craft a crown vic front end on the car. I have seen it , works but moves an FE up higher in the chassis, which I'm  not excited about. I know there are options, like a dry sump, or an external oil pump, with a Aviaid oil pan , both nice ,however, they are costly.  But they allow you too put the engine, where you want.
In an old chassis like a 1966 galaxie, I prefer a rear steer, and the easiest and best way IMO, is a new box, like the Borgenson. They steer nice, allow one to run more caster, without having a heavy steering feel.

[galaxiex]

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.

[Urgefor]

If you reverse the spindles, to a front steer, it will also mess up the Ackerman steering, that makes the front wheels turn at the different angles that they need.

A very good point.  I had completely overlooked the Ackermann aspect.  I believe I can work around that as well. I am not using stock rims and have tons of room to move the tie rod ends outward. That should allow reversing the spindles and Ackermann to remain the same.

[Urgefor]

That's a lot of work and money for mainly visual gain. No fan of that era's power steering in full sized Fords but.......

I'm not concerned with visual really.  I was thinking more about reducing the number of items requiring maintenance or replacement along with making it easer to fit the long tube headers on the drivers side.  The current set has a couple dings from the steering box.

[427Fastback]

I just put a EPAS in my 67 Mustang as its QR manual and its getting tiring.The car is a 67 Replica of the T/A cars so a pump under the hood or rack was not a option.It was a bit of work and is only visible if you bend down.No issues with the clutch pedal.20 years ago I put a complete TCP suspension in a 69 Mustang SCJ..Mustangs are rear steer and absolutely hated the way the rack and tie rods were done.I have also recently done a Borgeson conversion to a 68 Mustang..Other than the ugly eaton pump it was good..System will work with a Ford pump.Box ratio is good..

[randomologist]

I have a Unisteer power rack and pinion conversion on my 69 Mustang with an FE. My experience has been mixed. Every single component in their system failed pretty quickly or were poorly designed for my application. They did replace my rack with a brand new one after the original rack failed internally after about 10k miles, but it took several months and a BBB complaint to get them to honor it. The rack replacement took place during a period of time Unisteer was bought out by Maval Manufacturing. I never got the sense they were bad people; just that they were dramatically behind schedule/workload and weren't very honest about turn around times, etc.

*The P/S pump bracket design was incompatible with some of the other mods I had and it didn't allow for much (any) real belt adjustment.
*The P/S pump periodically leaked from day 1 due to cheap/improper o-rings in the reservoir
*The P/S pump output position needed to be moved so it could be used with A/C
*The P/S high pressure hose failed almost immediately.
*Stock rag joint needed to be cut.
*The kit was missing a spacer for the stock steering shaft. I fabricated one.
*Outer tie rod shafts needed to be cut to length and there was just barely enough thread left for alignment. The rack was universal fit, despite the kit being specifically for my Mustang. Since the Galaxie is wider, this may be less of an issue.
*The bracket didn't provide adequate access to the alignment bolts. Several shops complained it was almost impossible.
*Geometry of stock steering shaft and rack mounting location was not correct and was not adjustable (this was corrected when I altered the bracket)
*K-member/mounting bracket was not fabricated properly and was bowed and hooked from the factory. Installing it the first time was a real nightmare. I didn't notice it wasn't bent exactly square from the factory until the 2nd time I installed. I needed to bend it square, after which, it installed pretty easy.
*Oil pan clearance between the inner boots and the bottom of the pan was a problem (My '63 427 has a slightly thicker pan depth at the back of the block than the super thin 390/428 FE pans used with the 67-70 Mustang from the factory, but I'm not sure the factory FEs would have fit)
*As noted, I needed to drop the rack 3/4" to clear the oil pan, which necessitated having additional tabs welded to the bottom of the non-adjustable bracket and drilling new bolt holes at precision locations. The lower bracket made me a little uncomfortable with ground clearance.

My original rack broke internally, I was told. Supposedly, it was a design flaw and my rack was replaced with a newer design. The newer design was better for the Mustang, but the new port locations required me to remake all new power steering lines. Side note, anything other than the outer tie rod ends is considered non-serviceable for my rack.

If there is one modification on my car I desperately wish I could go back in time and undo/redo with a different supplier, it's my Unisteer conversion. That said, they DID honor their warranty and the new rack has been working without an issue for the last 5 years and about 10k miles.

[Rory428]

randomologist, how was the turning circle with the rack conversion? I have no interest in a rack conversion for my 59, although Unisteer does offer one, but whenever I asked guys that have installed various rack & pinion conversions in a Mustang, Fairlane, or full sized Ford, they all said that the turning circle was greatly reduced, so a U turn, or even a sharp switchback, could not be done without stopping, and backing up, to complete the turn. I have also heard that in most cases, they had to use the modern looking GM PS pump, and aftermarket brackets, which in my opinion, look out of place in an older car, unless you actually want the aftermarket look. As for the first rack failing, my understanding is that many of these aftermarket rack kits use a rack originally designed for a lightweight FWD GM car, which makes me wonder if the rack is just too "light duty" for a much heavier vehicle with a heavy engine, and likely wider tires. Kinda like when I see a 4500 pound car or truck, with Mustang 11 front suspension, that was designed for a much lighter vehicle with tiny 13" tires.

[Heo]

That Unisteer rack is a GM rack on FWDcars based on the FWD Opel Kadett/Ascona
J platform like SAAB, Pontiac J2000, sunbird,Cavallier etc.
We put one on my sons Volvo 544 that is front steer so we chose one from a RHD
postalservice Kadett and turned it upsidedown end to end
I started to install a SAAB one on my 64 Galaxie (rearsteer) and as im cheap
i dont going to pay a couple of thousand + bucks for parts i can scrounge for 50 bucks
in  friends backyards.
I Fabed up some brackets but came to close to the HP exhaust manifold with that rubber
acordeon thing, dont remember the english name, on driverside.
and had to tilt it so the pinion ended up vertical to clear othertings......needed 2universal joints
So in the end i rebuilt the factory box and are going the electric Toyota route
OR....maybe i install a complete Jaguar XJ 12 frontend, have one in the barn will get me
Big diskbrakes power rp steering about same trackwidth Jag is about same wheight as the Galaxie
We put one in Stepsons Fairlane or a XJ6 but same exept the springs
And to dont cluter up the front of the engine Mercedes have an electric P/S pump looks like a big
thermos you can hide it anywhere and you have P/S as soon as ign is on, dont need to start the engine

[427Fastback]

Alot of people are buying Toyota Prius electric assist and figureing things out on their own.Due to a divorce non of my equipment is running.I went with EPAS as they have a kit for my car and the system comes with a potentiometer to dial the system up or down.Generally I would make all my own parts.

[machoneman]

I have a Unisteer power rack and pinion conversion on my 69 Mustang with an FE. My experience has been mixed. Every single component in their system failed pretty quickly or were poorly designed for my application. They did replace my rack with a brand new one after the original rack failed internally after about 10k miles, but it took several months and a BBB complaint to get them to honor it. The rack replacement took place during a period of time Unisteer was bought out by Maval Manufacturing. I never got the sense they were bad people; just that they were dramatically behind schedule/workload and weren't very honest about turn around times, etc.

*The P/S pump bracket design was incompatible with some of the other mods I had and it didn't allow for much (any) real belt adjustment.
*The P/S pump periodically leaked from day 1 due to cheap/improper o-rings in the reservoir
*The P/S pump output position needed to be moved so it could be used with A/C
*The P/S high pressure hose failed almost immediately.
*Stock rag joint needed to be cut.
*The kit was missing a spacer for the stock steering shaft. I fabricated one.
*Outer tie rod shafts needed to be cut to length and there was just barely enough thread left for alignment. The rack was universal fit, despite the kit being specifically for my Mustang. Since the Galaxie is wider, this may be less of an issue.
*The bracket didn't provide adequate access to the alignment bolts. Several shops complained it was almost impossible.
*Geometry of stock steering shaft and rack mounting location was not correct and was not adjustable (this was corrected when I altered the bracket)
*K-member/mounting bracket was not fabricated properly and was bowed and hooked from the factory. Installing it the first time was a real nightmare. I didn't notice it wasn't bent exactly square from the factory until the 2nd time I installed. I needed to bend it square, after which, it installed pretty easy.
*Oil pan clearance between the inner boots and the bottom of the pan was a problem (My '63 427 has a slightly thicker pan depth at the back of the block than the super thin 390/428 FE pans used with the 67-70 Mustang from the factory, but I'm not sure the factory FEs would have fit)
*As noted, I needed to drop the rack 3/4" to clear the oil pan, which necessitated having additional tabs welded to the bottom of the non-adjustable bracket and drilling new bolt holes at precision locations. The lower bracket made me a little uncomfortable with ground clearance.

My original rack broke internally, I was told. Supposedly, it was a design flaw and my rack was replaced with a newer design. The newer design was better for the Mustang, but the new port locations required me to remake all new power steering lines. Side note, anything other than the outer tie rod ends is considered non-serviceable for my rack.

If there is one modification on my car I desperately wish I could go back in time and undo/redo with a different supplier, it's my Unisteer conversion. That said, they DID honor their warranty and the new rack has been working without an issue for the last 5 years and about 10k miles.

Wow, you have great patience for sure. Sad that so much was wrong even if they did honor the warranty. Your detailed post is a clarion call to the efforts required, let alone downtime and cost, to re-engineering the front steering.

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.

[Urgefor]

That is an eye opener for sure.  I would much rather put that amount of time and effort into a solution that is in line with what I want instead of "what I can get".

The easiest part of the whole conversion is lack of constraints since this is a restomod.  The car came from the factory with a 289 and 3 speed column shift and the very first change was putting in a 390 and toploader. The engine and transmission will get updates as well as things progress.

The end goal is having something that will be enjoyable to drive with some "woo hoo!" added in.  The '66 full size is a bit of a land yacht but I sure do like how it looks.

[randomologist]

randomologist, how was the turning circle with the rack conversion? I have no interest in a rack conversion for my 59, although Unisteer does offer one, but whenever I asked guys that have installed various rack & pinion conversions in a Mustang, Fairlane, or full sized Ford, they all said that the turning circle was greatly reduced, so a U turn, or even a sharp switchback, could not be done without stopping, and backing up, to complete the turn. I have also heard that in most cases, they had to use the modern looking GM PS pump, and aftermarket brackets, which in my opinion, look out of place in an older car, unless you actually want the aftermarket look. As for the first rack failing, my understanding is that many of these aftermarket rack kits use a rack originally designed for a lightweight FWD GM car, which makes me wonder if the rack is just too "light duty" for a much heavier vehicle with a heavy engine, and likely wider tires. Kinda like when I see a 4500 pound car or truck, with Mustang 11 front suspension, that was designed for a much lighter vehicle with tiny 13" tires.

These cars didn't have a super tight turning radius to begin with at 37' 8", but I haven't noticed a huge change. I need to get out and measure it for a video on my youtube anyway, but I'd be surprised if it was much wider now. The car does okay in parking lots for me and I can make U-turns from the inside lane to a roads with 2 lanes going the opposite direction without steering using the throttle, but it is tight.