[DeTomaso] Ferrari 308 rack update

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Hi guys,

After work today, I threw a pile of steering racks into my one mobile 
Scirocco (which just recently became mobile again--I own eight cars, four 
motorcycles, and had to borrow a car to get to work all week last week!) and drove 
an hour and a bit into the mountains to visit former Pantera owner Rick 
Moseley, owner of a pristene 1980 Ferrari 308 he bought from fellow Pantera guy 
Gray Gregory back in 2000.

We then took a good, hard look at the situation, and the results were 
really interesting.

Recall that this all started because a guy with a very late GT5 needed his 
rack re-rebuilt, after the first rebuilding effort failed miserably.   He 
sent it to me, and I was amazed to discover how different it was from the 
racks I am accustomed to.   Turns out the very late Panteras used (apparently) a 
steering rack sourced from the Ferrari Testarossa of the day (made by TRW) 
rather than the early Pantera rack found on most Panteras (made by Cam Gears 
UK, which was later purchased by TRW).

Here, take a look at the passenger side and compare the method of attaching 
the tie rod, and the construction of the rack housing tube.   The Pantera 
rack uses a left and right aluminum casting, with an aluminum tube sandwiched 
in between; the TR rack uses a casting on the left side, and a steel tube 
jammed into the side, which is expanded on the end to hold the nylon bushing 
that promptly falls apart:



Note that the TR rack tube is too small for the Pantera clamps, so a pair 
of split spacers are used to fill up the difference.

Here is a photo of the new Ferrari 308 rack with the other two racks:



You can see that the new rack is philosophically identical to the 
old-school Pantera rack at the top.   The rack mounting clamps from the old rack are 
also pictured (more on that in a moment).

Here is a close-up of the pinion area of the three racks.   They are all 
absolutely the same:



Here is where there is a significant, valuable difference; the new rack 
uses a threaded adjuster to set the preload between the pinion gear and the 
rack:



We didn't cut the band clamp holding the rack boot on to examine the makeup 
of the tie rod; the old rack uses all-metal construction, with a heavy 
spring providing preload, and friction determined by tightening or loosening the 
tie rod onto the rack, whereas the newer setup uses a plastic hoozit, and 
the tie rod is just tightened until it won't turn any more.   I suspect the 
latter scheme is in play with the new rack, but that is a complete guess.

We did remove the cover to verify that yes, in fact, the rack (as all 
modern racks) is filled with grease, NOT gear oil as the old racks were.   Rick 
was the fellow who contacted TRW to ask them what to use when he rebuilt his 
rack ten years ago or so, and they were the ones who told him that they 
found gear oil to be inadequate for the job, and all racks are now being made 
with a very light 0-weight moly grease as the lubricant.   (He told me he 
still has that e-mail and will forward it to me shortly).

So far, so good.   In all respects, it appears this Ferrari rack is a 
simple bolt-in swap for the Pantera.   Ah, but things are not always as simple as 
they appear.

I attempted to test-fit the 70s Pantera steering rack clamps to the Ferrari 
steering rack, and was amazed to discover that it would not fit!   Although 
to the naked eye there doesn't appear to be any difference in the rack 
housings, in fact, there is.

You can see that there is a shouldered groove to the right of the pinion 
area, where the rack clamp positively locates the rack housing.   That groove 
measures 9/16 inches wide, or 14.65mm-ish, but the Ferrari rack measures 
only 14mm wide.   By happenstance, since the guy in question has a Ferrari rack 
in his car, his old rack ALSO measures only 14mm wide, so he will be able 
to throw this new one straight into his car with no further effort.

But anybody with an early Pantera who wants to fit one of these racks will 
be forced to either:

1)   Enlarge the groove by .65mm-ish to accomodate the clamp, which would 
be difficult to do accurately, or

2)   Narrow the clamp by .65mm-ish, which would be much simpler to do, 
particularly on a mill.

So, there you have it.   The Pantera vendors are selling brand new racks 
that will bolt straight into your old Pantera, for $400 or so.   A bushing to 
rebuild your old rack is only $40, and good boots can now be had for $20 
each or so (but then there is a fair amount of time involved in the rebuilding 
process).   Or you can buy a Ferrari rack for $214 and then modify your 
mount to accept it (the passenger side mount needs no such modification).

Let me know if you've got any questions?

Cheers!

Mike
-------------- next part --------------
   Hi guys,
   After work today, I threw a pile of steering racks into my one mobile
   Scirocco (which just recently became mobile again--I own eight cars,
   four motorcycles, and had to borrow a car to get to work all week last
   week!) and drove an hour and a bit into the mountains to visit former
   Pantera owner Rick Moseley, owner of a pristene 1980 Ferrari 308 he
   bought from fellow Pantera guy Gray Gregory back in 2000.
   We then took a good, hard look at the situation, and the results were
   really interesting.
   Recall that this all started because a guy with a very late GT5 needed
   his rack re-rebuilt, after the first rebuilding effort failed
   miserably.  He sent it to me, and I was amazed to discover how
   different it was from the racks I am accustomed to.  Turns out the very
   late Panteras used (apparently) a steering rack sourced from the
   Ferrari Testarossa of the day (made by TRW) rather than the early
   Pantera rack found on most Panteras (made by Cam Gears UK, which was
   later purchased by TRW).
   Here, take a look at the passenger side and compare the method of
   attaching the tie rod, and the construction of the rack housing tube.
   The Pantera rack uses a left and right aluminum casting, with an
   aluminum tube sandwiched in between; the TR rack uses a casting on the
   left side, and a steel tube jammed into the side, which is expanded on
   the end to hold the nylon bushing that promptly falls apart:
   [cid:X.MA1.1393313192 at aol.com]
   Note that the TR rack tube is too small for the Pantera clamps, so a
   pair of split spacers are used to fill up the difference.
   Here is a photo of the new Ferrari 308 rack with the other two racks:
   [cid:X.MA2.1393313192 at aol.com]
   You can see that the new rack is philosophically identical to the
   old-school Pantera rack at the top.  The rack mounting clamps from the
   old rack are also pictured (more on that in a moment).
   Here is a close-up of the pinion area of the three racks.  They are all
   absolutely the same:
   [cid:X.MA3.1393313192 at aol.com]
   Here is where there is a significant, valuable difference; the new rack
   uses a threaded adjuster to set the preload between the pinion gear and
   the rack:
   [cid:X.MA4.1393313192 at aol.com]
   We didn't cut the band clamp holding the rack boot on to examine the
   makeup of the tie rod; the old rack uses all-metal construction, with a
   heavy spring providing preload, and friction determined by tightening
   or loosening the tie rod onto the rack, whereas the newer setup uses a
   plastic hoozit, and the tie rod is just tightened until it won't turn
   any more.  I suspect the latter scheme is in play with the new rack,
   but that is a complete guess.
   We did remove the cover to verify that yes, in fact, the rack (as all
   modern racks) is filled with grease, NOT gear oil as the old racks
   were.  Rick was the fellow who contacted TRW to ask them what to use
   when he rebuilt his rack ten years ago or so, and they were the ones
   who told him that they found gear oil to be inadequate for the job, and
   all racks are now being made with a very light 0-weight moly grease as
   the lubricant.  (He told me he still has that e-mail and will forward
   it to me shortly).
   So far, so good.  In all respects, it appears this Ferrari rack is a
   simple bolt-in swap for the Pantera.  Ah, but things are not always as
   simple as they appear.
   I attempted to test-fit the 70s Pantera steering rack clamps to the
   Ferrari steering rack, and was amazed to discover that it would not
   fit!  Although to the naked eye there doesn't appear to be any
   difference in the rack housings, in fact, there is.
   You can see that there is a shouldered groove to the right of the
   pinion area, where the rack clamp positively locates the rack housing.
   That groove measures 9/16 inches wide, or 14.65mm-ish, but the Ferrari
   rack measures only 14mm wide.  By happenstance, since the guy in
   question has a Ferrari rack in his car, his old rack ALSO measures only
   14mm wide, so he will be able to throw this new one straight into his
   car with no further effort.
   But anybody with an early Pantera who wants to fit one of these racks
   will be forced to either:
   1)  Enlarge the groove by .65mm-ish to accomodate the clamp, which
   would be difficult to do accurately, or
   2)  Narrow the clamp by .65mm-ish, which would be much simpler to do,
   particularly on a mill.
   So, there you have it.  The Pantera vendors are selling brand new racks
   that will bolt straight into your old Pantera, for $400 or so.  A
   bushing to rebuild your old rack is only $40, and good boots can now be
   had for $20 each or so (but then there is a fair amount of time
   involved in the rebuilding process).  Or you can buy a Ferrari rack for
   $214 and then modify your mount to accept it (the passenger side mount
   needs no such modification).
   Let me know if you've got any questions?
   Cheers!
   Mike
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