[DeTomaso] Ferrari Steering Rack Comparison

Sun Jul 26 12:12:11 EDT 2015

Hi Joe,
I'm responding to your email to the list.  So you -are- doing something 
right. :)

You make a good point.  As for chucking up something for machining, it 
would be far easier to take 0.070" off the bracket.  But is that the 
better solution?  Would that reduce the mechanical ability of the 
bracket piece to hold the rack sufficiently under stress?  I don't know 
honestly; taking about 0.035" off each side should work.  But it's also 
a much harder metal.  Then also, if a person were to go back to an 
original rack, with the original spacing between the lands, there would 
be slop.

It probably boils down to an individual choice.
Asa  Jay

Asa Jay Laughton - W7TSC, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
&  Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA
******************************
http://www.racingagainstautism.com
http://www.teampanteraracing.com
http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism

On 7/26/2015 7:25 AM, Joseph F. Byrd, Jr. wrote:
> Thank you for the write up and photo's.
> Just "arm chair" mechanicing ... but instead of machining the rack, why not
> have a new support block made to mate?
>
> I think I understand your description, but I need to put my hands on it and
> hopefully this afternoon I'll unpack my new one and look.  The rack is about
> the only piece still attached to my body so I can't compare
>
> Joe/5177/NC
>
> PS...Sorry for the direct reply Asa Jay...eventially I'll get the hang of
> how to reply
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DeTomaso [mailto:detomaso-bounces at poca.com] On Behalf Of Asa Jay
> Laughton
> Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2015 22:37 PM
> To: detomaso at poca.com
> Subject: [DeTomaso] Ferrari Steering Rack Comparison
>
> My apologies, some of you will get this twice (once as POCA and once as TPR)
>
> Hi all,
> Since I've not seen another real comparison yet, I figured I'd pop in here.
> Attached are all the photos that accompany this comparison.
>
> I recently needed a steering rack to do a comparison with the one installed
> in my Pantera.  This was because a friend drove the car and said he felt the
> rack was dangerous and should be fixed or replaced.
> The easiest thing to do was to make a comparison.
>
> Peter (The German) Menyhart of The Whitehorse Ranch, fellow Pantera owner
> and racer, just happened to have one of the ebay Ferrari steering racks
> everyone has been talking about.  He graciously shipped it to me so I could
> do my comparison.  Peter is in the midst of a restoration project and is
> able to part with it for a while.
>
> The rack is very well packaged in an oversize box.  It does not come with
> tie-rod ends installed.  The boots are a big larger than stock DeTomaso, and
> they are clamped on with those funny one-time use on the large end and a
> friction/spring on the small end.
>
> The movement of the rack feels rather stiff, not as hard as the one out of
> my car but still not quite "like butter."  However, you'll note from the
> photos the tension can be adjusted without the use of shims.  I will work
> with that later.  So far, one plus for this rack.
>
> I took measurements of the tube diameter in the mounting bracket areas.
> The two tubes are within .005" at each location.  The overall length is the
> same as my Pantera rack.  The big difference, as has been mentioned, is in
> the drivers side bracket area which contains raised ribs for either side of
> the bracket.
>
> Now, here is where I discovered something interesting.  I was having a very
> difficult time getting a good reading with my inside calipers of that area.
> The bracket was easy to measure at 0.624" outside dimension but the space on
> both racks measured at about .555" in width and that didn't make sense.
>
> Well, I had to put my grandpa glassed on, but found the reason.  Nearly the
> entire ridge on the Pantera rack has a shoulder on it, that goes from about
> .055" at the bottom against the tube, to just under 0.624" at the outermost
> edge.  Looking at the photos of the bracket you'll note it too has a bevel
> cut into the semi-circle.  In my case the brackets still don't fit quite
> flush to the Pantera rack.
>
> The brackets -don't- fit the Ferrari rack at all.  You'll note from the
> close-up of that rack, there really isn't any bevel to it at all; it's
> nearly 0.555" from tube to outer edge.  In order to get this to the 0.624"
> it needs to be to accept the brackets, I'll need to machine about .070"
> split more or less equally on both sides of the channel.
>
> The last thing to note is that the tie-rods are a bit beefier.  However,
> they -are- cut with the same diameter and thread as the Pantera rack.
> In the photo of the tie-rod ends, you see the Pantera rack with the lock nut
> on the tie-rod end, and a used/spare/old Pantera tie rod threaded onto the
> Ferrari rack.
>
> So there you have it.  The rack is nearly identical with the exception of
> beefier tie-rods (good thing), adjustable tension adjust (good thing), and
> narrow mounting bracket channel (bad thing but workable).
>
> Mark Skwarek recently did one of these for his Pantera as well and used an
> end mill with the rack mounted in a vise, cutting a path, turning the rack
> and cutting again until he got all the way around.  That's probably what
> I'll do as well.
>
> The best thing would be to completely disassemble the rack and chuck it up
> on a lathe, but I really don't want to take it apart; after all, it's not
> really my rack.  :)
>
> There, any questions?
> Asa  Jay
>
> --
> Asa Jay Laughton - W7TSC, MSgt, USAFR, Retired&   Shelley Marie Spokane, WA
> ******************************
> http://www.racingagainstautism.com
> http://www.teampanteraracing.com
> http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
>
>
>
>
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