[DeTomaso] Ferrari Steering Rack Comparison

Sun Jul 26 21:16:12 EDT 2015

AH!  Yes!  add-in the bump-steer mod that later cars had.  My car 
already has it, but if someone were to make the block, they should add 
that dimension to the upper block.  Good call Mark!

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 5:32 PM, mark skwarek wrote:
> I am pleased with the operation of my rack. It is better than my old 
> one which had a bit of slop in it. At some point I might play with the 
> adjustment.
>
> If someone were to make up mounting blocks, I would suggest that they 
> be made to incorporate the spacer that most of us use.in the block.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
> On Sunday, July 26, 2015 6:20 PM, Asa Jay Laughton <asajay at asajay.com> 
> wrote:
>
>
> Three good points:
>
> 1:  If there was enough interest, someone (not me) should have
> replacement mounting blocks made that would fit these racks, driver side
> only.  They should do this in a mass quantity so everyone could buy a
> set.  That might make it a whole lot easier than trying to machine the
> rack.  Anyone game for that?
>
> 2:  I plan to monkey with the tension adjust sometime this week -prior-
> to mounting the rack.  I'll see how well that works out.
>
> 3:  The stock Pantera rod ends fit just fine, same thread, same size.
> Any others I don't know.
>
> Asa  Jay
>
> Asa Jay Laughton - W7TSC, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
> &  Shelley Marie
> Spokane, WA
> ******************************
> http://www.racingagainstautism.com <http://www.racingagainstautism.com/>
> http://www.teampanteraracing.com <http://www.teampanteraracing.com/>
> http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
>
>
> On 7/26/2015 3:21 AM, michael barnes wrote:
> > Hi Asa,
> > I pulled the trigger on one of these last week and it arrived on my 
> doorstep , in England, within a week, very well packaged as you said.
> > A couple if questions-
> > 1. I wonder just how much tension adjustment is available ?Didn't 
> know what the extra nut on the cover plate was for, now i do thanks.
> >
> > 2.What track rod ends are comparable with out cars?
> >
> > Thanks in advance
> >
> > Sent by Michael Barnes
> >
> >> On 26 Jul 2015, at 03:37, Asa Jay Laughton<asajay at asajay.com 
> <mailto:asajay at asajay.com>>  wrote:
> >>
> >> 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.racingagainstautism.com/>
> >> http://www.teampanteraracing.com <http://www.teampanteraracing.com/>
> >> http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
> >>
> >>
> >> <100_2810.jpg>
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> >> <100_2793.jpg>
> >> <100_2795.jpg>
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> >> <100_2800.jpg>
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> >> <100_2802.jpg>
> >> <100_2804.jpg>
> >> <100_2806.jpg>
> >> <100_2807.jpg>
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