[DeTomaso] Ferrari Steering Rack Comparison

mark skwarek ehpantera at yahoo.com
Mon Jul 27 00:18:13 EDT 2015


You can also narrow the mounting blocks but then if you went back to a Pantera specific  steering rack, then they would be too narrow. 


     On Sunday, July 26, 2015 11:38 PM, Ken Green <kenn_green at yahoo.com> wrote:
   

 I wonder if there is an existing tool that could be used to widen the gap?  Something that fits into the gap, and you turn it to take metal off the side?
       From: mark skwarek via DeTomaso <detomaso at poca.com>
 To: "Joseph F. Byrd, Jr." <byrdjf at embarqmail.com>; "detomaso at poca.com" <detomaso at poca.com> 
 Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2015 8:33 AM
 Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Ferrari Steering Rack Comparison
   
  I machined the rack because it was the easiest thing to do without
  modifying the Panteras  blocks, which would have made them undersized
  for a Pantera rack. Making new blocks would have taken much longer for
  me as I do not have a CNC miller but an  old hand operated one. 20
  minutes and I was done.
  Mark
  On Sunday, July 26, 2015 10:25 AM, "Joseph F. Byrd, Jr."
  <byrdjf at embarqmail.com> 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:[1]detomaso-bounces at poca.com] On Behalf Of Asa
  Jay
  Laughton
  Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2015 22:37 PM
  To: [2]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
  ******************************
  [3]http://www.racingagainstautism.com
  [4]http://www.teampanteraracing.com
  [5]http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
  _______________________________________________
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  use the links above.

References

  1. mailto:detomaso-bounces at poca.com
  2. mailto:detomaso at poca.com
  3. http://www.racingagainstautism.com/
  4. http://www.teampanteraracing.com/
  5. http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
  6. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com


  7. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com

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-------------- next part --------------
   You can also narrow the mounting blocks but then if you went back to a
   Pantera specific  steering rack, then they would be too narrow.
   On Sunday, July 26, 2015 11:38 PM, Ken Green <kenn_green at yahoo.com>
   wrote:
   I wonder if there is an existing tool that could be used to widen the
   gap?  Something that fits into the gap, and you turn it to take metal
   off the side?
     __________________________________________________________________

   From: mark skwarek via DeTomaso <detomaso at poca.com>
   To: "Joseph F. Byrd, Jr." <byrdjf at embarqmail.com>; "detomaso at poca.com"
   <detomaso at poca.com>
   Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2015 8:33 AM
   Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Ferrari Steering Rack Comparison
     I machined the rack because it was the easiest thing to do without
     modifying the Panteras  blocks, which would have made them undersized
     for a Pantera rack. Making new blocks would have taken much longer
   for
     me as I do not have a CNC miller but an  old hand operated one. 20
     minutes and I was done.
     Mark
     On Sunday, July 26, 2015 10:25 AM, "Joseph F. Byrd, Jr."
     <[1]byrdjf at embarqmail.com> 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:[1][2]detomaso-bounces at poca.com] On Behalf Of
   Asa
     Jay
     Laughton
     Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2015 22:37 PM
     To: [2][3]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
     ******************************
     [3][4]http://www.racingagainstautism.com
     [4][5]http://www.teampanteraracing.com
     [5][6]http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
     _______________________________________________
     Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
     Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
     DeTomaso mailing list
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     [7][8]http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
     To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.)
     use the links above.
   References
     1. mailto:[9]detomaso-bounces at poca.com
     2. mailto:[10]detomaso at poca.com
     3. [11]http://www.racingagainstautism.com/
     4. [12]http://www.teampanteraracing.com/
     5. [13]http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
     6. mailto:[14]DeTomaso at poca.com
     7. [15]http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
   _______________________________________________
   Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
   Posted emails must not exceed 1.5 Megabytes
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   [16]DeTomaso at poca.com
   [17]http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
   To manage your subscription (change email address, unsubscribe, etc.)
   use the links above.

References

   1. mailto:byrdjf at embarqmail.com
   2. mailto:detomaso-bounces at poca.com
   3. mailto:detomaso at poca.com
   4. http://www.racingagainstautism.com/
   5. http://www.teampanteraracing.com/
   6. http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
   7. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
   8. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
   9. mailto:detomaso-bounces at poca.com
  10. mailto:detomaso at poca.com
  11. http://www.racingagainstautism.com/
  12. http://www.teampanteraracing.com/
  13. http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
  14. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
  15. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
  16. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
  17. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com


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