I have a 65 Dodge Dart 4-door, slant 6 I did a cosmetic resto on 7 yrs ago and also did many safety upgrades such as seats with shoulder belts from a 1997 Siebring convert, 15" wheels with disk brakes in the front and 8 1/4" rear from a 1977 Aspen. I also rebuilt a later slant with a 2-bbl carburetor and added A/C. It's such a fugly car I had to give it the royal treatment. In the near future, maybe within the next 2 years, I was going to install stock power steering but I've been looking hard at converting to a rack system. There is nothing available for these dud models so I am asking for advice on what to do. I know I can Rube a system from bone yard parts but getting the geometry right from these parts would be a real challenge for me IF it is even possible. I've read about a few people doing it this way but I can see they are going to have bump issues and go through front tires every 20K miles. Thanks for any input. Howard Hampstead, NC
You might want to post that on www.forAbodiesonly.com . Although, it's quite possible there are several knowledgeable MOPAR type's on here that can help you.
Have your steering gear box rebuilt. Its the second best thing I have done to my old mopars. The first is adding relays for the headlights. Third is converting to HEI ingition. Steer and gear had different firmness available. I like the extra firm. It feels like rack and pinion. This is my mostly original 65 coronet convertible in front of the St Louis South Chrysler plant that is being torn down.
To put a rack on a 60s mopar. I did it in the 70s. You walk the spindles around side for side. it becomes front steer. The rack goes on brackets on the K member . I actualy put in in it. A flexible steering shaft from a 71 pinto finishes the deal. Was it good. NO. Ackerman was out of wack. Although I raced the car for several years with it I would not do it again. It was back when I was following the herd and was young. I heard Mopar prostockers had done it. (Prostock was brand new then) so i thought i should too. I no longer feel that way and march to my own beat. Don
If you feel the car is such a dud why do you own it and keep improving it? What problem are you trying to solve by using rack and pinion steering? Putting in a rack and getting everything as good as stock is a trial. Making a significant improvement is harder.
As long as your donor rack is the same length as the center link, AND the rack tie rods are the same length as your stock ones AND you know how engineer it into the car blasting anything out of the way that's in the way (like the oil pan) AND correct out any bump steer, go for it. As stated above, don't even think about doing one as front steer unless you've got a line on steering arms that will magically give you the correct ackerman. For my money I'd call Dick Ross at Firm Feel and get one of his reworked steering chucks. He has three different firmnesses of power box and has AAR style fast ratio arms available. He does manual boxes too if you want one of those, standard or fast ratio. Great guy to deal with, knowledgable to the extreme, and free with his information if you're polite. Ditto on the For A Bodies Only site, great place to share or find info. Just don't expect to find Chevelles or other GM A bodies there because it's Mopar only.
"The first is adding relays for the headlights. Third is converting to HEI ingition." Yea-I did these items but IMO the absolute first thing in the old Mopars that needs attention is bypassing the Ammeter bulkhead connection. As I am sure most know the original design took the full current from the alternator through the bulkhead connector and this was one of the worst things I've seen done engineering wise on a car-maybe the single well master cylinder is a tie? "If you feel the car is such a dud why do you own it and keep improving it? What problem are you trying to solve by using rack and pinion steering?" I suppose Dud is poor choice of words. I personally get enjoyment out of owning and driving old-non collectible cars. I do get a lot of people commenting on it in a good way but I am not blind to the fact that it is a pretty ugly model/style. If it was a 2-dr it would be much more desirable of course. It is a solid car with decent safety as compared to when it was put on the road. One trouble spot is they made a zillion of these cars and most people that see me in a parking lot or whatever want to tell me about when they got theirs and blah blah blah. I am a good listener and it is nice to hear people that are even older than me tell stories about their Darts but sometimes I do get a little impatient hearing about some of them. I had Firm Feel do the manual box in a 70 Challenger T/A I restored and they did a good job. I was thinking that a R&P would give me better feel and loose about 50 lbs but i am killing the idea after digesting the input here (I appreciate it greatly) and will just make it a stock power steering conversion. With the 15" tires, which max out the front wheel wells, the car is very hard to steer when going slow. I have a set of 17yr old girl twins and I would like to let them drive it once in a while. They love the car (stupid kids) and there is no way I would let them drive it with manual steering. The way the steering wheel spins around after turning could completely ruin a manicure you know and I would never hear the end of it. Thanks for the great advice. Howard
try <CITE>www.capautoproducts.com makes tube k frames with racks and new front steer arm with bump fixed. Darrell</CITE>
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