Power Steering Option

[Paul Proefrock]

Speaking to another owner, I asked if he would do anything different. He said he was working on a project to add power steering to his car (strictly a cruiser, not a racer)

Can anyone tell me if this is do-able on a Hurricane kit? Can you identify the steering rack that is used and if a cross-over to power steering is available?

Thanks

Paul P

[LMH]

Hey Paul,
The spacing between the mounts on our cars looks to about 16". I'm not sure if Flaming River produces something with the same spacing but I know they make a PS rack and pinion. You can probably find out from them if they make a power rack with that mount spacing.
HTH
Larry

[Hurricane_Factory]

Paul,
We do offer a power steering rack upgrade if you are interested.  The upgrade cost is $175.  The power steering rack uses 15 1/2" center mount holes.  Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Mike Arps

[Gmoose2]

Rather than start a new thread, I thought I would post my problem here.  I ordered my kit with the PS option and got that rack with 15 1/2" rack.  My problem is that the frame is drilled for the 16" holes.  How does this get fixed?

Charley
HM1107

[HM1006]

Open up (elongate) each hole 1/4" to the inside,....??

Brad

[Gmoose2]

I guess I could do that.  I wonder if that is correct, though for getting the steering shaft to line up properly.  Maybe the DS hole is correct and the PS hole should be elongated the 1/2".  Or vice versa.  Anybody who switched to a power rack after first building with a manual one, would have presumably encountered this situation already.

Should I  be worried about having the 5/8" bolts going into a hole that is elongated to an oval with a 7/8" width (or even 1 1/8" if I just do one hole)?

Normally there would not be any washers on that nut, but it seems like I should do something.  Maybe even weld one to the frame to make the hole size correct and more stable.

It is kind of disappointing that this mistake slipped through from HMS.

Charley
HM1107

[Paul Proefrock]

Charlie,
I don't think the elongated holes will hurt anything. The rack is still "trapped" in it's location.

If you want to be a perfectionist, you could have someone fill the holes with weld then redrill them.

If you elect to elongate, I would do it to each hole, equally, so the rack position stays consistent. That way you aren't changing any geometry. You can do this with a die grinder or rat-tail file. I would also make the holes slotted - don't just drill them oversize. If you were to do this, you would lose the vertical location points.


Paul

[Gmoose2]

Well after an hour and a half of working the die grinder including breaking a Harbor Freight stone, I theoretically have the holes elongated to the proper distances for the powered rack.  But I still have 2 major problems:

1) The steering shaft that comes out of the powered rack has a substantial housing around it for the fluid.  That housing doesn't quite clear the frame where the corner is cut away.  I suppose I can cut away some more and squeeze it by there.

2) I can't see any way of getting the nut onto the bolt on the driver side because that housing covers up almost all of that opening.  No way I can see to hold it in place to torque it down.  Even for manual steering, it looks kind of tight to me.  Do I grind away even more off of that corner, or drill a new access hole from beneath on the frame?

You can see fairly well in the attached picture how much that housing obstructs things.

Charley
HM1107

[berzerko]

do you have a welder or access to one? I would try to tack the nut in position or you may be able to jam a flat bar or screwdiver in the access hole to keep the nut from turning while yo tighten it
  HTH
  Bobby

[Gmoose2]

Bobby,

No on the welder, and the stuff I have tried to jam in there to hold the nut has not worked, so far.  I will keep searching.  Thanks.

Charley
HM1107

[danc30]

Can the bolt be put in the frame and tack welded so you can put the nut on the outside?

I bought a fairly inexpensive welder at Home Depot. Might be worth a look.

Here is the one I bought. Used it 4 times on various things and I'm not a welder.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100039229&N=10000003+90401

Dan

[dlowman]

I know the shell valleys have a ps option.  The units them selves are not too bad I can get the for under $200 if I remember right. ( I would have to look it up)  They use a straight steering shaft and 3/4 inch u-joints.  I can get the u-joints and the rack, but not the shaft.

Dan