Fuselage - Drums to Disc Brake Conversion

[fury fan]

As far as the steering angle, it will defiantly increase over stock, but one thing I do like about the flaming river unit is I can index it at any angle. This should be a big plus.

Yes, it looks like you can lay-back the input to the rack by rotating it in the mounts? That then locks in place, somehow, surely?
And FWIW, I'm so glad to see you are doing this as rear-steer, rather than front steer with reversed lower balljoints that ruins Ackerman.

Wyrmrider may have the more definitive response, but I've read about some swaps of smaller-dia wheel cyl onto Cs, and IIRC 7/8" was the size and IIRC 1/2-ton trucks could be a donor.
But regardless, if you do some snooping on RockAuto, some of those listings will surely list a wheel cyl bore. If you get something from a similar era, the fitment thru the backing plate should be similar.

 

[Mr. Nitro]

I have done a little more work on the header/steering challenge for the Fury. I got an old set of 1 7/8" headers from a 440 B body that a friend of mine had. He had replaced his and had these left over. I did a little more work on my fixture to hold the rack and then began looking at how to modify the headers to allow the rack and pinion to sit where it needed to be and get the lines and steering rod to all work together. Believe it or not, I cut about 10 " out of one tube on the LH side and the rack fit right in plac

e. The RH side is fine just as is. So, I will do a little more precise mocking up over the weekend before I pull the trigger on this set up, but I think this is going to be very doable. Here are the latest pics.

Thanks for the input.

 

[edbods]

Any plans for heat shields? Looks like the rack and U joint is going to get absolutely roasted there

 

[fury fan]

And interestingly enough, by going to R&P, you'll avoid the need for the C-body-specific oil pan with the idler-arm dent, and can use that higher-capacity Moroso pan.

 

[Mr. Nitro]

Thanks for the input guys. Always welcome.
The block and trany that you have seen in the former pictures are not the exact parts I am going to use in the final build. This rack and pinion idea I have is going to be close, so I decided that I had better put the correct parts in before going any further. SO, I took the 440 block and dummy trany out and installed the bored 400 block that will be the heart of the 512 when complete and coupled it to the original 727 trany that came in the Fury. *The 440 block is roughly 3/4" taller than the 400. Now my plan is to put the front end assembly back on the body, install the steering column and look at all of this again "in real time". Here is where I am at the moment. If all goes well, I will post more tomorrow with all of the parts in place. Wish me luck!!!

 

[Mr. Nitro]

Good evening everyone, Here is the latest on the Fury-Us Project.

I married the front end assembly back to the body for the first time in 1 1/2 years. It took most of the day to get it all done, but was rewarding. Witlh the stock steering column installed, headers and rack and pinion, for the most part looks good. Fury fan mentioned the steering angle. I slipped a piece of tubing (red) on the rack to see the angle as related to the steering column. It really is not that bad if I can shorten the stock steering shaft. I think I have 2 choices at this point. One, shorten the stock steering column. I did this on my 67 Barracuda when I installed the 5.7 Hemi. It worked out just fine. The other opinion is to contact Flaming River and inquire about a new column from them. Question for you guys, has any of you shortened a stock steering column? The difference in the Cuda column and the Fury column is the Cuda is floor shift. The Fury is column shift. This creates a little more of a challenge. Any ideas or advice here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fury fan]

I don't have any experience nor hearsay on shortening the column.
For me, my 1st step would be to find some photos of floor-shift columns of 67-68 and see how they look.
My hunch is that they look the same at the end, but the floor shift version is lacking the shifter arm poking out.
Ergo, your red mockup tube shows that the OEM column is longer than you want.

But - steering shafting can handle a lot steeper angles than driveshafts, so you might be OK if you cut just south of where the smaller shaft exits the column.
And - steeper angles should make things a bit safer in case of an accident, as that stuff will bend/fold rather than joust you.

I think you'll have notable fab work to attach an aftermarket column to the dashboard, with complex bracket shapes, making undercovers that look OK, etc.

 

[Mr. Nitro]

Thanks for the input. I did do a little more work on my set up. Pics attached. I am 99% sure that the rack and pinion will work out just fine. Today I made up the "couplers" to attach the tie rod ends to the shafts of the rack and pinion. With the spindles at proper ride height, the rack and pinion in line and level it looks pretty good to me and should be just a couple of simple brackets to secure the steering unit. I will measure out the steering angle tomorrow and contact Flaming River and discuss the proper parts to make this happen and also to inquire about a billet column from them possibly.

OK, I have another idea and want input. Think about replacing the shocks with a coil over unit from QA-1. I am going to contact them about the available space in the Fury, but going to coil over shocks and then removing the torsion bars is a very simple operation if you ask me. You talk about making room under the hood, it would be a game changer. I did this with my Barracuda, but it was much more fab work. The Fury would almost just be a shock replacement. Your thoughts please?

 

[Toolmanmike]

OK, I gotta jump in here. It has been awhile since I posted, but I am not dead yet! It is racing season and I am busy making a living. But, in the downtime ,(LOL) I have been working on FURY-US. The 1967 Fury III that I am restoring for my wife. I went with the Wilwood 12" rotor and 6 piston caliper upgrade for the front of the Fury. Very nice kit and uses the stock spindle.

Now here is the kicker. I am planning on installing a Flaming River rack and pinion set up and loosing the stock steering box, pitman arm, idler arm and draglink. I think that this is very doable. I have mocked it up and the only problem I see is with the headers. This car will get a 600 HP 512 big block under the hood, so I need headers. I can fab them myself, but I am looking at aftermarket headers. I am thinking that the shorty type of headers will work, but I need to do more research before pulling the trigger on that. In the meantime, I have the rack and pinion mocked up and it looks pretty good.

What is you guys opinion? Feed back please!
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This is a sticky thread about disc brake conversions only. Love what you are doing with rack and pinions but please start a separate thread in the Brake and Suspension forum. We need to keep this thread on task.

 

[fury fan]

When the new thread does get started, please place a link to it here, and we should all be sure not to re-awaken it in here.
I never noticed this thread was 40+ pages, nor who started it, until today.
Mee-a-kwuippa.