253 into ek

[alwalburn@y7mail.com]

Hi All,
Have been plugging away on my Ek ute and so far have a nice 202. , trimatic, hr front end , torana diff ,mini tubs, custom aluminium tank.
Have just been offered a great 253 and trimatic,for a good price and apart from a firewall mod and chassis kit do I have to change steering, or engine mounts,any other majour work?
Have searched a fair bit and looks pretty strait forward?
Any and all info very welcome.
Cheers Al

[ekstevo]

as you've changed to a hr front end you've all ready changed the steering knuckles which technically since you've done that you should have a collapsible column is my reading of the mod guide. Every other ek I've seen converted to a v8 had a racknpinion set up I think the original box wont clear the v8 exhaust, the original steering set up is shit anyway if your going to go v8 change to a better steering set up.

[alwalburn@y7mail.com]

Cheers ,
Have a hg column and also steering box .
So I guess they won't fit past that.
Will do some research on the rack and pinion .
Maybe torana?
The motor and box is coming from a Hz ute ,don't suppose any of that steering is adaptable?
Thanks Al

[Errol62]

Hi Al
Your reference to HG steering peaked my interest. See recent discussion on this in the link: HG steering Box
http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21856

Do you have this installed?

Sorry I know it is a bit off track and yes you will have to go rack and pinion to fit V8.

Cheers
Clay

[alwalburn@y7mail.com]

G'day clay,
Made a blue,
It's a ht column and a ht box.
Grafted the column to the original floor plate,
Used the ek top bearing housing that will slide into the column with some persuasion,
Drilled 3 new holes for fixing it ,used ek bearing and honeypot ,indicator,steering wheel ect.. .
Down to ht box which was a bolt in for 2 bolts and fabricated third mount.
Mine isn't finished but amate has his done on a custom ek coupe.
Think he used hr drag link ect..
And the ht pitman arm .Works a treat ,
That's a 202 trimatic,hr front.
Do you know which front mounted steering works with hr front and which model sump for the 253?

[Mick]

sorry off track also is the EK coupe a driving car what colour is it or do you have a pic?
thanks

[Errol62]

I'm no authority on r & p or v8 conversions but there are others on here who can advise you. I believe you will need a shortened rack of going front mount. It's a matter of getting the tie rod ends lined up with the lower control arm swing axis to avoid bump steer. Rear mount seem to give better turning circle and enables using original steering arm and caliper figment.

Sump needs modifying I believe but HKTG would be a starting point.

Thanks for the info on HT steering. HKTG should be interchangeable I would think. Will follow this up in the other thread.

Cheers
Clay

[alwalburn@y7mail.com]

El coup is not yet on the road but all the fabrication work is done and it's in primer ,
He is just sorting out some small mods before final paint .
Will get some pics next time I me over there.
Same guy has a grey fe ute in Nambucca heads.

[DOLLER60]

Hey Mate
For memory my front end is made up of ;

HR Front end
HQ Stubs
HQ calipers
P76 Discs
TD Cortina front mount rack shortened to suit.
LJ short steering arms ( slightly pressed )

A bit of scalloping on the top of the front end to allow the steering rod to clear it.
Custom extractors
Flaming Idiot collapsible column.

I thinks that's it, been sooooo long since I worked on it!

No doubt someone on here has better ideas than me though..............

[Errol62]

Would be very interested in seeing some pics of HT steering install Al.

[Mick]

El coup is not yet on the road but all the fabrication work is done and it's in primer ,
He is just sorting out some small mods before final paint .
Will get some pics next time I me over there.
Same guy has a grey fe ute in Nambucca heads.

thanks i was mainly wondering if it's one of the ones i know of or one of my old ones


i've done a couple of holden V8 into FB/EK first one we used and LC/LJ torana front mount rack can't remember what steering arms but possably HQ short using the LJ type rack we needed to make extensions where the tie rod end goes, we did a slight massage on the left side of the firewall and we could fit a HQ type radiator with and engine fan, the other one we did we used a standard length UC torana rack which is the same as an LH/LX just UC doesn't have rubber bush where it mounts on the front end i think we used short HQ steering arms again, both rack set ups worked well though the later one when i had the car high for the engineer had a fair bit of bump steer but once lowered down on heavy springs was great

if you have a look at ek jay's wagon build he has done the LJ type rack

don't pay attention to the knuckles or where the brake pipe is running

[alwalburn@y7mail.com]

Thanks mick,
I spoke to a fella from v6 conversions in Taree and they do a bolt on rear kit with a change over vb steering rack,
Bolt in for around $650 strait onto the hr steering arms.
Sounds like a bargain to me.
Regardless of whether I use the six or the eight I will still do the steering after reading the wraps about how much better it is.
Will try to post pics of ht column/box setup next time I visit the coupe.
Thanks all again,
Al

[FireKraka]

Hi Al
I have done 2 of the V6 Conversion rear mounted racks admittedly on V6 engine conversions.

Some people seem to have great success with the Torana setup but I found the rear one very good.

My FC Sedan which I have been driving for almost the last 2 years is great to drive with this setup no bump steer and great turning circle and it was easy to install however you do lose some sump area.

Have a look at my ute build "Neils Frankenstein Ute" I put some pictures up of my modification of the HR front end.

Regards
Neil H

[alwalburn@y7mail.com]

G'day ,
So after a bit of research I have decided to shorten a vl manual steering rack.
The plan is to shorten the steering shaft and housing by 90mm ,keeping the commodore tie rod ends and mounting it on the rear in th same position as the hr steering setup.
This makes the swivel points line up with the bottom wishbone pivots,and will clear the sump.
A mate of mine will tig the housing and cut and re tap the shaft.
Can any of you experienced modifiers see a problem with this??
Thanks Al
Will post photos and measurements as it happens.

[DOLLER60]

Only thing I can think of is welding any part of the steering is normally a no go with the authority's.....
I assume the housing is included with this regulation.
Can anyone add to this?........................