Project 2.

[Errol62]

Where would you stand your long necks harv?

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[Harv]

Been a long time since I drank king browns They would live in the carton, on the back floor (box of rattlies).

Cheers,
Harv

[Brett027]

Thanks for that insight.

[EK283]

I havent had a long neck since I sold my pushy !!!!
40 years ago Ha ha ha.

Greg

[Brett027]

Can you piss pots find somewhere else to post please.

[Errol62]

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[Brett027]

Now that the ute is finally on the road, I have a few changes to make. I am not convinced my master cylinder and maybe distribution/ proportioning valve are giving their best for my disc drum setup. I am going to change over to a reconditioned BigNut master and Holden valve block that were original equipment for my era brakes.
The other area that I think can be better is steering. The steering is smooth and responsive on the road but a tad too heavy for easy parking manoeuvres. Power steering is not really an option, so I'm thinking of ways to increase the leverage. Most obvious way is to change the worm drive to a longer ratio. I have been looking at HR boxes which have a better ratio for me, but on talking today to the fellow that was doing the Rare Spares kits, discovered that they: 1 are no longer making the major overhaul kits and 2 were using the one ratio for all their boxes from FB to HR. So no joy there. Rob mentioned that HK, HT/G box internals may fit into an EK box so this arvo I grabbed one from a mate and had a look. The internals will not swap over unfortunately. However I checked the ratio and it's 20:1, (presumably a Belmont ute one) which is perfect for my mission. Just need to nut out if I can mount the box and match it to my column.

[ardiesse]

Brett,

PM sent. Upshot: see whether the EK sector shaft meshes with the teeth of the KTG ballnut.

(But that KTG steering box is in excellent condition, I must say . . .)

Rob

[Errol62]

I have looked in to using the HKTG box Brett. Another issue to consider besides those you mention is that you may need to modify the box output spline or a HD HR pitman arm to mate up. You would be able to modify the subframe mounting to put the output in the correct spot no doubt. I can see the engineer getting a gurnsey. It’s an interesting idea. I wonder if anyone has considered longer steering arms.


FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie

[Brett027]

Yes, I have mentioned the pitman arm issue to Rob. Am wondering if the arm that matches the box would work with the HR tie rod.

[Errol62]

Too long I believe and would negate to a degree the benefit, no doubt it would work. You would have to modify the subframe to accept the HKTG idler arm pivot pin.

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[ardiesse]

The user control panel's arcing up on me, and a PM just got consigned to the ether. So -

Damn. There goes the mix'n'match idea.

Pitman arms: The splines on all Holden sector shafts look the same from '48 to '71. The pitman arm nuts are the same. Humpy pitman arms are cranked up, FE-HR pitman arms are cranked down, HKTG pitman arms are straight.

HKTG sector shafts are 1.0625" diameter; FX-HR sector shafts are 1.000" diameter. I don't know whether an "early" pitman arm will go onto an HKTG sector shaft. What you need to measure is the distance, parallel to the sector shaft, from tooth contact to end of pitman arm for both HR sector shaft and pitman arm; and for HKTG sector shaft and pitman arm. If the dimension is the same, then you stand a chance of using an HKTG steering box without mucking up the sterring geometry. With the proviso that the HKTG pitman arm is the same length as the HR one.

This just gets complicated . . .

Rob

[Brett027]

A bit more research. Sector shaft has a larger diameter spline so EK pitman arm will not fit without machining new splines. This is probably possible as the diameter is bigger on HK shaft. Bearing surfaces are also larger and would need machining to fit in an EK box.
The worm bearing box is the same physical size but the teeth are larger and do not mesh well with the EK sector shaft. Ball bearings and worm thread are the same size. It would be possible to put an HK worm bearing box onto an EK shaft but would achieve no purpose. It is however possible to put an EK worm bearing box onto an HK worm steering shaft, so if the HK steering shaft fitted in an EK box you could leave everything else as EK. This would be fantastic and solve all the other issues relating to swapping the box.

This is where it may fall over though. The HK worm drive shaft is longer between ball bearings than the EK. Otherwise it is the same diameter and would only require a bit of machining at the end to match my Torana coupling. I will check if there is enough adjustment on the end nut to allow for the longer shaft and also if there is enough room inside the steering box to accomodate the longer gear travel. If this works it would be a very easy conversion just using the HK steering shaft with a bit of machining to take my coupling.

If all this fails, the next option would be to sort out the subframe mounting points to use the HK box complete and machine the steering shaft to match the coupling
and machine the sector shaft splines to allow fitment of the HR pitman arm I am using, or leave as is if the HK pitman arm works.

The last option is to think of something else....

[Blacky]

Seems like a hell of a lot of buggerising about and a little too many ifs when there are a swag of tried and tested rack and pinion options to be had

[Brett027]

Maybe. But it doesn't take much of an effort to have a go and share the results.