After seeing dat383s Gemini rack and pinion set up (bloody nice) I thought I'd do a search for info on rack and pinion steering setups for 1200s and cant find anything...
SO:
I really want to run a rack and pinion setup in my 1200 for a few reasons;
for improved steering feel and better turn ratio.
more space in the engine bay, relocating the rack and cleaning up the look of the engine bay (personally I think the old box looks real ugly)

I know the standard 1200 setup is pretty good but if there is a easy(ish) option I'll do it (I don't expect it to be easy but I don't think its worth $1000s and extensive engineering). Is there any other setups people have used? I think a toyota starlet or AE86 rack would be pretty close...
If possible I'd like to keep the rack behind (on the firewall side) the cross member as my sump is winged on the front and it will save me swapping the struts over.
Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers

You won't get a better turn ratio, Datsun 1200 already has a quick 15:1.

Information is in the datsun1200 club article "Steering Gearbox Swaps"

Cheers DD but if the escort rack is an option then so is the quaife quick rack which is 2.5 turns lock to lock, surely thats better than the standard 1200 (not sure what that is compared to 15:1). Thanks for the link (man I suck at finding stuff on this site :) ) but it didn't actually have any other examples of other peoples swaps or advice...
Has any one done this conversion (other than dat383, sorry but I want a rack behind the cross member)?
Cheers

hey dd i thought the datsun sunny has the better steering ratio. and a relitively easy swap too.

You can make the stock Datsun 1200 gearbox less turns lock to lock ... just limit the turning radius, like the Escort has already. You won't turn as sharp, but it's less turns to lock.

What you really want is a quicker ratio gearbox.

The steering box is, among other things, a reduction drive. If you engineer in a steering system that provides fewer input turns for a given degree of wheel turn, then the gear ratio is higher & the steering effort is greater.

Since your car is a racer & you will be running 'fat feet' on the front, the steering load will be greater anyway, but to increase the steering load even further with a higher gearing will impose even higher input loads at the steering wheel rim.

Now, if you use a steering wheel of reduced diameter, & therefore with a reduced rotational leverage on the steering column by virtue of the reduced radius, then the input load at the steering wheel rim rises even further for a given degree of wheel deflection/time.

This will be good for your fitness program & I wonder if you will develop arms like Arnie once had.

I'm reminded of the old addage, ... be carefull of what you wish for, ..............
There are a lot of successfull Datsun 1200 racers that still use the old steering box, ... & for what I presume to be good reason.

Someone on this site has got a modified steering box, he changed the gearing and the bearings, i don't exactly remember who it was( i think it was whitesedan, but i could be wrong) so that is proof, that the standard steering box can be modified to do the exact same job as installing a 'rally' spec rack and pinion set-up, and alot less hassle too!

I drove a freinds gallant years ago and it was set-up for rally it had a modifyied rack and pinion that was 1/2 turn for full lock it was fun to drive on the dirt and felt more precise, espeically on the road, i spose that why people look at putting rack and pinion in a 1200, maybe?

I have looked into a few years ago and i was told that KB laser steering set-up is the way to go and readily available. There have been quite a few threads on this subject in the last few years.

Quote:

well its clean and shiney, but have a closer look at the width of the rack (to its pivots) and where the control arm pivots are. remember dat383 is a dedicated drag car - bump steer isn't a huge issue for a car designed to drive straight ahead.

I agree that a quicker steering ratio would be a big improvement, particularly for high powered 1200's. Its so much easier punting around late model turbo cars like the GTR and Supra at 10/10ths on the track than the 1200 because of their beautiful quick steering - corrections are quicker and more accurate. The Datsun needs alot more respect solely because of the slow steering response. Not so much of an issue for under 2L cars - you have alot more time to make corrections.

its not impossible, but its a fair old engineering exercise to get it right, and will be difficult to find a rack the right length. I was looking at this for my 1200 as soon as I got it (about a year ago). All the engineers I spoke - one who have been building space frame cars for years - told me to forget it. packaging a rack into a car not designed for one with limited space is not an easy thing to get right. if you have an A series you will have alot more room to play with, but then my opinion is you don't need a rack with those power levels. that's been my experience anyway.

I looked at a starlet steering rack and they are close width wise and I think they could be made to work pretty well as they are only slightly wider than the distance between the bottom arm pivots. That means if you could get it the right place (assuming your motor isn't in the way of the ideal position you'd probably get a little bit of toe out bump steer, I obviously couldn't tell you how much though, not with out drawing it all up way of the ideal position
The other one I wanted to look at was a mini rack they have an excellent steering ratio but i wanted to check how long the steering arms were compared to the 1200 ones because a mini with 165's on it was hard work to turn with a little steering wheel.
one of the usa racers on this site uses a mini steering rack in his race coupe, i can't remember his name though, maybe bob i think.

the last time I heard from bob cooper which was a while ago now he was working on a rack and pinion conversion for his rallycar. maybe get in touch with him and find out if he ever finished it and let us know how he got on.