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#1
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Steering Gurus come in pls
Hey guys I have a 68 pontiac firebird with a 496ci and Kauffman aluminum high port round port heads, after I went thru hell to find a quick ratio steering box, now the Hedman headers won't fit, I really didn't want to go to a manual gear box and didn't want to use the hammer on my freshly ceramic coated headers, any suggestions. The quickest ratio I found on manual its 16 to 1 ratio wish are supposed to be 6 turns stop to stop.
Any suggestions??? |
#2
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As I had mentioned in PM, the physical width of the two boxes is similar, if not identical. The input shaft and worm gear housing will also be in the same position. Going to a manual steering box likely will not solve the clearance issue.
These are spendy but you can change your bird to a front steer orientation with a power rack and pinion kit. Most of these kits I don't actually like because they actually increase bump steer. What you gain in "feel" you lose in actual performance and handling by way of poor bump steer. Speedtech Performance is claiming however that their kit is near identical, if not better than the factory steering system for bump steer. https://speedtechperformance.com/pro...7-1969-f-body/ "IF" that's true and not marketing spin, this would be a decent upgrade not only in steering, but may provide the clearance you need. Instead of having a 7" wide box attached to the frame where the headers want to go, you'll have a 1" shaft instead. There is of course still no guarantee here that you won't run into clearance issues with the shaft, or with tie rod clearance issues with the forward tubes. This is unfortunately part of hot-rodding. You've got a set of heads that are larger than factory in an engine compartment that barely fits a Pontiac engine to begin with. Some modification is going to be necessary at time. Honestly, I'd get that dimple hammer out. It's pretty well documented that dimpling headers does not effect performance in any measurable way. If you have to grind off some ceramic coating, it's likely cheaper to do that then to go with a rack and pinion.
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-Jason 1969 Pontiac Firebird |
#3
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I agree with you Jason about using the hammer, but even if I do it would be to much , the primary tube are 2 inches thick , so It's not just a little ding, that's why I'm asking or suggestions .
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hed-35180 Thanks for your fast respond Jason |
#4
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I'd give the hammer clearance method some consideration. The Engine Masters show proved that power wasn't affected until all of the tubes were severely, horrifically banged up. If you have to add a hefty dent to one tube, it's unlikely to affect anything. Nobody likes to do that to a nice set of headers, so I feel your pain.
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1966 Pontiac GTO (restoration thread) 1998 BMW 328is (track rat) 2023 Subaru Crosstrek Limited (daily) View my photos: Caught in the Wild |
#5
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I guess the main question is, Why does Hedman make headers that don't fit the application?
The only other alternative is to offset the engine in the chassis further to the right/passenger side. If my memory is correct, it is already offset somewhat with factory mounts, but moving it a little more is possible. Maybe further offset, and header dimpling could both be applied. I saw the engine masters with the beat to death headers, and it appeared not as critical as some would think it was. No doubt that a rear steer car puts the steering box in the wrong position for header clearance, especially with the exhaust location on an already wide engine design. Another forum addressing the same problems with large tube headers in a first gen car: http://pontiaczone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24292
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Brad Yost 1973 T/A (SOLD) 2005 GTO 1984 Grand Prix 100% Pontiacs in my driveway!!! What's in your driveway? If you don't take some of the RACETRACK home with you, Ya got cheated Last edited by Sirrotica; 04-18-2022 at 04:08 PM. |
#6
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Maybe you could dent a little and grind the box a little. A quick ratio box shouldn't be much different from what you have now sizewise.
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1978 Black & Gold T/A [complete 70 Ram Air III (carb to pan) PQ and 12 bolt], fully loaded, deluxe, WS6, T-Top car - 1972 Formula 455HO Ram Air numbers matching Julep Green - 1971 T/A 455, 320 CFM Eheads, RP cam, Doug's headers, Fuel injection, TKX 5 Spd. 12 Bolt 3.73, 4 wheel disc. All A/C cars |
#7
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Quote:
I have a pare of headmen three tube headers on my D port car and they are only about an 1/8th inch away from the steering box. Add a true 4 tube header with a true 2" primary, and push it outward, it's a recipe for clearance issues. Pontiaco, what's your intended use of the car? You don't really state, but based on your first post it sounds like you went to decent length to produce a modern, quick ratio box. Is this car a pro-touring style build, or being setup for auto-x, open track etc? Is it a corner carver? If that's a yes, you're not going to want a stock style manual steering box anyway. First the lock to lock distance is far too great for any amount of decent turn in. Additionally, the lack of power assist will make getting a proper alignment basically impossible. Not that you can't get a good amount of caster into the system, but your steering effort would end up being atrocious. Add wide, sticky tires and things just get worse.
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-Jason 1969 Pontiac Firebird |
The Following User Says Thank You to JLMounce For This Useful Post: | ||
#8
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Well I grab the hammer last nite and boy that was painful, but is in.
I want to do a little of everything, but I wanna try road course, been drag racing all my life, the car is mini tubed With a 700R4 trans, should have done a 5 speed manual but we'll see what happens, thanks guys for all your input!! |
#9
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Yeah sucks to do, but that really was the best option. You didn't want to have a manual box in there if you want to have any type of handling performance out of the car. Glad to hear you got them in!
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-Jason 1969 Pontiac Firebird |
The Following User Says Thank You to JLMounce For This Useful Post: | ||
#10
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the steering box is 2 3/4 turns stop to stop!
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