Steering Time

 

The whole steering setup has been a tad tricky so far and mocking everything up had not been particularly easy or straightforward really. The build manual/guide is extremely vague in regards to the steering column support and brackets, so I’m off on my own here as I don’t want to keep asking Mick from Fiorano for assistance and I need to figure things out for myself. 

So starting with my second attempted front support brace, I welded in a horizontal tube with upright support which gave me something to weld a thick 6mm plate to which in theory will be drilled in the correct places to accept a U-bolt and clamp the top of the steering column. This was all vaguely clamped together in the car first and should give me plenty of tolerance for movement and adjustment when it comes to the final fit. 

I painted the frame when it was out the car again as hopefully I won’t be removing it anymore but it’s no real hardship if I need to. Next was to look towards the lower end of the steering and the rack itself. I had to replace the lower universal joint on the rack as my original Triumph unit had worn rubber joints and the only replacement parts I found were silly expensive. The new universal joint is from Car Builder Solutions and is the standard 14mm 36spline but has the advantage of being solid mount (no rubber to perish over time) this will hopefully give the steering a much firmer and more responsive feel as there are no rubber joins that will soften over time and give a little spongy feel to it all. The new lower joint has created its own slight problem as in the physical dimensions of the whole thing are bigger than the original unit and it voids with the suspension tower. I have found my own solution to this problem, but I’m unsure of the side effects yet (hopefully none) 

The build manual/guide does cover this issue even using the original joint and simply advises to use a hammer and drift to further manipulate the suspension tower strut and basically bend it, smash the hell out of it so that it doesn’t void with the joint…I don’t like that idea much in regards to a proper solution. So my solution is to simply move the steering rack forward by about 1/2 inch. This then creates ample space for the bigger replacement steering joint and all I have/had to do was drill a couple of extra holes on the chassis and budge the whole thing forward. Again now I’m hoping that this will not affect the whole steering geometry too much, in regards to caster,camber,toe in/out and most importantly bump steer. However in theory the only further adjustment will be with the toe in/out of the front wheels…. Non of which have been set yet, so fingers crossed. 

My steering column is going to be made up mostly from the donor Spitfire but with the addition of a lower shaft to take into account the difference in steering angle and positioning. The upper telescope section (pictured here) slides into the upper column and clamps with a break away clamp onto the flat section. This allows a bit of adjustment of the column forth and back but I’m fixing my upper column on the brace bar that I fabricated so once measured, cut and fitted I won’t have any adjustment. I did have to shorten this shaft slightly and with my grinder extend the flat point. I could have cut and welded this but its strength is greater as one original piece and with the slight modification. I have also added a sleeved section towards the one end. This is to increase the shaft diameter to 19mm where it will sit in the bulkhead bearing. This was just slid on to the correct position and welded into place.

The lower section of the column is the new splined shaft from CBS and a second universal joint. This shaft did need cutting in order to fit. And after a few trial and error fittings I was happy with the length and tacked a couple of welds to fix together. This then allowed me to fine tune everything really and making sure I was happy with the whole setup. It has been a massively fiddly task and a fair amount of swearing will have been heard from my garage… but it’s definitely on the downhill slope now.

Once I was fully happy with it all I gave the lower shaft a full perimeter weld and with the grinder flattened the weld back. This was so I could weld a sleeve to the shaft and in theory strengthen the whole section. The steering takes a lot of forces against it, so sleeving the join just felt right and gives me a slight safety net in case a weld joint fails… can’t risk that mid corner at speed. 

So now was time to fit everything and make it all good. I painted the visible sections of the lower column as I want to keep everything looking good. I also had to nip a little section out of the engine mount in order for the shaft to rotate freely without scraping, but after lots more fiddling about and many many swear words getting thrown around the steering was pretty much done and functional. 

The bearing was also fitted to the bulkhead which I purposely fitted engine bay side as opposed to footwell. If it was on the internal footwell side there is a slight risk it would stop the clutch pedal getting full travel and thus engaging the clutch. So naturally the bearing also had to get painted to match the bulkhead and body colour…. Attention to detail!!

I’m very pleased to have this completed now, as it will also make moving the car about considerably easier. The whole steering feel is very firm with no tight spots or binding and even dry steering is very easy and light. The two new solid mounted universal joints give the steering a very responsive feel and there is zero play in the column when starting to turn either right or left. I have also kept the indication cancellation pins in the boss that cancel the indicator once you have turned the corner, something on the Cobra that is not very good for some reason. I very often have the indicators still on after complete the turn but can’t hear the click of the signal over the engine noise. 

My last little extra for this update is my quick release steering wheel boss. I originally purchased it when I was around 18 and had it on one of my classic minis, so it’s lucky that I tend to horde stuff in my garage. I planned this after a saw Paul Wards car and he was showing how tight it was to get in and out the car if the steering wheel was fixed. He also has a quick release boss but it differs slightly to mine as mine can’t be removed without the key. These bosses also add further security to the car as if it’s left unattended for any period you can simply remove the steering wheel and either lock it in the boot or keep it with you.

You will have also noticed a few cheeky Ferrari badges/logos which I have fitted. Yes I know this is not a Ferrari and it never will be, but from day one of this project I said to myself that I wanted to badge it as one to hopefully engage the conversation to the original 1948 166 Spyder. Paul has mentioned that his car gets a much better response from people not being badged as a Ferrari, so any badge or logo that I fit I’m making easily removable at a later date if I so choose or to change to whatever I want. 

 Next up on the job list is making a start on the dashboard and getting the engine fully built up really. So lots to be getting on with.