'65 V8 Rack & Pinion Conversion

I am building a 65 FB and would like to add a bolt in power r&p.  Are they as easy to install as the mfgs claim?  Any one better or easier to install? At this point the car has no engine and is missing the pump so I will need that as well.  Any thoughts pro or con are appreciated....Thanks  

I have a 66 convertible that currently I am having the steering box replaced with a brand new one and also adding power steering. My mustang mechanic reports that he has installed several various after market rack and pinion kits over the years and to have also removed "close to half" of those same r&p kits later down the road. He says that the kits work well out of the box, but the old mustang body and frame sometimes compromises the performance (catching and bindng during a turn)of the r&p kit. He suggested buying a new steering box and adding power steering. After comparing the prices of r&p kits to a steering box and power steering I went with the later. I chose the flaming river steering box and the power steering should be coming from a donor car. I am hoping that the play in the steering will be 0 from this procedure. If I am not satisfied I will look at the the r&p kits again. I will let you know how this works out for me once I get my car back later this week if you want.  

I'd appreciate hearing if it made a difference.  I also have a 66 convertible with sloppy power steering that I'd like to upgrade.  If I change the box on that it may help me determine what to do with the fastback.  You can send an email to ragtop66@hotmail.com.

Thanks,

Mark  

I have a 64.5 convertible that I put a manual R&P in from Flaming River.  This by far the worst upgrade I've ever done to my car.  First try the angle was too great from the column to the gear on the rack, so I had to get a kit for headers (I don't have headers) which added a support bearing on the frame and another u-joint.  Second try the inner rods were too long and once the tie rods ends were installed the front of the tires pointed toward the center of the car.  Had to send the kit back to Flaming River to have the inter rods shorten, then they were too short and back they went again.  Finally got the length correct and everything hooked up, them off to get the front end aligned.  I'm getting about 6k miles out of my tires and can't keep the thing aligned.  As soon as I can get time this thing is coming off and I will cut it into little pieces with my torch.  I forgot to say my car is not much fun to drive right now.  

Sorry for your bad luck.  You're not the first to tell me they had trouble with Flaming River. I've crossed them off my list but haven't given up on the conversion just yet.  I'm reading good things about TCP though it's quite expensive.  Thanks for your input...have fun with the torch!  

Well, I got my car back and let me tell what I think. The new Flaming River steering box took care of the slop or play in the steering. The power steering is almost too easy when driving the car; too easy in that it is almost that I feel like I don't have enough control or feel from the car. Maybe there is way to adjust the "power" assist in the power steering. But when it comes to parking and making the fine adjustments in a parking lot, I no longer need arms like Ah-nold. The GT rear valance looks good, I just need to match the red from my car to the red that the mechanic sprayed painted on the GT valance. I guess a new paint job is in the distant future (I understand I can spend quite a bit of money on that). I did not get the GT trumpet tips, but went with the stainless steel chrome-looking tips on the exhaust. I will see if that look grows on me. The 15" steel style wheels  look great, as do the 225-60R-15 tires I bought with the wheel size change. Do you think 225R-50R-15 would have been a better look? And the new exhaust/muffler has a little less growl than my old set, but still sounds great without being obnoxious.
       My next project on the mustang is sub frame connectors for convertibles and maybe lower the car an inch or two. Also, my mechanic is telling me that my rear end is starting to wear out as you can hear it starting to resonate while driving down the road ( I fixed that by turning up the stereo). So that will be more money into my 1966 liability.

Keep me updated on your rack & pinion decision and how it turns out for you.  

Any updates on the r&p for either of you?  

I use a Flaming River 16:1 ratio short shaft steering box and I installed a SWEET Manufacturing power steering servo between the box and the column using a coupler and a u-joint ,cut the colunm and cut the shaft off the old box & used a sperical bearing for the lower shaft support. I use a Sweet Saginaw type power steering pump ,I use a Lee Manfacturing(PH. 818-768-0371) slave cylinder and had a race car shop weld a tab for the slave cylinder on my manual steering centerlink. This is the same stuff used on racecars and is the way to go. The new box and the rest of the stuff including welding the tab cost me about $1200.00. The power steering servo has different torsion springs that vary the steering effort so you get the steering effort and road feel you like (I use a 2.35 torsion spring). This is a real easy way and the best way to go. The rack and pinion setups also screw up the bump steer really bad ,some road racers had different brands on mustangs and took them off for that reason and binding. To stop the frame from flexing I removed the bolt on lower crossmember and had a 1"x2"x.125" thick straight rectangular tube welded in place of the bolt on crossmember.  

CHECK MY POST(IN GENERAL)ON FLAMING RIVER R&P.
PROFESSIONALLY INSTALLED AND NOW HAVE A MINOR BUMP STEER.
BUT WORSE IS THE "TOE OUTTING" ON HARD BRAKING. TECH. @ FLAMING RIVER IS BLOWING MY MECHANIC AND I OFF.  

SO YOU FEEL THAT WHEN HARD BRAKING, THE DECELLERATION IS PUSHING BACK THE FRAME AS WELL AS THE NEW SUSPENSION???  

NO HELP FROM FLAMING RIVER TECH SUPPORT  

SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?????
YOU KNOW OF COURSE THEY SOLD THIS AS THE END-ALL FIX-ALL.
I'M NOT DONE WITH FLAMING RIVER YET. BUT I'VE GONE FROM A DIRVEABLE (BUT HARD) ORIGINAL CAR TO A CAR I'M AFRAID TO PANIC BRAKE IN FEAR OF SOMETHING SNAPPING OFF!!!  

Scroll up a few post to my last post ,this is how i did power steering on a street legal roadrace car and its awesome !