Thread: American Graffiti Coupe, My Version

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Jack
It's Unisteer, anything I need to know? Like I said before, I've never done a project like this, I need all the help and advice I can get, nothing will hurt my feelings.

34_40
I already have the water pump on, it comes out the pass. side, but the radiator has the bottom outlet on the drivers side. I'll have to see how hard it would be to move the radiator fitting.

Originally Posted by racerx1699

Jack
It's Unisteer, anything I need to know? Like I said before, I've never done a project like this, I need all the help and advice I can get, nothing will hurt my feelings.

Not really. Unisteer doesn't have an "old school" look, but it eliminates a lot of the possibilities of bump steer that you get with a M-II box and Pitman arm. There were days lately that I wish I had one. You should have a pretty simple steering column setup. A drop at the dashboard, a plate at the floor, some double-D shaft, a column to double-D shaft adapter/u-joint and a steering box to double-D shaft adapter/u-joint. I mocked everything up with wooden dowels with the seat in the car before I did any cutting. If you're going with "fancy" stuff, Ididit has everything you need. I used Borgeson u-joints/adapters.

Just some random comments, Jack is right on about the use of a wooden mockup. On the Bebops 29 roadster and a SBC I had to use two universals on D-shaft using a '39 cross steer setup with a Vega box. So far no noticeable bump steer with the cross steer set up but I do envy your lighter weight engine. I used a broom handle through the floor to get the angle of the steering column that would clear the exhaust manifold on the driver side. I used extra care to drill and pin the U-joints on the D-shafts. And I also remembered the 1934 Indy problem of flat head Fords that dropped out of the race due to exhaust manifold heat on the steering box. I opted for a tilt column because the 29 cockpit is tight for me but with entry/exit practice I leave the column straight most of the time now. A need for a tilt column depends on seat height and the column angle relative to the exhaust manifold. Even so it will probably be necessary to have two U-joints on the D-shaft. Pinning the U-joints prevents vertical slop but requires measuring care since the only adjustment factor will then be at the steering box spline. Roger's worry about the cowl bracing is probably covered by the Bebops use of a 1" square tubing throughout the body including across the cowl which makes a handy grounding point for dash electronics provided you add a stout cable between the frame to the body skeleton somewhere.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Don, Once I had the DD shaft cut to size, I drilled blind 3/16" deep holes in it for the set screws in the Borgeson u-joints. With that, and the locknuts on the setscrews, things are buttoned up tight. Is that what you meant by pinning?

Hey Jack (Henry Rifle never say Hi Jack in an airport!), good to hear from you. Maybe after a few more shakeout runs I may (?) venture to Va Beach some weekend??? Anyway I have not posted a picture in a while but I will try here. You can't really see the pinning bolt in the picture anyway but as suggested by Techinspector1 several year ago I continued what you did all the way through the D-shaft and inserted a high strength bolt. I have some history with loose bolts so the "through bolt" gave me more security over the set screw and I put a locknut on the other side. As far as strength goes the hole weakens the D-shaft, but the D-section above and below the bolt keeps the shaft from turning. It looks like my photobuffer is full so it will take some time to make space for a new picture. You can see that I had to drill through the other side of the U-joint which is an easy step.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

pinshaft1_IMG.jpgHere is a picture. You can see the bolt all the way through the black U-joint which is to be the second one in the overall shaft. My work bench was much cleaner then! This work was posted a long time ago with comments by Tech1 who pronounced it "good" which was enough for me since I too was doing this installation for the first time.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

deleted.. didn't work..

Originally Posted by Don Shillady

Attachment 61062Attachment 61062Here is an attempt at a picture. I got it twice but I don't know how to clear the second picture. Anyway you can see the bolt all the way through the black U-joint which is to be the second one in the overall shaft.

Don, I could view your photo. It's pretty much what I said, although I didn't see any real reason to drill all the way through the double-D.

Originally Posted by Don Shillady

Suggestions for clearing the second picture will be graciously accepted!
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Simply hit "Edit Post" at the bottom of that post, then "Go Advanced" and delete one of the two, then "Save" the changes.