Building A Cosworth Powered Kit Car

Steering

When I collected the 3 parts of the Kit, I had to take the steering column with me so Quantum could extend the Steering column while I wait. The Steering column is one of the few items I had to keep from the donor as this can no longer be purchased new.

The first main task was to fit the steering restrictors to the new steering rack. The build manual did not describe how to do this too well so after a bit of fiddling, I eventually realised that the track rods had to be unscrewed from the inner rod of the rack. The track rods are held in place with red thread lock which meant a larger than anticipated effort was required to break the seal and allow the track rods to be removed. Once removed, the restrictor bush is slotted into place and two 3.5mm holes are drilled through the outer casing and into the restrictor bush. Pop rivets are then fitted to these holes to ensure the restrictor cannot move. The track rods are then. refitted with some thread lock on the threads to ensure the rod can not come loose in future when the tracking is adjusted.

The second task was to fit the centre part of the steering column. The shaft to fed through the hole in the bulkhead, the new nylon bush which holds the lower part of the column is fitted then the nylon bush is slotted into the laser cut hole on the chassis. The position of the shaft can only set correctly once the lower part of the steering column and the steering rack is in place. The upper part of the column is then secured in place.

The lower part of the steering column was then loosely fitted to the centre section an the steering rack was then fitted to the front of the chassis. With the rack in place, the rest of the steering column could be setup and secured in place.