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Mk2 Cortina Rack and Pinion Conversion UNDER CONSTRUCTION


Gaz

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ALL INFORMATION BELOW IS PROPERTY OF OLDSCHOOL.CO.NZ, PLEASE RESPECT THIS AND LINK TO THIS PAGE RATHER THAN COPYING OUT OF IT. THANKS.

Note: There are multiple ways of doing this, here is one way to do it to NZ Low Volume Vehicle Certification standards.

Some of the things I have done were also done because I run a 2l Pinto in my Cortina rather than a 1600 or 1500.

Shopping List:

- Capri struts

- Sierra lower arms

- Sierra sway bar

- Sierra steering Column

- Tierod ends (cant member, check!)

- Triumph 2000/2500TC steering linkages

- Escort rack

- Escort crossmember

- Some round bar around 22mm dia and 200mm long is plenty

- Bolt with thread same as tierod ends

- Some steel plate around 5mm+

- Cap screws with low height heads

- Tappered Reamer

Step 1 CROSSMEMBER:

Firstly the escort crossmember is not a bolt in affair. Between the outer edge of the engine mounts it is too wide for the chassis rails of the cortina. I trimmed this off bit by bit untill it fitted. (you will see what needs trimming as soon as you try to fit the crossmember in) I then used some 4mm steel to reinforce the mounts just incase mr certguy had a problem. The bolt holes on the crossmember are in the right place to line up, or may need a slight slotting but no major at all, one is slotted standard from memory.

Step 2 RACK:

Now you have your crossmember bolted in you can bolt the rack up to it in normal position. The rack will be too short to use as is so you need to use your 22mm round solid bar to make some rack extensions up. measure the length of my extensions and dia and update If you have a lathe you should make them in this, if not, a drill press and tap set will do. Basically all you are doing is making something to extend the length of your rack. This will screw onto the thread of the rack and also have a bolt sticking out of it that the tierod ends can thread onto. (Draw cad image once dimensions found)

Step 3 STRUTS:

I have used Capri struts in my setup because the mounting point of the steering arms are better suited.. Reversed Mk2 Cortina ones fouled and binded the lower arms and the steering rack before full lock of the steering. I have used mk2 escort inserts (I had some brand new ones that had already been shortened so was silly not to use) This caused me problems because the dia of them compared to the dia of the capri strut tube is differant. I turned up a sleave to sit in the capri strut housing which meant it was tight. I also have aftermarket roller bearing top mounts and the escort shock dia was too small for the strut top. I turned up some stepped spacers which fixed this.. Both of these problems would most prob be non existant if you just used the Capri shocks and cortina top hats. (that is assuming the shock shaft dia is the same between Cortina dn capri, which, is likely but not gaurenteed). I also grafted 4pot JFZ aftermarket calipers onto my capri struts which is not necessary. Capri calipers would be fine, brake pipe changes would prob be needed from imperial to metric.

Step 4 LOWER/BOTTOM ARMS:

I have used Sierra bottom arms and I think I have them swapped from left to right. They bolted up fine to the escort crossmember and capri strut.

Step 5 TIEROD ENDS:

I have used ??? tie rod ends which thread into the rack extensions one end and into the standard capri sturt the other. Well, almost... I put the tierods in from the top down rather than from the bottom up to clear stuff. This means that the tapper the tierods go into is wrong and the tierod doesn't slot through enough and sits wrong. The cert guy possiably wouldn't notice this, apart from that the nut is not on very much, but none the less it is not right and needs fixing. This is the part that took the longest... finding the right tappered reamer to match the tapper of the tierod end. Lucky for you I know what it is and where to find it :)but, cant member right now so will have to look at it and update later

Step 6 SWAYBAR:

I have used a Sierra sway bar (way larger dia than cortina) which in a Sierra runs behind the crossmember. I have turned it around so that it runs in the normal cortina direction but it will not quite reach the standard mounting points. Because we have Sierra bottom arms it bolts in to the lower arm side fine. At the front end you will need to relocated the sway bar mounting points. This can be done multiple ways but here is what I did. I used 2 small peices (one adaptor each side) around 7mm plate and drilled the original holes out so the plate mounted up to the original position. I then countersunk the holes so that a cap screw with a small head would sink down flush with the surface. Another plate was then welded onto this one with the right amount of distance between the new mounting holes and the old ones. This allows the sway bar to relocate further back, resulting in better positioning of the wheels in the gaurds, and also lower, making a kind of anti dive kit I supose :lol:Anyways my description sucks, Ill draw a cad file which will explain 10x better, prob take some pics too I guess Another thing I had to do was trim the Nolothane bushes down so they fit in the cortina sway bar mounting shackles.

Step 7 STEERING COLUMN:

I have used a Sierra steering column for a few reasons. 1. it has more modern switches and key access than escort or cortina, 2. It has steering lock, 3. It is a spring loaded wheel which will compress on impact, 4. They have plenty of decent sized wires on the back of them 5. They are easy to get and cheap. To mount the column I made two new hangers which are basically just L brackets with rounded off edges so you dont cut your knees on them while driving. The brackets will be differant for every person and where they wish the steering column/wheel to mount but either way they are a simple bracket which I simply bolted to the original steering hanger area. I have also put a spherical bearing in the firewall where the column passes through. This is prob not needed but just added to the smooth feel steering handling that I was aiming for. It is a large bearing from Seaco, will show pics and it comes with its own housing which I have just welded to the original mk2 cortina removable panel where the old column went through.

Step 8 STEERING LINKAGES:

I scoured the wreakers for ages trying to find a linkage with a decent UJ on it. The angle the UJ has to operate at is quite large so I wanted a decent universal joint here. A triumph 2500TC was the donor in the end and the UJ had good radius. The shaft however was too long. This was an easy fix with the grinder and welder, (shh, you cant tell cert guy this... make it tidy and paint it after). It is not cast so welding is no prob.. just make sure you weld it straight, I used a bird mouth technique so the weld was plenty strong. I will check but I think this linkage worked both ends of the linkage and caused no problems once shortened.

Step 9 ACKERMAN STEERING GEOMETRIES:

Im sick of this. Basically the above is fine.. Ill write some more tommorrow.

ALL INFORMATION ABOVE IS PROPERTY OF OLDSCHOOL.CO.NZ, PLEASE RESPECT THIS AND LINK TO THIS PAGE RATHER THAN COPYING OUT OF IT. THANKS.

Gaz

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