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Going straight / 240 steering "wander"

Gents. The IPD sport springs are the best single improvement I have made to the car so far. The ride and handling are much improved. Firmer in good way. I would now use the term ?sporty? in the same sentence as ?My 245?? Tires, shocks, sway bars, chassis braces; all were improvements (not sure about the braces), but the springs ?yeah baby! I didn?t even have to leave the neighborhood. The car feels planted, ?connected,? brake dive is much reduced, cornering confidence is huge. The car is ?fun? to drive. I?ve never felt the urge to push the car, until now. This would now be the first thing on my list of 240 updates. I am a happy man.
 
Degreased rack. She's a ZF. IPD tomorrow for fresh boots and rod ends. Plan to loop it for now. Maybe add power later. Will be nice to have the faster ratio.

Then over to the race car alignment dude.

Hoping that's it. $250 springs, $50 rack / column, $100 (?) alignment. Not too bad if it works.
 
I had a bit of a weird wander/turning issue. Turns out those pesky ball joints take 3 nuts/bolts, not 2. Silly me. I forgot to put a nut on the far side bolt so it was flopping around a bit.
 
I had a bit of a weird wander/turning issue. Turns out those pesky ball joints take 3 nuts/bolts, not 2. Silly me. I forgot to put a nut on the far side bolt so it was flopping around a bit.

When I was a kid I brought home a Fiesta. The car had a wicked left / right swing dependent on throttle position. Found a lower ball joint bolt barely hand tight. Yikes!
 
Nice rack.

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Yep. Great advice / Thx. 43 3/4" (on the car) if memory serves. Like most things, the second bellows was easier than the first. Inner rod ends felt solid. Cycled ATF through it 'til it ran clear. Can't wait.

Does your 1800 have recirc ball or a rack?
 
My old '76 Celica had a manual box. Worked well. Compact. Slight dead zone on center. When I read about adjusting the play in the box, I did it with the steering wheel centered. As soon as I turned the wheel, the steering got really tight. Back it off a smidge or two... Good times.

You would have liked that car. First time I cut springs. :cool:
 
:uh:

LKQ or PnP?

You did show a picture of an 86 in PnP south your other thread?


Also;

You gonna pay your 'friend' way too much for another alignment, [again] or take it to the line up shop?

:-P
 
:uh:

LKQ or PnP?

You did show a picture of an 86 in PnP south your other thread?


Also;

You gonna pay your 'friend' way too much for another alignment, [again] or take it to the line up shop?

:-P


PnP I suppose. If it were actually LKQ, it would be POS.

As you can see from my prior alignment spec's, my friend ($50 with discount) did pretty good. Going to try the race car guy this (hopefully last) time.
 
Got the rack PS rack in. Looks nice. New outer rod ends are super snug. My best guess on the toe had the steering wheel off a few degrees.

Packed up the girls had headed all the way to Washington for lunch and antiques (10 miles). The "fast" steering is awesome. So much fun. And, drum roll please, (pending the aforementioned alignment) I will say that replacing the manual rack with the PS unit allows her to track almost as well as a third-generation Camry with bad tires. Heavy rains today and I was at ease in the notorious "wagon wheel" ruts of Portland.


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And I scored this cool vintage suit case for $20. (Figured I could fill it with spare parts...)


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Further, I am happy to report that the fresh coat of Nu Finish is performing as advertised.


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Alright. Appoint for Thursday at 1:00 with ANT to line her up.

tracksideracetires.com

Should be fun.

I'm sure he'll have some suggestions, but I'm thinking:

Camber / -1.0*
Caster / hopefully +2.0*
Toe / -1/8"

Seem reasonable?
 
Well. I'm going to call this a successful combined effort. Ran over to Trackside yesterday for a line up and am happy with the results of our efforts. The car is much improved.

Caster ended up at 2.3*, Camber -.4* (max) and Toe at .13*. Had to laugh as our "tape measure" toe setting was actually pretty close at .22*.


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Thanks for your input.
 
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