Hi, its been a while.  After a couple of disastrous years  I am back working on my 55 Tbird.  The car was originally going to my wife, but I lost her to cancer so I am going to finish it and give it to my daughter in her mom's honor.  I need to make it as drivable as possible for her.  I am going to retain the Y block but go with a more modern tranny and was thinking about adding rack and pinion steering.  I know Unisteer makes a system but was wondering if anyone has done this conversion.  I have the Lincoln Versaille spindles to add disk breaks up front. 

Sad to hear about your wife, but good to see you back here. Are you going to C4 or AOD with transmission? That Unisteer kit looks complete but I have no more info about it or how it performs. 1500 dollars though...



 Seppo from Järvenpää, Finland
www.hollowheads.net (just click the hole in the head to proceed)

The Unisteer system is complete, though the instructions can be a little vague at times.  I'm assuming you've downloaded the instructions by now, if not it's a good idea.  Reading the instructions, you'll notice they are doing the install on a 56.  The 55 has a different steering column so the wheel rim is located in the same place with the flat wheel as opposed to the dished wheel of the 56.  I called and they said there was enough leeway in the linkage to handle the extra distance, about 5/8 in. as I recall.  I ended up cutting my column 3 times to get it where I was happy, first at there recommended length, then where I thought was a correct length and finally about another 1/16 off.  The different column might account for the problems I had with the horn connection, but I found that moving the connection to the wider part of the column worked better for me.  

The pump mounting is another place where I differed from the kit.  I already had my AC and alt on one belt and didn't want to add the steering pump to that belt.  I was changing to a C4 at the same time, so while I was at the shop for the driveline, I had them cut a piece of tubing to space the pump out from the bracket so the pump would line up with the forward unused pulley.  I also took the hoses apart and shortened them for a better fit.  The fittings weren't really tight to start with so they might have expected people to do this. 

The rack itself lined up and bolted in easily, though the brackets were a little close together for my taste.  About a 1/4 in gap that closed up as I tightened it.  The included hose clamp to attach the steering column to the support was slightly large and would come off, a wrap of rubber under the clamp cured that.  The tie rod ends use nyloc nuts rather than traditional castle nuts and cotter pins.  Adjusting the toe in is easy enough.

I've had the unit on for a couple of years now with no problems.  The only minor bother is the steering is so much quicker with fewer turns lock to lock so I don't have to turn the wheel enough to activate the self canceling mechanism so I end up driving down the road oblivious the the signal being on.  Would I do it again, probably.  The price and retention of the horn were key for me.  

Hope this helps,
Don

FWIW, I did a Cavalier rack on my 55 bird about 10 years ago. Spent a lot of time getting the bump steer out of it. The quick ratio is nice, but all in all, I don't think I'd do it again. Not enough improvement over a rebuilt, late model box. I think the Late 56 and 57's were 3 sector instead of 2?

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

I am looking at an AOD on the tranny.  I realize I have to cut the frame slightly to put that in the car.

Richard Millers write up in "Articles" at the top of the page may be of interest, if you have not already spotted it
stuey

The Versailles spindles should be looked at with the stock '55 Bird spindles next to them.  The tie rod end on the steering arm of the Versailles spindle should be very close in location to the stock tie rod end location when considered in relation to the Ball joint axis and the elevation above the lower ball joint.  If the Versailles arm is longer than the stock arm steering will be slowed down, a shorter arm will speed steering up. A big change in tie rod end height will result in Bump steer as will a change in length of the tie rod itself.  To a first approximation the tie rod length should be the same as the active length of the lower suspension arm including the ball joint. Good tire pressure and attention to the centerline of the tire tread in relation to the ball joint axis at the contact patch should also be considered. 

The steering linkage geometry is pretty good in the T Bird and pass car.  Making two changes: the Versailles spindles and a R&P setup with different tie rod geometry, should be considered carefully in light of the fact that a stock power steering setup is also available to achieve the same thing. Just because you can bolt it together doesn't mean it will be OK.

Doug T

The Highlands, Louisville, Ky.

Hi, all:

I'm looking at changing my '56 Fairlane to power steering and have some of the same concerns.  I've looked at the Unisteer rack and pinion setup and like it, but it is certainly expensive.  I've also looked at the Borgeson setup and while it is cheaper, I'd really like to keep the original steering wheel.  So, after comparing the two kits, I'm wondering - can I buy the steering shaft and the horn connector only from the Unisteer kit and use it with the Borgeson kit? If it would work, I could have the best of both.  Any one checked this out?

Larry

You can keep your original steering wheel with the Borgeson unit.  You just have to modify the bottom end of the shaft to mate with the Borgeson box.  You can also make your own horn mechanism. I did all this with a Toyota unit on a '56 pickup and am in the middle of it with the Borgeson unit in my '55 Club sedan. If you have a manual transmission you need to do something about the clutch.  I went with a hydraulic unit.


Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

A friend of mine put the Unisteer set up on a 62 Galaxy and he really likes it.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ