Mustang steering gear for FIA?

[289FIA]

Hi Bob,

On page 67 of the FIA manual you make mention of a ERA Mustang steering gear;

"With the ERA Mustang steering gear conversion, the lower steering column must be installed before the steering gear. See page 75"

Perhaps I missed it in the options list but is this valid. What would be the advantages of this over the Subaru gear?

Thanks,
289FIA

[Bob Putnam]

We couldn't get new Subaru assemblies any more (we can still get rebuilds), so we are modifying the Mustang gears to fit. We shorten them for bumpsteer and modify the housing to fit in our original Subaru mounting cages.

The Subaru gear is a bit faster (2.7 vs 3.2 turns lock-to-lock) but the effort is much easier in the Mustang/ERA gear. Even at 3.2 turns, the steering is still pretty quick - our turn circle is small - so most street drivers will be happier with the slower gear.