Bob P. - What's Wrong with this Picture?

[ACHiPo]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Sorry - Noise, Harshness & Vibration. The nemesis of many automotive designers/engineers. I've got one of those flat-crank, Voodoo powered Mustangs with an 8250 rpm red line. Apparently Ford spent a ton of money for NHV measures on it since it tends to have a vibration issues due to the crank and firing order. Jeez - they even require that the oil filter be torqued to 16 - 18 lb-ft since they have had some of them come off.

Dan,
No problem and thanks for elaborating. I still prefer "Normal Healthy Volunteer".

[patrickt]

FWIW, this is the bad bushing that I pulled off the driver's side mount. Yes, this is what it looked like when it was on my car; meaning, my removal did not make it worse by tugging on it, ripping it, etc. When you remove the brackets and drop the rack, the bushings are pretty much just sitting there. Now, the passenger side looked to be in very nice condition, but on closer inspection, there was one small crack in it as well. If you have ERA 759 or later, you don't have this type of setup.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by patrickt

If you have ERA 759 or later, you don't have this type of setup.

Yeah - I haven't crawled under there to refresh my memory but seems it's solidly bolted to the frame now.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Yeah - I haven't crawled under there to refresh my memory but seems it's solidly bolted to the frame now.

Changing out the steering rack, even with post-Subaru-frame-mount cars (759 and up) is still going to be a medium PITA if you have to do it. The Flaming River rack, I think, is modified by ERA to change not only the lock-to-lock value but also the inner tie rods as well. I think that's right; I know my FR rack probably took as much labor time to modify, so that it mimicked the Subaru rack, that it doubled the original price. The steering racks on the Kirkham cars are also a bit of a PITA too. It must a be a "Cobra thing."

[strictlypersonl]

Originally Posted by patrickt

... The steering racks on the Kirkham cars are also a bit of a PITA too. It must a be a "Cobra thing."

The challenge is ending up with minimal bumpsteer. The pivot-to-pivot distance of the rack ends must be within about 1/2" of ideal. Because I really like lots of wheel travel, I had to make the control arms pretty long. That puts the inner pivots close to the car's center-line - and that makes the rack shorter than what is available on later cars.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by strictlypersonl

The challenge is ending up with minimal bumpsteer. The pivot-to-pivot distance of the rack ends must be within about 1/2" of ideal. Because I really like lots of wheel travel, I had to make the control arms pretty long. That puts the inner pivots close to the car's center-line - and that makes the rack shorter than what is available on later cars.

... and that sounds like a damn good reason to me. Thanks for the good customer service, like always.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by strictlypersonl

The challenge is ending up with minimal bumpsteer. The pivot-to-pivot distance of the rack ends must be within about 1/2" of ideal. Because I really like lots of wheel travel, I had to make the control arms pretty long. That puts the inner pivots close to the car's center-line - and that makes the rack shorter than what is available on later cars.

You did a great job Bob. I'm always amazed at how well these cars are engineered and drive.

[ACHiPo]

Originally Posted by DanEC

You did a great job Bob. I'm always amazed at how well these cars are engineered and drive.

I was just thinking the same thing!

[vntgspd]

Originally Posted by DanEC

You did a great job Bob. I'm always amazed at how well these cars are engineered and drive.

Yep! As an ERA newbie, I couldn't agree more. This car feels like the vintage car it emulates and is still quite comfortable mixing it up with modern traffic.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by ACHiPo

Dan,
No problem and thanks for elaborating. I still prefer "Normal Healthy Volunteer".

I kind of liked Nurse Home Visitor. It's probably not too many years off in my future.

[ACHiPo]

Originally Posted by DanEC

I kind of liked Nurse Home Visitor. It's probably not too many years off in my future.

Didn't find a Nurse Ratchet emoticon, else I'd a used it!