Theoretical steering question.

[Willie]

Go for it Paul, the van chassis has got to be better than the Austin 7s.
The bodywas made from electrical conduit with ally sheets pop rivetted to it and the nose cone was that new fangled fibre glass sheeting over shaped chicken wire!

[alex_holden]

That racer's registration plate bears my initials

[Willie]

Now that's what you call a coincidence.

[Matt]

the RHD spridget rack is a LHD minor rack and vice versa. The difference is track is accomodated with different track rod ends. And if I were planning what you are paul I would use a spridget column! Interestingly the columns on spridgets are at a slight angle, ie. the front of the column is nearer the middle of the car than the wheel. I think this is so the column clears the dizzy! Side exit dizzy caps are definitely required due to lack of clearance...

[RogerRust]

This is pic of the first car i made, an Austin 7 special.

Hi Willie this was the first car you made? Were there others? I'd love to see some more pictures from the box brownie.

Don't tell the wife but I feel a project coming on when Sophie is finished.
The man who blasted my wheels has a van chassis stood in his work shop its been repaired and hot dip galvanised. He has had it 6 months and the owner hasn't collected it. I'll give it a few more months and then ask him the question - Deal or No Deal?

[Willie]

Brilliant, how did you know I had a box brownie? The subsequent cars
were more rebuilds rather than original creations ( Midgets and MGBs).
That chassis sounds ideal I doubt that you will be able to resist the urge
for long. I have a tent if you wish to camp outside his premises.

[twincamman]

Thinking about it in my current state (drinking Strongbow to get me to sleep, ready for a night shift tonight!), I reckon if you going to mount the rack in front, you'll need a LHD rack, mounted upside down. I'm assuming that the steering arms are forged steel, if so the ackerman angle can be "adjusted" by heating and bending the arms?. Only prob I can see is that the arms are tapered on the end that goes into the kingpins. This could be overcome by machining the end parallel and boring the kinpins out accordingly. You'd then need a sleeve to fill the gap, possibly with keyways to stop things moving about. The other option would be to bore out the kinpins, add a keyway and make your own steering arms (out of thick-wall tubing) to mount the rack low enough to avoid problems hooking the column up (unless you want a shaft running alongside the rocker cover!).

Cool Austin 7 special by the way!!

[rayofleamington]

I reckon if you going to mount the rack in front, you'll need a LHD rack, mounted upside down. I'm assuming that the steering arms are forged steel, if so the ackerman angle can be "adjusted" by heating and bending the arms?.

Not sure if you saw Matt's post but the Midget RHD is exactly that - it's the equivalent of a minor LHD rack as it is mounted in front of the suspension uprights.
The Ackerman angle would need to be sorted to avoid dreadfull cornering.