Lancia Beta Forum

Heavy steering is the only thing I don’t love about my Berlina. It’s a wonderful drive until you slow down or heaven forbid, wish to manoeuvre into a parking space.
Since putting the Berlina on the road tin 2020 it became apparent that using it as a daily runner in London was going to require me to get down the gym or come up with a way for the car to help me out.
What with gyms being closed due to lockdown (result) I decided to see if it was doable to fit some kind of electric power steering. Now from the off I should declare where I sit with modern car electric steering debate. I HATE THEM. But there are not many options are there? Hydraulic power steering on a Berlina. High parts cost and lots and lots of work put me off of this.
So I done some internet reading and made a hasty eBay purchase or two based on the theory of “well if it can’t be done or I don’t like it then it goes in the bin and £100 worth of spares won’t be the most stupid thing I’ve tried”.
So this is where it began. . . .

The electric column is from a 2008 Toyota Prius. My reasoning was that Uber Prius drivers clock up starship Millage and every Uber driver I speak too has never had a problem with the steering. Then they are cheap and plentiful in the breakers yards. Judging by the driving standard of the average Uber driver I get, I think I know why the breakers yards are full of smashed Prius’s (what’s the plural for Prius).

And most importantly, when used with its matching steering control module, its a 3 wire installation! ! !
That sold it to me on what is essentially an experiment to pass some furlough time.
When you connect the control module to permanent live, earth and ignition live, the steering module looks for the main body computer which is of course hundreds of miles away and then after about 5 seconds it simply powers up in “safe mode”. This is a mid ground assistance level.

So the picture is the starting point of stripping a beta upper column and opening up the Prius column to find it is very nicely made with two half shafts in the upper column. Very useful I thought.

Onto the precision job of dummying the column under the dash. Carried out with tie wraps and a cardboard tube. What can go wrong? It confirmed that there is very little space even after cutting a gusset into the pedal box to get it up high enough to retain the original rake of the old unit and also to not get in the way of your feet. It then becomes apparent that due to the extra length of the Prius column due to the bulk of the motor the lower link shaft with the two UJ’s will now go straight through the clutch pedal.

So the clutch pedal gets a swan neck and onto cutting the mounting brackets off of a spare column to weld onto the new unit.

Brackets transferred over so time to bolt it up under the dash and move onto the lower steering shaft to see if this project is a waste of time or wether it can fit.

Lower steering shaft was a case of using the nicely made Toyota shaft upper plus UJ and welding the beta lower UJ to the nice sliding shaft that came as part of the Toyota piece. This was very useful in my view because the shortened lower shaft was now going to be running at more of an angle than before and I had concerns of the shaft pushing and pulling a little as the UJ rotated. So the sliding spline shaft design (collapsible crash design?) would happily take up any slack.

Then to make the Toyota upper shaft into a Beta fitment. Transferring the steering lock barrel and welding the Beta steering wheel shaft ‘into’ the Toyota shaft. Lady Luck made this easy to weld straight and true. The cut off piece of beta shaft was an interference fit into the cut down Toyota shaft so it welded up without any heat distortion trying to make it a banana. Then a 1mm thick sleeve and a circlip groove (cut with a dremel and finished with needle file) to fit the original bearing meant the power steering assembly was now Beta fit.

Finished upper half shaft. Beta steering lock barrel and upper shaft grafted to Prius upper half shaft and bearing.

New power column ready to fit. Almost looks normal.

Then to the simple job of 3 wires and a module. With the original factory brackets trimmed off, the compact box found a new home in the corner of the dashboard.

Wiring done, column bolted in, just put the clocks back and time for a test drive  ;D

Impressive work and creativity. I am looking forward to hearing how the test drive goes!

Eric

Hi

Yep, very impressed with the end fit, I also hope the end result is a good one. This is going to be an ongoing need I think. I was surprised you managed to fit that large motor which sticks out of column hidden away so well!

Is there any adjustment to sensitivity on this system?

Peter

Hi Ian

This is edge-of-the-seat stuff and we certainly need to keep you in furlow to see it through! Terrific work and hugely interesting.

Chris

My daughter's Yaris has Toyota electric power steering and I hated it compared to the hydraulic power steering on a previous Yaris my wife had. I felt there was a lack of connection between steering inputs and response.  I'm inured to it now so you do get used to it. That said, your installation is a masterful piece of work so I'll be interested to see how it turns out. As a solution to heavy steering for town driving it seems an elegant solution.

Good morning chaps,
Thanks for your interest and kind words. I hope this helps some of you decide if it’s worth the effort and I’m always happy to share what I’ve learnt.

Well it’s had its shakedown and in short, it’s staying.
It’s not without fault but then it never could be. For me it was always going to be an experiment to see if it could be done and if the positives outweigh the negatives.
I’ll try to give my first impressions before I forget them as I think it’s always important to be able to refer back to them at a later date as more thoughts and feelings come to light. And I’m happy to share this project for a long as I don’t bore everyone to death.

This morning was a nice bright chilly start and the roads are a mix of dryish but slippery winter roads which is a nervous way to start a test which will inevitably end up with me pushing my luck. First up, reversing out of the garage and 3 point turn to get out of the cul-du-sac which is a bit busy with strewn Alfa’s and a VX coupe (guilty m’lud). The Berlina passed the obstacle course with consumate ease winding from lock to lock and enabling me to control the steering with an air of grandeur in front of the neighbours instead of the usual red face, tugging at the wheel and lifting my backside off of the seat. First notable negative as you pull away is very little or no self centering of the wheel. So that’s the first question ‘‘can that be improved?’
Then along the wiggly drive to the main road and I’m liking my new found steering muscles. It’s a big positive. The strange thing to note immediately is that this doesn’t feel modern and I think this may be due to the fact that it is still running a Berlina 3.8 turns lock to lock rack. Second question ‘time for a coupe rack and possibly a smaller wooden Nardi steering wheel to quicken it up?’
Then off onto the main road and trundling along at 30mph and the car just feels 90% the same. The steering inputs are the same and the gentle change in direction is the same, it just feels like someone has maybe put an updated steering damper on the rack. Not in a heavy way because you now have assistance but its a kind of plush feel. Positive not negative.

Then out onto the A21 and we’re up to 40-50mph and I wind my senses up incase something unusual happens and I need to react sharpish. I’ve put a switch on the dashboard so that I can power the unit down immediately if things get a bit lively. But there’s not much to add. To answer Peters question ‘this has no variable assistance provision’ so I’m worried the faster I go the less suitable the modification will be. But no, it’s working fine and still steers  90% the car it was. This must be to do with the torque sensors in the shaft not being pulled on by the driver. Little input request equals little assistance given. I guess???

So the bravado is rising and the dual carriageway is up ahead with national speed limits to explore.
Road opens up and it’s time to let the tweaked 2.0 trot on. The dual carriageway is uphill, gently sweeping into a downhill with a large roundabout to finish. 90 plus and still it’s not scaring me. No lightness, no nervousness, nothing in fact it feels near standard. So the damp roundabout is going to get full tilt midway round and back towards home. Winding the speed up on the big empty roundabout and with the door handles almost scraping the tarmac she gently starts to slide. Just like a standard Beta you steer, you change throttle and it does what a Beta does. But there is no feedback forced from the tarmac to the steering wheel. More questions in my head. ‘Would a dry surface change this?, would a faster ratio rack change this? Is the Berlina on its standard high rise suspension and fluffy 65 profile toyo tires ever going to give much feedback? And would a lowered stiffened coupe be better?’

The final test on the way home was planting it in 2nd gear coming off a roundabout and letting the wheels spin up in turn. Easy to control, really easy, the power steering just lets you decide which direction to choose. No torque steer. Yes a bit PlayStation but it’s good to look relaxed in a 40 year old Berlina.

Hope your all still awake

Ian

Really impressive Ian. This mod will become a go-to for many folk.

I wonder if the Coupe/HPE version has less vertical space ,and whether the pedal box etc
is in the same spot relative to the column? Questions for another day perhaps.

Compliments to you!

Nigel

Fantastic work- in awe.

Hi Ian  A new role in motoring writing beckons!

More significantly this is a modification with a ready market for you to earn some much needed money. Especially if you can get it to neatly fit S2FL Coupes and Spiders which probably make up the bulk of cars left on the road wanting PS. It would be great to see the effect of using a smaller steering wheel and then a Coupe rack with the large factory wheel and the far nicer Italian aftermarket smaller items. Of course playing with wider tires will also give a feel for what works well. Have you kept standard Camber and Caster?  NB adding caster could fix your self centering question mark and potentially improve turn in.

Modern cars have a lot of caster compared to our cars and rally cars have a huge amount.

I installed OE Hydraulic PS to my Beta Spider build knowing I would add 1.5 degrees Negative Camber, wider tires (195) and a Momo Competition smaller steering wheel. This was based on my experience from doing this on my previous Beta Spider and getting nicely weighted steering over the speed range.

In fact my old car in light blue with Thema wheels and PS added by me is on the 2021 Forum banner to the right of the date!

Keep up the good work and think about offering this to other owners. I believe you have a ready market.

Eric       

I feel I should apologise for the graphic equaliser hanging from the steering motor on a tie wrap but it and the original drivers side under dash speaker were made homeless in the making of this project. So a sound system rethink is next.
As a test run it was a short 20 miles or so and didn’t include the kind of lovely B roads which most of you more northerly chaps enjoy but lockdown rules suggest I shouldn’t be out for steering checks.

Nigel, I think the pedal box/adjustable steering column layout looks incredibly similar between the berlina and coupe/spider/HPE version. I’d bet the same.  I did notice the spare column I cut about (a coupe/HPE version) was about 20mm longer. I chose to follow the dimensions of the coupe column as I feel the steering wheel is way to far forward for me to the point of banging your fingers on the windscreen every time you thank an oncoming courteous  driver for letting you through. This meant modifying some coupe column plastics to suit.
So I think mounting the motor assembly should be much the same and the module can easily have wires extended to wherever space permits.

Eric, thanks for you compliments.
Yes the car is on completely rebuilt but standard suspension. Only notable change being poly wishbone bushes.
I’m in complete agreement with the camber caster principal. Especially the caster as this is the big self-centering govenor. As front wheel drive cars naturally pull themselves straight under acceleration they run less castor, by contrast RWD cars do not. So they run big castor. And the modern fwd cars run more because they can with the PS and the advantages it brings. The Beta has very little and with the power steering available it surely is a useful avenue to explore. I probably won’t try this on the saloon as I want to keep it looking as original as I can. Special top mounts and custom wishbones really aren’t for this car. That’s what my VX is for.
But a coupe/HPE rack and smaller steering wheel are very likely although I somehow do not have a manual rack laying around. Will have to source one if anyone has one laying around.

Once I get out and about I will see how it drives on motorways and on twisty B roads.

Update to follow.

Ian

What you say about the change in feel is a good description of how I experienced the difference between hydraulic and electric in the Yaris. It'll be interesting to see what a difference further modifications to the suspension etc makes to the project. I'll not be spending any time trying to copy your findings on my daughter's Yaris but if that has to be scrapped in the future I might just be saving the steering column for my Spider.

Hi Ian
I do have a spare manual rack lying around. If you msg me with your address, I’ll send it down to you to play with.
Chris

Thanks for your offer Chris,
Let me have a dig around in the loft first. I must have one after the amount of cars I’ve stripped.
But if I fail to find one I’ll take it thanks.

All the best
Ian

Great piece Ian. I'm not sure it would fit a pre f/l car but as Eric says it could well do in the F/L versions.

On caster, Hillman Imps were very light at the front (obviously) and ran 8-11 deg castor to improve feel and centering.

I’ve never owned a pre f/l, so I’m not familiar with the shape of the under dashboard layout.
I think the main snag point is the line behind the steering column pivot point. If that pivot point is roughly inline with the edge of the lower lip of the dashboard then I expect it will be doable.
That point is where the motor and gear housing bulk needs to go.

When I get time I’ll have a look under the dash of the VX to see if post f/l cars look doable just in case someone feels the urge to give it a try.

Ian

Peter, I’ve done a little nosing around and further down the line I will try a few experiments to see if adjustability is a possibility. I can’t find any information to suggest anyone has done it but I have a few suspicions that it maybe possible.
There is an input on pin 5 of the Prius steering module that is for speed input. I intend to play with that at some point in the future. I also suspect a module from a Yaris may work on my Prius adapted column. That has a similar feature and I believe some people have played with a potentiometer type adjustment through an eBay module. Although I’m not into fiddling with knobs whilst I’m driving I think it might be possible to give a speed input to it via a Brantz speedo cable interface. These are used for classic rally computers etc.
So maybe, just maybe there will be future upgrades to this project.

Ian

Hi

That is interesting. I did see on one supplier of new kit that there was an option for speed input and that would make total sense if you already have a controller in place.

What make is the motor on the one you have used?

Peter

I’m not completely sure how to answer that.
The motor is Denso as is the control module but the torque sensor is made by JTEKT.
But as a complete entity I believe they ‘may’ be referred to as Koyo products.
I gather it was a joint collaboration between ‘Koyo Seiko’, Denso and Toyota to develop these steering controls so I’m not sure what you would call them singularly.

These Koyo units appear to be fitted to a good number of different manufacturers.

Fantastic implementation, and a nice usability upgrade. I actually prefer heavier steering for some reason, my old alfasud sprint was enormously heavy - it was undoubtedly a pain sometimes, but also in my memory it's one of the fondest things I recall about the car.

The electric steering project has moved on a little.
As mentioned in the first test drive the lack of self centering out of junctions and roundabouts felt a little odd and out of character. So I decided to carry on exploring in the hope of a more complete package. I decided to explore the Castor angles as previously mentioned but of course there is no built in adjustability. My chosen route was two fold as I was aiming to double the standard beta castor angle. My car measured up at 1.3 degrees n/s and 1.4 degrees o/s. (Factory spec)
With a couple of spare wishbones to hand it was time to experiment.
My plan was to cut and shut the leading edge of the wishbone where the lower ball joint bolts in and then weld up the bolts holes and ball joint hole and re-drill them all 10mm further forwards. Then slot the top suspension turrets 5mm rearward and slide the top mounts back.
To my joy I got 2.4 degrees Castor n/s and 2.5 degrees o/s.
Whilst I was down there I removed the factory positive camber and dialled in 1/2 degree of negative camber.

The third photo with the black and silver wishbone is modified next to a standard one. From under the car you’d do well to spot the 10mm modification.

Road test time.

Hi Ian great to see more pioneering development. This is how our cars can become better in ways purists would struggle to notice. This could be built into new stronger wishbones is your testing confirms the improvements I am expecting to hear.

I have used multi hole top mounts with slides to have the scope to make adjustments like these, but because they are solid I expect a harsher ride and I am considering a firm rubber ring at the interface if I can work out how to get one made!

Looking forward to the road test results.

I wish work was not manic so I could make some progress.

Cheers

Eric

Hi Eric,
Yes I think it’s the way to go to keep the original look and feel when originality is a priority.
Slotting the original top mounts 5mm was easy to disguise with a slightly larger washer.

The first 100 meters with the changes and it’s obvious the castor angle increase does its job. As soon as I start to negotiate the S-bends out of the drive to get to the main road the steering is centring up of its own free will and I’m grinning like a child. It works.  But before I go any further I want to know what it feels like without the steering damper. So a quick pit-stop and damper is relaxing on the bench.
Now we’re off to B&Q for some emergency supplies and a Long way home via the A20/M25/A21 to get a full understanding of this project.
I find it difficult to quantify all of the feelings and observations but the words that keep coming to mind are that this is how it should be. Yes the steering is light’ish all of the time with minimal feedback, but then the original steering with its saloon spec 3.8 turns lock to lock was like that until the speed dropped below 15mph. And yes it feels a little different on the move, but that’s not a criticism.
Every car feels different right? I believe every beta feels different because they were all made like that for one reason or another, and they are all maintained differently with different wheels and tyres. Even a small change to front suspension toe makes a beta drive differently. Or tyre pressures.
So now I’ve made it feel different again. And I’ve decided I like it and wouldn’t go back. It’s now easy to drive in town and it’s as stable on the motorway as it was before. The faster you go the easier it seems to be to hold a line. Castor.
When you pull out of a side road the steering straightens up in a way that lets you slip the steering wheel through your hand but tighten your grip just a little and it stops spinning. When your navigating a large roundabout it’s just the same. It straightens up but is easy to stop and turn to the other lock and take your turn.

In essence the e-steering project is all but finished. The cherry on top will be a 3.5 turns coupe/spider rack which is pencilled in for this year when I drop the drivetrain assembly for a gearbox overhaul. The faster rack will undoubtedly be slightly heavier and slightly quicker. Perfect I expect.

Today, Sunday, was my seventh straight day at work and I needed a smile. So I took the Berlina to work on the cold salt covered roads and grinned for 45 mins each way whilst listening to ‘80s greatest hits’ with one arm on the door panel. It’s an easy car to drive now.

Inspiring and an opportunity for others to benefit. Few old car designs are so good that you can bring them bang up to date with relatively minor changes. If it was a Ford Escort you would be throwing most of the OE suspension away.

I am looking forward to hearing how the 3.5 turn rack works and if no damper is an issue longer term with sharp bumps and pot holes kicking the wheel? FYI the Monte and X19 do not have a steering damper.

Eric   

Hi

Can I ask a simple question on the subject of castor.

I understand from reading that the larger the castor angle the more self centering, however does this also mean heavier steering, hence the current manual steering setup is a compromise on the two?

Peter

Following all this with great interest. So basically it's a question of moving the ball joint mounting inwards by 10 mm? As for the suspension top mount, would something like this obviate the need to slot the top suspension turrets?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FITS-Lancia-Beta-ADJUSTABLE-TOP-MOUNT-1-pair-CMB4455-135mm-PCD/281762386123? (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FITS-Lancia-Beta-ADJUSTABLE-TOP-MOUNT-1-pair-CMB4455-135mm-PCD/281762386123?)

Hi Graham

From what I understand it is moving the ball joint forwards by 10mm and the upper mount backwards to achieve an increase in the castor angle which is the angle viewed from the side of the effective upper and lower mount points of the hub and the vertical. See

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_angle

The larger the angle the more centering you get is how I read it.

Peter

Morning Eric,
I can already answer the question of torque and bump steer as I’ve deliberately asked for trouble during the drive to work on Sunday morning. It wasn’t exactly difficult to find a few pot holes!
Both aspects seem to be dampened/controlled by the e-column. You can tell the wheels are fighting with the road surface but it’s no drama in the driving seat.

I did notice during the work grafting the Beta and Prius columns into one, that there seemed to be some sort of steering damper effect within the gear/motor assembly. This primed me in advance to test both with and without the Beta damper fitted.
Also I did have to open up the gear housing as it was necessary to spin it 180 degrees to improve clearance under the dashboard due to the shape of the alloy casting. I couldn’t see anything inside that seemed designed to give what feels like a fluid damped movement. So I assume it’s simply the resistance of a large cog working against the worm drive of the motor.
Maybe it’s this built in design that controls the torque/bump steer or maybe it’s in the steering ecu. I really couldn’t suss it out.
But the outcome is that it drives better without the damper attached. The biggest improvement is in the straight ahead to near straight area. The damper limits the self centering a little as the castor effect works less when the wheels are near straight and conversely self centering is much greater on lock with extra castor.
So this e-column conversion makes the damper unnecessary.
I’m looking forward to the 3.5 rack but that won’t be for some months yet.

Hi Peter,
In a word Yes.
If you increase the castor you will get heavier steering. Without power assistance you’re going to notice it. One nice performance bonus of more castor means you get increased negative camber on lock. Very handy for cornering and also you don’t have to run as much static camber. Again good because having the tyres square to the road gives maximum braking efficiency. On the Berlina with its high soft standard suspension, I expect the factory positive camber is to give a flat contact patch when the car dives under braking giving a square contact patch. This is because the wishbones push the wheel out under braking to remove the positive camber to something near zero degrees.
My knowledge on suspension design is basic so I don’t know for sure why older fwd cars run less Castor but I would hazard a guess that it’s a combination of reasons. Top of the list is most likely steering weight. 

Hi Graham,
Yes those top mounts are designed to allow you to increase castor and or camber. I didn’t want to go down that path because a) it won’t look remotely original on the Berlina and b) the ride quality, noise and vibration is again something I didn’t want on the Berlina.
However horses for courses, I have got top mounts similar to these on the VX coupe. (Some group 2 escort mounts that I modified)

Also the ball joint position question is as Peter said. The ball joint moves to the front of the car.

Should I post a picture of the slotted top turret on the Berlina?

Hi Graham

I am using that sort of multi - point adjustable top mount with a central bearing, but I went for the version that has a slide in the center so it can be fine adjusted when it comes to set up with 4 wheel alignment kit. I am nervous about whether I also need to put a hard rubber damper ring between the mount and the body shell to damp harshness. However with the excellent damping in the Gaz Gold coil overs I am using it might not be needed.

Eric
   

Thanks for the update, you sparked a subject which I have thought needed to be aired and resolved. The top mounts which are currently available from memory have not had a good reputation for reliability. It would be interesting to explore actually having a batch of top mounts made especially if they can be made at sensible price by modifying an existing mount.

Are there any suggestions where to start on this?

Peter

Hi Ian/Peter,

Thanks for the correction. I think I'm starting to get my head around it now. If this were motorcycle steering geometry it would hold no terrors for me, but the addition of a pair of wheels confuses me greatly...  ;D

Ian will probably be able to confirm or deny this, but what you are doing by increasing castor angle on the front wheels of a car is equivalent to increasing the rake on motorcycle forks; i.e turning your sports bike (steep steering head angle) into a chopper (shallow steering head angle). This gives slower, heavier steering but with a predilection for stability and going in a straight line.

Graham

Hi Graham

As a Mountain biker and holder of a motor cycle License unfortunately the comparison does not work well because bikes steer mainly by response to leaning except for slow speed parking. Cars use turning wheels around an axle point. Caster introduces twist for pressure on the contact patch and changes the wheel angles through turning to introduce negative camber which works against roll to maintain the contact patch. There is a complex relationship between toe in/out / camber and caster before we get to Ackerman angles. There are conditions we want to avoid like bump steer, sudden changes in camber through suspension travel or bush movement or wheel turning. We want the steering to bite into a turn (toe in/out setting & miss matched front/rear track ) with a flat tyre contact patch if possible and maintain strong grip and lead the car through a turn despite body roll.

You need to do some reading because this is a complex inter linked subject. Chad from The Monte Hospital commissioned an analysis of the Monte design from an Aston Martin Suspension engineer before building some excellent modifications to dial out the mistakes

Lancia were pioneers in balanced responsive handling including miss matched front to rear track and wishbones mounts that change load through the wheel travel, but had to build to a budget and ensure comfort. No Power Steering meant compromising the front suspension design. Front wishbone location was/is terrible under load and the cars squat under power (lack of anti squat geometry and little rear spring pre-load). If you want to see some of the design fit a strut with no spring and move the wheel through different positions with a trolley jack changing the strut compression.

Years ago I built in rear spring pre-load with short strut rods, had Barry Waterhouse nylon wishbone bush supports and added 1.5% negative camber after converting to Power Steering. Caster gives a bigger win than just negative camber because it maintains the tyre contact patch better. I deliberately built my car with twin adjustable rear links, fully adjustable coil overs, stronger wishbones with fully supported bushes and multi position front top mounts. This was so I could adjust toe camber and caster. I have gone for an educated guess on spring rates and the platforms on the struts allow adjustment of rake (some nose down attack maybe) and corner weighting. Because of the sliding rear anti roll bar you can even fix 'set back' on a Beta. That is when one side of the car is shorter wheel center to wheel center which creates a desire for the car to steer toward the shorter side.   

Ian knows what he is doing with the adjustments he is trying and it is valuable insight. I will only be able to test again when the car runs!

Eric     

Hi Eric.

OK - I was grossly over-simplifying things I now realise. Time to take a crash course on 4 wheel vehicle steering geometry and suspension dynamics, I think...

Graham

I think the Electric power steering experiment is now at the end of its development for my Berlina.
Thanks to Chris who donated a 3.5 turns coupe steering rack to the project, so I now have the final piece of the jigsaw in place.
After a quick strip, clean inspect, grease and re-assemble with new boots it now takes it’s place in the engine bay with a few shiny heat shields, powerflex anti-roll bar bushes and some sound proofing for good measure.
The end result. It now steers quicker just like a coupe albeit without any real effort. You do still have to swing your arms about abit as it’s still 3.5 turns and not 2.5 turns like a modern car, but I’m very happy with the result.
It’s as good as I could of hoped for and ultimately I think it was worth the time spent experimenting.

I’m only sorry I didn’t get the car together in time to get down to Mark’s betaboyz open day. Next year I will definitely be there, and if anyone wants to give the old girl a drive then the keys will be available to any beta owner interested.

Nothing to see here, the interesting stuff is under the dashboard  :D

Hi Ian

Brilliant as always. I am intrigued by the heat shields. Are they attached to the steering arms? I have some modern crinkle surface heat shielding saved for rolling up over the subframe and rack then kicking out below the fuse box. But this will be fixed in place and will involve fun with the gear linkage. I can see me wasting plenty of cardboard designing it!

Eric   

hi Eric
Yes the heat shields are attached to the steering arms. I tack welded a couple of M8 nuts on top of the arms to allow the heat shields to be bolted on. The shields are 2mm ally sheet and yes it did take me several cardboard attempts. Even then when function tested with engine back in they managed to touch the gear linkage when the car was jacked up with the suspension on full droop and full lock. Luckily its quite easy to remove the bolts/shields and make final adjustments.
The exhaust downpipe and flexi are also wrapped.

On my VX I made a similar pair of shields with wings cut into them to allow fixing via jubilee hose clips. But this isnt as good because its a knuckle grazing affair and the jubilee clips are very close to the 4 branch. Next time the VX engine comes out I shall tack weld the nuts on the arms.

Neat solution for the steering boot protection. Food for thought for future mods.

Peter

Hi Ian

Where you have the 2 black studs holding the sound proofing I have 2 x 6mm rivet nuts now that I intend to hold my up and over heat shield. We will see if it becomes a change of plan as many things have. It is nice to have bright ideas I can switch to.

Eric   

Hi Eric
Yes I did consider exactly the same route with rivnuts and a fixed heat shield. I changed my mind because as you know there is very little space between the rack and the exhaust. Maybe your custom made 4-1 will free up a centimetre or two. But as you can see on a standard setup there’s really not much space to play with and I didn’t fancy my chances getting a fixed shield to clear both the rack and the engine whilst they move around.
 I am intending to put another shield fixed to the bulkhead just next to the gear linkage but I’ve left it out for the moment because there’s a conveniently placed grommet that I’ve run my afr gauge wiring through. Once the carb is setup I will remove the afr wiring and put the shield in to finish the heat protection.

As my dad always said to me “there’s more than one way to skin a cat”.