Steering Rack Conversion Into R30

[R30gtN/A]

Hey people has anyone on here heard of/or done a steering rack conversion into a R30? Even though I am no where neer having my car running im allready scared of the shocking delayed respose steering box in it! I know its a pretty simple conversion into a R31 as there are alot more parts on them that interchange with R32, R33/S13, S14/A31/C33, C34 etc etc. I will be doing it to my R30 soon and im just trying to see whats out there and SDU NZ has allmost died in the last year, not that the site was ever much help to oldskool guys like us! At this stage im thinking get a non-4WS(non-hicas) A31 Cefiro steering colum, rack and mabey crossmember aswell or at least the rack mounts off it to weld onto the R30's crossmember and then go from there! Anyone got some input?

Cheers Ollie

[nixcars]

Hey people has anyone on here heard of/or done a steering rack conversion into a R30? Even though I am no where neer having my car running im allready scared of the shocking delayed respose steering box in it! I know its a pretty simple conversion into a R31 as there are alot more parts on them that interchange with R32, R33/S13, S14/A31/C33, C34 etc etc. I will be doing it to my R30 soon and im just trying to see whats out there and SDU NZ has allmost died in the last year, not that the site was ever much help to oldskool guys like us! At this stage im thinking get a non-4WS(non-hicas) A31 Cefiro steering colum, rack and mabey crossmember aswell or at least the rack mounts off it to weld onto the R30's crossmember and then go from there! Anyone got some input?

Cheers Ollie

I have a complete x-member with P/S rack & steering column from a 280ZX.

I think you'll find that this is as close as your gonna get to finding something that will work.

Nick.

[stagefumer11]

I have a complete x-member with P/S rack & steering column from a 280ZX.

I think you'll find that this is as close as your gonna get to finding something that will work.

Nick.

You will find it could also be the cross rod.. Looking at mine it's pretty poked. *(getting it rebuilt) Ether way the steering box's on r30's always wear. Best thing to do is adjust the box and see how it is. I improved mine %80+

[wardie]

Stagefumer11

Do you have instructions on how to adjust the steering box? Mine has about 6 inches of play in the wheel. Gets a bit scary on windy days.

Wardie

[Factory 5]

Mine too!

its the main reason why i havent gotten regoed as it doesnt pass RWC

[DR JOSH]

My DR30 runs a cut and shut bluebird steering coloumn (the closets I could find that would still accept the r30 ignition barrell and was the right length), Z31 linkages from coloumn to rack, and a whole s13 crossmember, rack and control arms. S13 coil overs and r33 brakes to match. This increases the track by around 20mm if I remember correctly, I did it all a fair while ago.

Theres a fair bit of mucking around getting the column, and crossmember mounted right but it's all pretty straight forward. And because of the change of crossmember it ment custom engine mounts. Do it if you are really keen but it does require a fair amount of nutting it out.

[R30gtN/A]

Could you take any photos? S13 x-member? did it bolt strait in? as im running RB and A31 is the same x-member as S13 just with RB mounts so that basicly was my original idea and I will be running S13 adjustables soon anyway and I was thinking about S13/A31 lower arms aswell! Ahhhh then and my sump will clear properly with a A31 X-member aswell!

[DR JOSH]

I'll try and get some pics up, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I haven't even seen my car for about 3 months, it's kinda sitting at my mates workshop waiting for some finishing touches which just never seem to come.

Crossmember wasn't direct fit distance between chassis rails was about 5mm out so I elongated holes that way. and the spacing between the 2 holes on each side was about 15-10mm out if I remember correctly, so I used both original holes in the rails and 1 of the original holes on the crossmember. I then had to weld in a 6mm packer on the member and re-drill a new hole to line up with the rail. Of course this would make a whole heap more sense once you see what the crossmember looks like and try and test fit it, it's kinda hard to describe.

Hope that helps at all.

[OUTATIME]

any info on how 2 adjust the pos steering box would b great!

cnt stand the free play

cheers...

Edited November 16, 2007 by OUTATIME

[stagefumer11]

any info on how 2 adjust the pos steering box would b great!

cnt stand the free play

cheers...

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...ost&id=2059

what is circled is the main pinion shaft. Loosen the nut on the top grab a big screw driver and loosen/ or tighten down that shaft. Dont go to far as you will find the steering will bind up. Entertaining that is in a corner. Go a few turns at a time. Tighten the nut while holding the shaft steady. Go for a drive. Keep adjusting till it feels better

[OUTATIME]

ah awesome. will give it a go 2morrow

cheers mate

[ydr030]

thought id try to revive this, dr josh ne info be good.

i came across a cheap 33 x member , and comparing the two it doesnt look like much work is needed to fit. 33 suits me because im running a rb. i i no if u wantd to u could also use s13, a31 and mayb 32..

the rail to rail bolt spacing is more, so s13 or r32 lcas would need to be used as the trak would be rediculous and the steering arms probally wont be long enough. easy.

only major problem would be the steering colum, i thought mayb u could use a complete colum out of a 31?

or re spline the 30 colum and modify the s13 to suit? i have looked at both s13 and r31 and the uni/ angles look fairly similar.

im tryn to think of the pros and cons?

all i can find is pros! raiding off the self goodnes, xtra lock tie rods, roll centre adjusters better tie rod ends, all seem good.

i was thinking suspension geometry be out, but if im running s13 coils and hubs it should all be the same?

im going to have a good crak at it while im waiting on a few bits 4 the engine. ill post some photos of progress as i go.

[Ghostrider]

Sounds like to much trouble for the buck to me, but good luck anyway.

[R34]

I did a similar conversion to this 15 or so years ago.

I bought a R31 jap halfcut with RB20DET and fitted everything to the R30.

From memory I worked out the correct position for the R31 cross member and redrilled/strengthened the chassis rail to suit. That long ago there was no one to ask but it worked out very well and wasn't that hard.

[ydr030]

cheers r34, yea i no wat ur sayin.

ok, so i had a fair crak at it over the weeknd, got some good and not so good results..

found centre, all that was needed was to redrill 1 of the member mounts 35mm back. (i will sleeve this later) when im 100% the members sitting in correct positon.

gives u an idea what im on about

r30 vs 33 member very similar.

after redrilling and elongating, members in, racks bolted up, 2 easy.. or is it ....

problem

still using r30 lcas, cool, but rediculous. so now im chasing correct lcas. r33 seem the go, but are only bout an inch shorter. tryin to compare to s13, and r31 will hopefully do next weekend.

also noted the lca mounts are higher than dr, clearance has dropped bout 20mm. still not 100% 0n using r33 member. am looking into r32 or a31.

motor also sits 40mm to far 4ward. supposevlly a31 will make it sit 20mm further back. still not 100% am chasing a few parts up. may even try a r31 x member.

either way, i can c it working with a bit more thought.

ive got a s13 sterering column, im stingin to try make work, just once ive sorted the x member and position i will have a go at the colum side of things,

seeing the steering box and all the arms on the ground is enough insperation to make this work,

im not an engineer, so ne imput be good,

cheers

[skybt1]

thats a fair effort!

still seems like a lot of work just for a steering rack.

[R34]

I don't recall camber and height issues like that but then I was using R31 crossmember,LCAS and struts

[Ghostrider]

Yeah! I would have thought the R31 crossmember might have been the way to go as the rail widths are very similar. 776mm for R30 & 746mm for R31 which would explain why the lower control arms of the R31 are slightly longer to counteract the narrower rail measurement. The other issue I can see is re drilling the R30 rails to match the mount holes of the R31 crossmember because the holes are not just further apart length ways than the R30, but 15mm each side narrower.

As I said earlier, seems like a sh!t load to much stuffing around when all your trying to eliminate is a little play in the ball joints in the steering linkage.

I seem to remember reading an article once, that if your sole purpose of the vehicle to blast down a 400m drag strip in a straight line, the rack & pinion conversion is fine, but if the car is meant to go around corners, forget it as the geometry will never be as accurate as the original steering box and linkage arrangement.

Anyway, I just got a steering box back from my man and @ $450.00 for a full rebuild, I'm sticking with that. I have just about sorted a steering box brace back to the strut tower & replaced the idler arm bushes with polyurethane, so I think my steering will be about as good as it can get.

Cheers, D

[R34]

Car handled well enough to win it's class in a 3 day classic rally and win numerous hillclimb events outright.

[rb26zed]

Another option you could look at is using your original r30 x-member and welding on rack mounts. You could either just cut each rack mount off your r33 x-member and weld them on or cut the entire middle section from both and swap them. Using a jig ofcourse to keep everything straight.

Try to find a suitable rack that has as close as possible the same length pivot to pivot as the spacing of your inner LCA mounts on your x-member.