92CamaroLS1

Ok, the steering in my 92 camaro LS1 is hitting the AC and the Alternator really bad. I have a tubular conversion kmember from Hawks and I thought that it would all work fine. I posted this problem on ls1tech.com and I got one suggestion to move the bolt holes for the idler arm down in order to clear, but I would think that this would mess up my steering. If anyone has had this problem/ has a solution for it let me know.

**Its not just barely hitting it, I cant turn the steering either way with out hitting something...

92CamaroLS1

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92CamaroLS1

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92CamaroLS1

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92CamaroLS1

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92CamaroLS1

sorry for all the pics

StngKlr

Hmmm... I have no a/c, but my alternator dosent hit anywhere. Whose arms and mounts did you use? Also, the tranny is set in its place right? Meaning the crossmember is in and the tranny is resting on it.

Heres a pic. of my alternator.

StngKlr

That 4 gauge wire goes underneath the alt., so thats how much clearance I have.

92CamaroLS1

The whole drivetrain is in and bolted down. The conversion kmember is from hawks third gen parts, the conversion trans crossmember is from fbody motorsports. The mounts are built into the kmember.

92CamaroLS1

TTT....
Anyone know if that steering idea will work...Moving the bolt holes down on the idler arm in order to drop the steering. Will this mess up the steering if not absolutly perfect?

StngKlr

I've seen other people move the idler arm down without having any problems so... All of the stuff you have should be direct bolt-in with no problems. Only thing I see to do is loosen everything up and move it around and see if that helps. Do you have any pics of the car before the motor went in, but the K-member was in? Have you talked to Hawks yet?

Dont worry, its probably something simple, hopefully.

92CamaroLS1

Yea I have a pic here at college and Ill try to get it scanned later today...

I emailed him the pics and and explination a while ago but he hasnt responded, i think it takes a while for them to sort through their email. Im going to give him a call sometime within the next few days to ask him about it. He is sending me a set of a-arms as well so the car wont be moving till then, but I dont want to have everything set up and ready to go and not be able to steer the car.

Ace

iTrader: (2)

92.. i think your car is the first ive seen tryin to use the stock steering with the tubular K-member.. it looks as the engine is sitting about 2" lower then klr's engine is thats why its all over the steering.. hawks just had used them with the rack conversion kit they sell... i wonder if they actually tried it with the stock steering components..

after seeing this im not gonna waste my time with the hawks setup i'll just use the stock k-member with the conversion mounts..

92CamaroLS1

I wouldnt mind goin with the conversion rack and pinion...if anyone has some extra cash they wouldnt mind donating to a college student car fanatic....

Im kinda lost...I dont want to mess with the steering and have it not work and Im screwed in the end. I dont think they would sell the kmember without the rack and pinion mount if it didnt work. I do have the rack and pinon mount in case I wanted to convert it in the future.

Im gunna give Bruce a call tom to see whats going on...hopefully its something simple

92CamaroLS1

Ok,
I talked to bruce today, and were trying to get everything squared away. Im going to try the steering adjustment and if that doesnt work were going to go from there.

This isnt Bruce's/hawks third gen parts fault, the shop that made my kmember might have messed up somehow on mine....he's great to work with and he's workin to get everything right. Thanks for all your help, Ill try and get this to work, and Ill let ya know.

Thanks,
Chris

Ace

iTrader: (2)

that things all over the steering arm tho.. you cant just unbolt the box and move it down anywhere.. its bolted to the rail

i'm glad hawks is helpin ya out tho but it doesnt look good

does the engine look really low in the engine bay at all?

have a look at the camaro they just did and how high it is for comparision

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/in...?idx=11&p=3782

92CamaroLS1

it does look low...but I was thinking that they might have done it to clear up issues with the passenger side coil pack hitting the ac box...Im goin to give it another look tom, and see what I can do, if not, we will see...

german-motorsport

92CamaroLS1 any news on the altenator strg topic?
How much was the k-member and were the rack mounts a option?

FSTFBDY

iTrader: (33)

What year Rack and P. would work for you?

I have a 94 Z parts car. I know how tight a budget can be when in collage. Been there done that.. if this will work for you Drop me a e-mail. Pay for shipping and its yours FREE...

german-motorsport

Cool offer 383 tpi !
i checked the rack prices on hawk 1200$ and thought : i hope the 4the gen rack we got in stock fits......

wm_sorg

I did not have any clearence issues. This problem is directly attributed to the tubular k-member. I am curoius to see of the rack and pinion kit will resolve the issue.

92CamaroLS1

The kmember is 450 and the rack and pinion mount is optional for 40.00, which I bought in case I wanted to convert it later down the line....

TPI383....I dont think a 4thgen rack and pinon can be used without a lot of modification...I think I would need to get the conversion rack and pinion, but Im not sure....If it is possible to use a normal 4th gen rack and pinion, then I will hit ya up on that offer...Extreamly appreciate the offer, I let ya know as soon as I get some info...

Yes its a dirct problem with the kmember...the motor should be a couple inches higher than it is, I am checking it out tonight and see what my options are...I just hope I can resolve the problem with as little money as possible, definatly low on funds.

**Bruce's third gen ls1 is has the same set up with a r&p. When he gets his car back he is going to try and hook up his old pitman and idler arm steering setup to see if he has the same problem...

FSTFBDY

iTrader: (33)

No problem. LMK.. I know the PA Racing and PRO fab ones come with the mounts for 4thGen racks. Thats why i m assuming the LS1 does also.

StngKlr

Bruce is a pretty good guy, so I'm sure he'll get it sorted out for ya. I wonder why it sits 2 inches lower though? Was it a mistake in the fabrication of it, or are you supposed to change the steering out to make it work? And why would the option of adding the Rack and Pinion mounts even be a option? Maybe I'm missing something here.

Let us know how it works out. And hang in there.

92CamaroLS1

Well were not sure yet whether the shop made the kmember just for rack and pinion, which wouldnt make any sense, or if they somehow messed up or what. I have a feeling that maybe because I ordered the rack and pinion that they use a differnt set up because you can eliminate the coil pack hitting the airbox on the passenger side by lowering the motor a couple inches.

I looked at it today and I dont think there will be anyway for me to just lower the steering for everything to work unless there is something im not seeing.

Another question that I have is, arnt you not supposed to mess with the height of the motor?? Isnt there supposed to be some sort of driveline angle or something like that? Im not really sure, just speculating.

StngKlr

I think I'd much rather have my coil packs hitting the air box than having to change out my steering set-up. I'm anxious to see what the "fix" is for this problem.

I cant see that lowering the motor 2 inches will cause that much of a problem with the driveline angle, but then again I'm no expert. Anyone else have any thoughts?

CamaroCain

Lowering the engine would change the driveline angles, but you could always shim the transmission up or down as well as changing pinon angles to make sure everything is correct.

Lowering the engine would drop the center of gravity a little, which would help with handling somewhat.

german-motorsport

TPI 383
I know the PA Racing and PRO fab ones come with the mounts for 4thGen racks. are you sure about that??????????

Cause i have a guy who wants my P/r badly will not sell it if thats for sure!
Does somebody know a company selling "powerless" racks for 4th gen cars?

Chris B

Flaming River makes :Armstrong: non power racks for 4th gens

german-motorsport

thanx chris! but yeayh the topic was the altenator hiting the.........any news on that??

I cant believe that they build a k-member for rack units only.....???
we are moving the altenator to the back to get more space up front and remove the weight to the rear...evenso i think this is more a nice weather or race version of tackling the problem....

if the rack units fit non rack cars and the k-member you have got messed up i wonder how this could happen....
Those parts are welded on a special build "plattform"......???

How about the wrong height of the motormounts? that would make more sense!

maybe you received a pre production run LOL!
hope the whole thing works out good for you......we all hate to buy stuff and end up with ........!

I checked the Ls1 yesterday and i looks like a pain in da ...to remove the right hd side acc with mounts!
This was another reason for us to remove the stock altenator ...looking at the power strg pump makes this topic worse....
The last step would be to move to a vette setup????

Chris B

You could go with a truck setup or might even look into the Holden/GTO accessory setups

Ace

iTrader: (2)

any more word? i ordered a PA racing k-member today so i hope it wont have the same dilema.. if it does im

german-motorsport

Ace are you a LS1 swapper?
How much did you pay and where did you get it?
What Options?

Would also like to know what Hawk came up with on the problem????????

92CamaroLS1

I havent called him to tell him I dont think the steering modification will work...Ive been busy at school...Ill give him a call tom afternoon after work and see whats going on and Ill give an update...

I should have the car running by this weekend and I want to find the quickest and cheapest solution so I can get it moving and out of the garage...whether it be sending the kmember back or buying a conversion r&p or whatever. Either way it will get delt with and Ill let ya guys know how it goes...

Thanks for the feedback
Chris

**your PA racing tubular kmember should be fine...i think this was an isolated mistake by the shop who made the kmember...

Ace

iTrader: (2)

yeah i have a 99 dash, seats, doorpanels, and entire drivetrain goin into my 92 GtA .. probably one of the stupidest ideas every but hey its only all my time and money

PA racing (http://www.paracing.net/) .. was like 389$ with spring perches and LS1 mounts.

it started snowin here early so that put a big stop on the swap..

german-motorsport

Chris x-mas is comming up soon!Hope that helps...hahaha!
I believe that your K-member is a production failure....hope you get a new one or a fast fix of the problem...every finished ls1 swap is a real world data base for others...at least i now know that ill only use a rack which accepts a 4th gen strg unit, no need of dropping big $$$$ on a special rack i cant get no parts for over here......


Ace snow in canada?...LOL!
Put it on a scale when it comes would like to see some real world data!

Well its raining for the last weeks and yaeh its getting ****ty out here too!
Moved all the engines and preped some space so i can move out of our big "shop" into a storage section of the club...!
Still getting parts and stuff together and reading alot in our "bookstore" about LS1 mods and convos!

A nice article in Hot Rod Magazine issue Nov. 1998 (this magazine costs 11$ in a german book store / if you find one) about LS1 tuning....its cool to read the old mags cause they talk alot about the power of a ls1 and limits of it.....

Still i feel robbed when i see the Cpu update prices to run the ls1 in our cars...!

badjuju342

Well , I'm in the same boat . I bought a Hawk's k-member and will be retaining the stock steering ,A/C and alternator from the LS1 .Fortunately , My k-member is still in the box and unused. I called Hawk's about this ,too and Bruce is out of town until monday. I'm sure he'll make it right and I'll be holding back on dropping another 1300.00 with him if he doesn't. It kinda screws up my plan to do my swap over christmas break when my job at the Peterbilt plant is shut down until after new year's day. I had a paid week off and nothing to do but do the swap , DOH!

german-motorsport

badjuju342...does this mean you too have the hitting problem or you are waiting for......... 92CamaroLS1......to come up what hawk said??????????????

92CamaroLS1

He's not there on the weekends so I couldnt get a hold of him last weekend and I was busy this week in school...if hes gettin back monday as JuJu said Ill give him a call then. If you call him he will help you out Badjuju. Like I said before hes got the same set up in his camaro and he is going to take out his rack and pinion and try the pitman and idler arm steering to see if it fits. If it doesnt fit than the kmember was probably purposly made for r&p. If it does fit than it was probably an isolated incident with me. I will give him a call monday to see whats up...

badjuju342

I sure hope so, Bruce is a pretty good guy and I've dropped a LOT of cash with him so far. I'm buying the tubular front A-arms next and getting him to do the conversion of my LS1 harness to be a straight "plug and play". As soon as he gets in the long tube headers in stock , I'll be buying those , too. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about Hawk's and I do realize mistakes happen.

hawksthirdgen

Hey guys just to clear up a few thing I have sold several of these with stock steering with no problems and I have the same set up on my car although I do have the rack set up I have talked with 92camaroLS1 and just so everyone knows if I do have to move the motor mounts up slightly I can make adjustments and I will make it right with the customer We will stand be hind our product 100% so just let me know when guys fit them to your particular car and give me a call.
Thanks,Bruce
www.hawksthirdgenparts.com

92CamaroLS1

He is right, he is helpin out a lot, mistakes happen and its not a matter of not being able to get support from bruce its a matter of just finding out how to fix the problem. If rack and pinion will work than I might do it because I do not feel like pulling the motor again because everything is spliced in and connected, and I dont have the money to rent a hoist and hold the motor up for how ever long it takes to fix the kmember. I called him on monday but he wasnt in so Ill give him a call tomarrow to figure out what we are going to do. Thanx for everyones interest...
Chris

german-motorsport

Is there a final result on the fitment of the hawk k-member?

Cause i found a comp selling 4th gen manual racks ......as hawk is using 4th gen racks (hes the only one!???) would like to hear a good result.....or solution.....?????

92CamaroLS1

The conversion manual rack should work, its just a matter of if I have the money or not to buy it. My other option is to pull the motor and send him back the kmember. Issue is resolved as of now, just I have to decide what I want to do.

badjuju342

Bruce at Hawk's emailed me today and told me to call him. He was VERY concerned about this issue and stated ,for the record, he would do whatever was neccessary to correct this. His main concern was his customers being satisfied and he has no problem with doing just that . I have absolutely nothing negative to say about Hawk's at all and even orderd my subframe connectors in the same conversion. I feel a lot of internet businesses could take a clue from him. He also will make any necessary adjustments to future K-members. All in all , he gets a big from me!

92CamaroLS1

I agree....Badjuju, did you have the same problem, and if you did what did you end up doing?

*edit* I decided on going with the rack and pinon, I just have to call him tomarrow to give him the cc number.

9D1BURD

92camarols1-

Where at are you in itasca, i am in bloomingdale and would love to see how the swap is going. I have a buddy who did they same swap you are doing, maybe he can help you with any issues you are having.

Let me know

Tim

92CamaroLS1

9D1BURD - I live right behind the big white chuch on walnut. I am on maple. If ya need directions let me know I could always use some advice on stuff, or if he just wants to check it out your guys are welcome. Ill be home on the weekends and after Dec. 18 ill be home for a month. Just let me know...

badjuju342

I had an idea here. What if you made spacer plates to put between the engine block and the motor mounts? Raise it up about 1" . Would it clear then?

german-motorsport

Check out S&P LS1 Motormounts....they use ...badjuju342 "idea"...far better design cause it uses the old mount!