We all know the issues with rack and pinion conversions and steering radius on these cars. Shortening the steering arm on the spindle is one of the only ways to make this work. It is usally frowned upon to heat/cut/weld on the stock spindle. I was talking to a guy today that builds a lot of old street rods and stuff, and he suggested this for shortening the arm:

Cut off the excess length. Then heat the spindle arm untill it glows red. Use a hammer and anvil to flatten the area to redrill for tie rod attachment. Let cool on its own. Then heat it again and let it cool on its own. Drill your hole for tie rod attachment. Heat again but this time slowly quench it with oil until it cools. He claims this will be as strong if not stronger than it was stock because now it is tempered. He said he's done it many times before. Given the quality of craftsmanship and attention to detail on the '36 Ford he drives, he seems to know what he is talking about.

What are everyone's thoughts on this?

 

It's your life. Would you trust it?

Why do you need to shorten the steering arms? If the rack is installed properly everything should line up.

 

Everything lines up fine. The rack doesn't have as much travel (left and right) as the gear box.

I don't know if I would trust it or not...that's why I'm asking. If it is safe and strong to treat cast steel like that then yea, I'll do it. But I don't want to wind up with broken steering at over 100mph (even if it is on a track).

 

from what ive dealt with, heating/welding is not a good idea on anything cast.

 

That's what I thought too. But from what that guy was saying, if you heat it and let it cool on it's own a few times and cool it the last time with oil, it becomes tempered...making it strong.

 

I wouldn't recomend it. Tempering metal for uses like that is an exact science and done with strict controls by the OE guys. Your talking about a process that has too many variables in it and it something breaks here your not only risking big dollars but you butt as well.

 

surely someone out there has to make custom racks...

 

Like mentioned trying to heat treat cast iron with a torch is like doing heart surgery with a sword.

You would be much better of cutting the stock steering arm complety off and machining the back of the spindle flat so you could bolt on a billet steering arm like the ones they use on the coleman spindles (circle track application) that way you would have a ready made selection of steering arms to choose from.

http://www.colemanracing.com/catalog...sort=2a&page=2

Of course if you are going through that much trouble why not just order the whole spindle and convert to a double A-arm setup and trully improve your suspension setup.