LS1 Bagged 52 Chevy 3100 Build

[w70442]

Hi,
Nice work. Looks like we are doing nearly identical builds. I'm putting a 49 5 window on an 88 s10 frame with the drivetrain from a 2000 formula firebird. I too bought a wrecked car and plan to use as much of it as I can.

I'm also currently trying to work out where to place the enigine due to the compressor and alternator issues. With the idea of using everything from the firebird I could, I looked into using the rack and pinion to replace the old steering gear box since it is in the way anyway. Good news, bad news. Bad news is that the firebird rack is too wide. The good news is that I think I can still convert it to a rack and pinion and keep the alternator in the stock location. By replacing the oil pan with the H3 hummer "muscle car" pan, I will be able to move the engine a few more inches forward creating a gap between the rear of the alternator and the frame cradle in order to get a steering shaft from a rack and pinion up through the opening. I'm waiting on the stainless s10 swap headers I ordered so I can see how high the engine will actually need to sit with those installed. That may open up that gap a little more.
There seems to be a lot of mystery/misinformation out there about converting to rack and pinions. Yes, if you don't keep the original geometry of the steering components intact, you will have problems. I think I have found a good solution. Well, borrowed someone elses good solution anyway. I've found that there are a few companies offering rack and pinion conversion kits for older gear box steering cars. One solution is to fabricate a bracket that attaches to both inner tie rods so that when they move, they carry/move the new bracket. The bracekt basically replaces the drag link. The original inner tie rods attach to the bracket transferring the steering through them.
This gives you more responsive steering simply due to the rack and pinion technology itself over the old ball bearing gear box but it also eliminates 4 joints in the old steering system that can cause slop. Two joints at the idler arm and two at the pitman arm. Plus, with the steering box gone, it won't interfere with the radiator installation.
Here's a link to one of the rack and pinion set ups. They are a little pricy. I would think somone with a welder and plasma cutter could easily duplicate this set. Now to find a smaller (narrower) rack .....
http://www.flamingriver.com/index.ph.../s0014/FR331KT