LS1 Powered S14 by SicBastard

6 minute(s) of a 390 minute read

I'm trying to get my steering hooked up so I can get the car on the trailer. The universal joint had a notchy feel to it so at $80 I bought a new OEM Nissan universal joint, only to find that it too is notchy . I've had everything apart multiple times. But now I can't get the steering shaft to slide far enough into the universal joint. I've triple checked everything I can think of. This car/chassis has never been raced or crashed.

1. The steering shaft is solidly bolted to the firewall
2. The steering rack bushings are in and look good.
3. The front crossmember is not spaced and bolted in solidly

It looks like I need the shaft/column to come another full inch towards the rack!



The only thing I can think of is that perhaps I inadvertantly collapsed the steering shaft; I had it standing on end while it was out of the car. But I pulled on it as hard as I could (no jokes plz) and it doesn't move. I pulled down that white rubber looking boot and it looks like there are some splines there. Is that where the column collapses? Any other ideas?

Just a side note. I weighed the steering shaft while it was out of the car and it is surprisingly heavy at 24 lbs. I'd love to replace it with an aluminum racing shaft, but that isn't in the budget right now.

Walperstyle it feels slow but consistent. If not for limited funds I feel like I'd be a lot further along, but at least I still have the car! I see so many projects that I really dig end up for sale, it always bums me out. I love the sound of a turbo, but I just don't want to live without the throttle response and instant torque anymore. If the KA-T isn't what you really are in love with ebay is great for un-pot-commiting yourself (I had to look that up in the urban dictionary).

I have put absolute cubic-hours into the rear subframe. I'm stoked on the roll correction, but I have no idea if the rest of the reinforcements were really necessary. Either way, after all the removing of extraneous brackets and grinding, I think that the gussets ended up weight neutral. I had to wrap it up fast though so that I could put the rear wheels back on the car so I can get it on the trailer for the move coming up this month.



If anybody else is considering making the same modifications to the front subframe mounts, I think it's really important to lay a bead along the top of the cup. All the grinding completely removes the weld holding the top of the cup to the subframe.



Talk about an easy way to loose 16 lbs!



Not to mention the steering wheel itself. My Airbag S14 steering wheel feels like it weighs 5 times more than my Sparco.

6/18/12

Dudes it was not a great day in hot rod land.

So todays goals were:
1. fix the rot on the trailer
2. install the rear subframe
3. un-collapse the steering column

Everything started off well enough while I was repairing the rotten wood in my trailer. Then I got tired of being in the sun and thought, "lets slam that rear subframe up in'der."

My arm just came out of a cast so my Bro Steven gets on the crawler. The back subframe bushings are going on easy enough, but the fronts are really fighting us. He was holding the subframe in, but I couldn't find the bolts right then. And we figured it was such a tight fit, it would stay up there (anyone see where this is going?). Of course while wailing on the front bushings with the BFH, the rear dropped off and the whole subframe came falling down on Steven. It happened so fast, and from where I was (in the wheel well) it looked like the whole damn thing came down on his face! Turns out the clearance hump for the front of the differential provided just the lucky clearance his face needed, and his left arm actually got the most of it. Just a small scrape and bruise. But it didn't get any better from there. We F'd with the rear subframe for another 40 minutes and just couldn't get those front bushings on. I even heated the aluminum bushings with the torch... no dice (but that rustoleum didn't even flinch! I'm impressed). Gave up with a few threads on the nuts on the rear bushings and the front still hopeless even after all the persuasion my BFH had. I don't get it? I've had the subframe on before without all the bushings other than the top front ones. Maybe they are a bit smaller??? I'll put the calliper to 'em next trip.

Then after I had given up on the rear subframe I thought I'd address the steering shaft that seems to be a bit short. I put penetrating oil on it the second I got to the garage. I clamped a vice-grip on it and brought out the BFH again... No dice. Popped on the torch again... still no dice! WTF?! Usually if a hammer won't fix it, fire does. Right?

So in summation:
1. progress
2. bloody fail
3. fail

I think I'm going to move to Australia.