Manual steering and battery install

I received the manual steering rack Fed Ex from Ebay on Friday, this was good timing for working on the weekend. I started by checking out my new steering rack, it was a bit rougher than expected, with a torn boot and a loose tie rod end.

I swapped out the boot and lubricated everything, I set the tie rod distance to match the other rack and checked the loose tie rod joint, no slop or wear so I will run it as is.

I made a shim for the mounting as it was smaller diameter than the power rack.

I will probably need to get an alignment at some point, I set the toe in with front to rear measurement.

I had to reposition the steering input shaft due to a difference in the racks. Not a direct replacement apparently.

Front batteries

Since I deleted the steering pump, I used the void to mount the coolant tank for the controller, I moved the pump as well and plumbed the radiator, pump, controller and tank.
I fabricated a mount for the 1000Amp shunt from 1/2in polypropylene to allow mounting.

I dropped all the batteries in the front box to test fit, I was thinking I could get another cell in for 51 total but not going to happen.

Rear battery box

I installed the side panels in the rear box. I made a clamping system with all thread and aluminum to hold all the batteries together.I set them on a layer of rubber and foam to allow for the mounting bolts and to cushion the batteries.

 

I received the circuit breakers I ordered to match some others I had from another project so I will be able to start the control circuit and 12v wiring

Always something..

The seals for the banjo fittings came and I decided to install them and attempt to seal the power steering. I wanted to get this done before installing the batteries and all the other parts.

Murphy was looming in the garage and when I tightened the bolt it stripped the threads in the steering rack, crap... I looked at the donor car and the steering rack had damage so I would have to repair it as well as remove and swap with the other car.

I decided to go another way, I am going with a manual rack I found on ebay. This will eliminate the plumbing and the extra draw on the motor as well as reduce weight.

out with the old

 After the power steering issue, I went for stress relief and grabbed a sawzall! I attacked the rear package area with the saw to make room for the rear battery box. I removed the metal with surprising ease.

fitting frame

box in place

 

 

I ended up with a big hole in the back of the car,

about 17.5 by 27. I built a top frame to fit the cutout, and then a box that will hang where the gas tank used to reside.

This is a shot of the frame, It is higher than the spare tire well and the differential, so it shouldn't get hit by anything.

test fit batteries

I put a few batteries in for fit, everything looks good, 30 batteries should fit without problems.

I made the box a bit deep, in case of different batteries later

More under the hood work

I continued the work on the battery box and building the mountings for all the control equipment. I had a bit of a setback with the power steering, a leak has started and I need to get that sealed up. I tested the steering pump and steering and no leaks at that time.

The clearance is very close to the speed sensor and motor shaft by design, I need all the room to get the batteries in. I modified the sensor for motor speed sensor to work with the pulley for the power steering. I tested the speed sensor with the stock tachometer, everything woking as expected.

 

 The battery box was built oversize for upgrading the batteries later but I needed some room to mount the circuit breakers. I decided to mount the fuse and main contactor in the extra space as well.