evening all

i,m now in the process of getting all the parts together for my steering rack conversion, i,ve got the t25 transfere box, some various uj's and steering shaft but are a little unsure to which rack people on here are using, i see vauxhall racks are mentioned a bit but which one? astra, cavvy, vectra?? which age? don,t think i really need power steering though!

The common steering rack for conversions at least on mk1 & 2 escorts anyhow is normally the Vauxhall corsa power steering rack... Thats the route I'd go if I were converting... Any idea what your costs are?

I think the rack used by Creative Engineering is the Bedford Rascal one. Don't know 'bout power tho'.

flatbeat wrote:I think the rack used by Creative Engineering is the Bedford Rascal one. Don't know 'bout power tho'.

Are you sure ?

teledial65 wrote:

flatbeat wrote:I think the rack used by Creative Engineering is the Bedford Rascal one. Don't know 'bout power tho'.

Are you sure ?

NO But there's a man on this forum that is. There's another thread somewhere on here where all the parts of the CE kit were identified.
The discussion was around Dave Palmer (CE) talking 'bout patenting his design, and someone identified all of the parts used ie T25 bevel box and Bedford Rascal rack and therefor CE would not be able to patent which might be why DP to date claims his kit as the 'intellectual' propety of CE.
Not really a proper rack and pinion conversion in my humble opinion as it still uses lots of original bits, and only replaces the steering box and drag link, everything else remains.
Plenty of people have used them tho' and seem to like them.
I also don't like the fact that you have to relocate the horn push as it has a solid column and and you can't therefor feed the horn push wire up the middle like stock. They don't tell you that in the advertising blirb

Sounds like you know more than me, all i can say is the creative rack I fitted to my van is nothing like the bedford rascal ones I had looked at down the scrapyard, suppose it depends on what year they come off. I believe the bevel box is an off the shelf part though but can't be sure. I'm happy with the kit on my van and don't feel i need power steering, If i wanted a really modern driving van then I'd buy a new T5

flatbeat wrote:I think the rack used by Creative Engineering is the Bedford Rascal one. Don't know 'bout power tho'.

I think that you've got your wires crossed. The bedford stuff look hideous and the transfer box is definitly not a t25 one.

Ollie wrote:

flatbeat wrote:I think the rack used by Creative Engineering is the Bedford Rascal one. Don't know 'bout power tho'.

I think that you've got your wires crossed. The bedford stuff look hideous and the transfer box is definitly not a t25 one.

Damn, more confirmation of my failing memory
Was sure I'd read a whole looong thread on this some months back, oh well.
Still not a full and proper rack conversion in my opinion, there are better ones around.

well i,ve done it now! after looking around i,ve got all the bits! i,ve brought an astra gsi mk3 power steering rack, a pug 106 electric pump and a t25 bevel box, so far £110 spent, just got to take the van off the road for the winter then i,m on it! will post some progress pictures once i start

ps i have to aggree about the ce kit, all that money and it still uses centre idle pin, not so great imho

Thats sounds good. Looking forward to seeing some pics soon.

oh you will!!

althesparky wrote:well i,ve done it now! after looking around i,ve got all the bits! i,ve brought an astra gsi mk3 power steering rack, a pug 106 electric pump and a t25 bevel box, so far £110 spent, just got to take the van off the road for the winter then i,m on it! will post some progress pictures once i start

ps i have to aggree about the ce kit, all that money and it still uses centre idle pin, not so great imho

sounds interesting. like he said pics would be good.

and while you're doing one, why not do 2

looking forward to the pics.

althesparky wrote:well i,ve done it now! after looking around i,ve got all the bits! i,ve brought an astra gsi mk3 power steering rack, a pug 106 electric pump and a t25 bevel box, so far £110 spent, just got to take the van off the road for the winter then i,m on it! will post some progress pictures once i start

ps i have to aggree about the ce kit, all that money and it still uses centre idle pin, not so great imho

That all sounds good and a saving of £500-£600 over the CE one
Do I see another steering rack kit coming on the market
Good luck with the conversion. You can look forward to driving next year knowing your bus will go where you point it
No more the 'Wanderer'

It would be nice to get a shopping list of parts and maybe get a forum member like Butty to have the brackets made so we could all share the info and experience of fitting them.

I've got the creative kit on our bus and as much as it isn't cheap, its also a lot less than having one made up to fit. It sits at a sensbile level. Not extortionate price, no real skills needed to fit, its all common sense. Sure it uses the original idler but thats partly so that you can use creatives front air ride beam too. Its certainly a huge improvement over stock.