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Michael McKelvey posted:

Here is a picture of my kit still in Finland: 

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I bought a late Super Beetle shaft with a u-joint on each end.  It is about 16" long by and it matches the splines on the rack.  I will cut the u-joint on one end off and cut it to the length I need.

 

I guess you will get it when they are Finnish with it

 

 

I have had it for a while but have been working on other things.  I sent the pieces out to be powder coated. 

After powder coating, I had a lot of trouble reattaching the piece that holds the tie rods on the rack.  It was like it shrunk.  I had cleaned all holes of powder coat material. I had to use a pretty big hammer to tap it onto the rack shaft.  I hope I didn't damage anything inside the rack.

The kit doesn't have any provision for using the steering damper.  Alex thinks it isn't needed even though some pictures show it being used in several different configurations.  If I really want to use it I would have to drill a hole.

I will probably start on it in the next few days.

I haven't gone beyond the mailbox for about 2 1/2 weeks and now my wife gets the mail.  When I needed some lock nuts I ordered them from Amazon instead of going to the hardware store.  I am hoping I don't need to get hardware to install the rack.

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Last edited by Michael McKelvey

@DannyP, I thought I was finished but when I turned the steering wheel 180 degrees the horn honked.  I discovered the bottom end of the steering shaft was moving around and at one point touched the tube, grounding the horn.

I have installed a Super Beetle bushing in the bottom of the tube.  I had to have it turned down a bit to fit.  And, I am installing a double u-joint.

I had to shorten the shaft and tube to make room for the double u-joint.

I will post more, with pictures in a few days.

I was out riding the countryside yesterday (it seemed OK at about 90F until you stopped for something ) and noticed that my horn button didn't always make contact and it didn't seem to be steering related.

When I got home I pulled the button off and must have emptied 1/8 of a can of Electrical Contact Cleaner into the housing while swishing it around as much as possible and pushing the button in a bunch.   Seems to be working OK, now.  That CRC contact cleaner (I got it at NAPA) is pretty good stuff!

Agreed, Michael. I have an early 911 column, double-jointed intermediate shaft and a 911 rack. The rack can't be used(IMHO too much bump steer introduced) but the other parts maybe. The 911 column is SHORT though at 9", and the shaft is about 11" total. I'd rather not re-invent the (steering) wheel, but would if I have to. Sounds like a great winter project.

The intermediate shaft will need shortening, but I like the idea of two joints. That way any misalignment is taken care of by the U-joints. The rack can be centered EXACTLY where it should be.

@Gordon Nichols CRC makes GREAT stuff, indeed. I have some CRC "Lectra-Motive" electric parts cleaner that just plain WORKS.

Last edited by DannyP

As mentioned above, I removed the single u-joint and installed a double u-joint and a Super Beetle bushing.

This is the double u-joint. I couldn't find a 16mm x 60 spline double u-joint so I bought a 5/8" by 36 splines double u-joint from kartek.com. It is made by Sweet Mfg. My old single u-joint clamped onto the shafts. The double one uses set screws.

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The splined end of the u-joint wouldn't fit over the shaft on the rack so I used a 5/8" drill bit to remove the splines. If you look at the shaft on the rack you can see that it has flat spots at two different depths. It has a shallow one on the end, then a longer, deeper one, then a shallow one again.

Rack

I was a bit concerned that with no splines, it was only the set screw that prevented rotation of the u-joint in the shaft or movement of the u-joint along the shaft.

I made a little aluminum piece that I epoxied onto the deeper flat area in the shaft. It will help prevent u-joint rotation or movement along the shaft.

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This is the Super Beetle bushing. It replaced the bearing previously used on Super Beetles.  I am glad they replaced the bearing because I don't want any electrical connection between the shaft and tube.  I hope the Nylatron bushing isn't conductive.

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This is the bushing installed in the tube and the modified steering shaft. A 5/8" x 36 spline piece is welded in the end. The splined piece is an Empi part from mooreparts.com. If you get it from them on eBay shipping is free.

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This is what the completed installation looks like.

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I have been unable to find a u-joint that matches the splines on the rack.  I emailed Alex and he said to use an unsplined connection with a set screw.  That is what I have in the photo above.  So, I am going to leave things as-is unless a problem develops.

I have two Super Beetle bushings and I installed the tighter one.  After driving the car I think maybe I should have used the looser one.  There is a little resistance to turning the steering wheel.  I hope it will wear a little and free up.

I plan to drive it.  I would be much more concerned about the set screw if it was going on a completely round shaft.  I think it is less likely to be a problem going to the flat spot on a D-shaped shaft. I also have the little aluminum piece in there.

The u-joint can't have unlimited rotation on the shaft unless the set screw shears off right where it screws into the u-joint.  If the aluminum piece disintegrates and the set screw loosens its grip a bit I would get limited rotation of the u-joint of the shaft. The set screw wouldn't get past the flat spot.

I still would prefer to have a u-joint with splines that match.  I would welcome anyone pointing me toward a 16mm 60 spline u-joint.

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