manual rack - Northern California Ford Owners

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Posted by cobraman_1994 (Member # 467) on :

anyone running one? the only person i know running one i think got sawsoned
if so, how do you like it?
and what about the flaming river quick ratio rack&pinion? hows that feel?

i need to go to manual rack so i can free up some room te ease the turbo install. bye bye PS, AC, and smog. hello hair dryer [Big Grin]

[ March 31, 2004, 08:42 PM: Message edited by: cobraman_1994 ]

Posted by blind (Member # 3052) on :

I've got a flaming river rack on my coupe [Smile]

its a little hard to turn when the car is sitting in one spot, but I think it looks really good installed.

Posted by cobraman_1994 (Member # 467) on :

quote:
Originally posted by blind:
I've got a flaming river rack on my coupe

its a little hard to turn when the car is sitting in one spot, but I think it looks really good installed.

yeah, it just helps make the engine compartment look much cleaner. so only when stopped its hard to turn? fuck that, i hate making u turns anyways [burnout]

Posted by white1990stang (Member # 2307) on :

yeah im gonna be switching to a manual rack soon to. my a/c and all my smog is already gone. my blower is also going on soon. good thing i got smog hookups.

Posted by blind (Member # 3052) on :

well my car hasn't driven in 3 months, but I will be able to let you know by this weekend, I am hoping to have it on the road tomorrow, I need to fix a minor leak on my fuel return line then I take it to get it aligned, discharge the a/c system so I can take it out, then get it smogged. I should have plenty of short trips where I'll be able to get the feel for the rack.

but from pushing my car around the driveway during my 4 cylinder swap and getting rid of related parts from the garage, it seems to be very easy to turn once the car is rolling.

Posted by 66 AC COBRA (Member # 904) on :

i have driven the three different common types of manual rack cars

my car, ghetto styel, stock rack without lines and just open airs, not bad at all when moving, from a stop not so fun, on 205/x/15 shit tires right now

quick ratio road racing rack with cobra r's and 245's up front, not that easy unless going 35+mph, almost impossible to turn from a stop or very slow role

slow ratio 20:1 with 225/x/16's, easily the best of the bunch, not that hard to turn even from a stop

get the slow ratio rack and just get ready to turn the wheel alot, but its worth it because the effort isnt that much freater that stock with PS

both aftermarket racks were from flaming river

eventually i will be getting a flaming river slow ratio rack

talk to kasey, jmclesky's (sp?) cousin, he goes by kcmustangboy on here, gumby had the slow ratio rack and 245/45/17 and was just fine when i was in it

Posted by blind (Member # 3052) on :

quote:
Originally posted by 66 AC COBRA:
talk to kasey, jmclesky's (sp?) cousin, he goes by kcmustangboy on here, gumby had the slow ratio rack and 245/45/17 and was just fine when i was in it

I bought gumby, the rack, engine, driveline, brakes, etc for my 4 banger swap are from gumby [Smile]

Posted by 66 AC COBRA (Member # 904) on :

quote:
Originally posted by blind:

quote:
Originally posted by 66 AC COBRA:
talk to kasey, jmclesky's (sp?) cousin, he goes by kcmustangboy on here, gumby had the slow ratio rack and 245/45/17 and was just fine when i was in it
I bought gumby, the rack, engine, driveline, brakes, etc for my 4 banger swap are from gumby

i see, so that is what he did wit hthe car

man i remember that motor, i did the headgaskets on it with casey, that motor is strong for being stock [patriot]

Posted by blind (Member # 3052) on :

yea I noticed the ARP bolts on the heads and wondered what was up...

the engine still runs great [patriot]

it may be a stock motor, but with the underdrive pullies, a/c delete, smog pump bypass, electric fan, and manual rack it doesn't have that much load except to send the power to the wheels [Smile]

it will be getting GT-40 heads and an edelbrock performer intake and the longtube headers will go back on after I smog it [Big Grin]

Posted by cobraman_1994 (Member # 467) on :

so how much weight will be lost on my car?
manual rack
tubular k member
coilovers
no ac
no smog
no back seats
no power options at all

86 GT t top with 6pt roll bar

Posted by blind (Member # 3052) on :

probably near 80 pounds, flaming river advertises the rack saves 30 pounds alone in the swap

Posted by PurpleNotch (Member # 2902) on :

i run a complete tubular front end with a flaming river manual rack with the billet steering shaft works fine and im turning 20's. just dont expect to talk on the phone while driving. [Big Grin]

Posted by mustanggt5091 (Member # 444) on :

curious about this as well, I will be swapping to a manuel when I can afford it, I want to do it when i do my K member and switch to the welds

Posted by 66 AC COBRA (Member # 904) on :

quote:
Originally posted by cobraman_1994:
so how much weight will be lost on my car?
manual rack
tubular k member
coilovers
no ac
no smog
no back seats
no power options at all

86 GT t top with 6pt roll bar

the manual rack will weigh exactly what ur stock rack weighs, the 30# weight savings is from removing the pump, lines, and fluid

if u do everything mentioned above, i bet u will take 200 pounds off the car, but u will add 80 pounds of rollbar, but u will gain 10-15hp up top with the removal of the PS drag on the belt

so its a weight savings of 120, but u are talking almost 200 pounds off the front and adding 80 pounds just infront of the back tires and adding chassis stiffness [patriot]

Posted by 66 AC COBRA (Member # 904) on :

quote:
Originally posted by blind:
yea I noticed the ARP bolts on the heads and wondered what was up...

the engine still runs great

it may be a stock motor, but with the underdrive pullies, a/c delete, smog pump bypass, electric fan, and manual rack it doesn't have that much load except to send the power to the wheels

it will be getting GT-40 heads and an edelbrock performer intake and the longtube headers will go back on after I smog it

i dont even think the head gasket blew, the car was having overheating problems, but when we did the HG it seemed fine, i think it was mainly because the radiator was plugged

if i remember we put in a better radiator that wasnt pluged, new t stat, and HG, and the car got to temp at about 185 [patriot]

kasey drove that car from sac all the way to fairfield open longtube header to get the gears done, and after all that we couldnt do it because of a bolt, so he had it done a week later

Posted by sac 5.0 (Member # 2980) on :

i got a manual rack from autozone for a 85 mustang or so and put it on my 89 and it feels just the same as my budys who has a flaming river but at 300 dollars less and i dont even have the skinnies up front yet i vote for a autozone rack

Posted by TheBrain (Member # 35) on :

quote:
Originally posted by blind:
I've got a flaming river rack on my coupe

its a little hard to turn when the car is sitting in one spot, but I think it looks really good installed.

Ditto, Although mine is in my 'vert

I actually like the feel of the manual rack WAY better than the power rack when it comes to being sideways on the track, the steering input is much more positive and I am 100% sure I would have tagged the wall @ Sac the last time I was squeezing out of the hole if it hadn't been for the Flaming River manual rack !!!!

I bought a 20:1 rack from a guy on this board, but when I picked it up, it turned out to be the 15:1 [Big Grin]

I have skinnies (on Welds, happy Mr. Go Fast?) and it isn't bad at all even from a dead stop

Good Luck
Brian

Posted by MR GO FAST (Member # 2088) on :

quote:
Originally posted by TheBrain:
I have skinnies (on Welds, happy Mr. Go Fast?)

hell yeah

Posted by TheBrain (Member # 35) on :

quote:
Originally posted by MR GO FAST:

quote:
Originally posted by TheBrain:
I have skinnies (on Welds, happy Mr. Go Fast?)
hell yeah

Posted by Fostang (Member # 3752) on :

So how many turns is it lock to lock with the slow ration rack?

Posted by TheBrain (Member # 35) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Fostang:
So how many turns is it lock to lock with the slow ration rack?

The "standard" ratio Flaming river rack
Part #FR1503 is 3.75:1 lock to lock

Quick ratio Flaming River rack
Part #FR1520 is 3.3:1 lock to lock

I got this info from here

Brian

Posted by Fostang (Member # 3752) on :

Well that aint too bad. [Smile]

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