Gas Alley Street Rods has...
Gas Alley Street Rods has worked out a neat little conversion kit that makes putting together a cowl-steer setup pretty darn easy. This installation was accomplished in a weekend with more time spent figuring out my box location and specific mounting bracket fabrication than actually assembling the conversion components.
A few weeks ago I wrote a short blog on our STREET RODDER website (www.streetrodderweb.com) regarding my discovery of a cowl-steering conversion kit made and sold by a company called Gas Alley Street Rods, and promised to show the conversion kit in use. Well, I finally did get around to doing the install and shot some photos of the process.
Every once in a while (actually pretty darn often now that I think about it) I run across a great new product or an easy way of doing something that elicits one of those palm to the forehead "coulda had a V-8" reactions -- and this Gas Alley Street Rods Cowl Steering Adapter kit is a perfect example. Sliding a V-8 and a five-speed into the diminutive space of a hot rod the size of a Model A can be a challenge sometimes. Sure, the engine'll fit between the 'rails, but what about wedging in stuff like steering and in this case both brake and clutch pedal assemblies. Sure things would've been possible with a Vega-style cross-steer setup, but I wanted something a bit more traditional, like the F-1 box I'd planned on from the start. Unfortunately that truck box just wasn't gonna work out like I'd thought--again, it would've worked too, but also would have entailed other changes specific to my situation that didn't want to address. Luckily for me that's when I found Gas Alley's cowl-steering conversion, the perfect solution for my dilemma.
The conversion kit is really a pretty straightforward affair. In a nutshell it allows one to mount a reversed Corvair steering box up under the cowl, resulting in an affordable and easy-to-install side-steer setup. Not counting the steering box (and a handful of nuts and bolts), the kit consists of just a few components, an output shaft adapter, an extension shaft, and a Pitman shaft. And though each circumstance will be a bit different, when it comes to actually mounting the box, the components in the conversion will work in any situation. So take a look at how I handled my install using the Gas Alley Street Rods cowl steering adapter, and if ya think it'll do the trick for you, check out their website for it and a bunch of other cool traditional hot rod parts!
The conversion consists of...
The conversion consists of an output shaft adapter that's splined to match either a reversed OE Corvair box or a Flaming River reversed box, an extension shaft that bolts to the adapter, a machined end piece for the shaft, and a straight cut Pitman arm. They also suggest the use of a shaft support (which they can supply as well) which will reduce the torsional twist on the steering box mounting bracket and output shaft.
Though Gas Alley Street Rods...
Though Gas Alley Street Rods offers both aftermarket and remanufactured and reversed OEM Corvair steering boxes, I opted for a new Flaming River Industries reversed Corvair-style box I'd had on hand for one of my other back burner projects. I've used these Flaming River boxes on many of my projects (my wife Candy has too) and have had great luck with 'em.
I guess the hardest part in...
I guess the hardest part in my case was trying to figure out where and how I was going to mount my steering box. You see, I'm using a Flathead backed by a five-speed and I was having a bit of a dilemma clutch and brake pedal wise in order to work my way around that situation.