Techno Duck's LS1 conversion

Bummer. I was worried about exactly that in bending those lines. It took some serious manhandling to get them to fit without touching anything. Was it the one that was touching that leaks? If so, perhaps it's more the vibration than the bending that broke it.

Both lines were touching the pan but it was actually the one that wasnt touching as badly that is leaking. The line that connects to the passenger side of the steering rack had a very deep wear mark in it, i bet in another few thousand miles it probably would have rubbed through completely.

I am really not looking forward to putting this new rack back in, i think getting everything to fit is going to be a major bitch.

I am wondering if it might be worthwhile to bend my own lines to make the fitment better. Probably more trouble than its worth. I was also thinking of taking the line that was already bent (And not leaking) off my existing rack and just swapping it over to the new one.

Its entirely possible the car is just going to stay on jack stands for the rest of the winter...

"A major bitch" was my experience. It's why I used a manual rack for so long. But the slower ratio sucked on track and would be a non-starter for auto-x. Good luck.

I converted all mine to SS lines and AN fittings and AN banjo's so that I could cut and route them anyway I wanted. Chunk of change to do so but nice, clean and clear of obsticals. I had to make the lines for the hydro-boost anyway so just odered the extra fittings.

Jack

Jack, its something i am considering. To me its more like to i want to deal with the PITA of bending the lines to fit, or do i want to deal with the PITA of making all new lines... . Do you have a list / pictures of the fittings and lines you made?

A few more pictures,

You can see the flat spots on the two pressure line where they were touching the pan

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Also note how the high pressure line that leads to the right side of the rack was pressed up against the mounting collar also. This was the one that was not leaking. I am going to grind some material off the mounting collar to give it more space, after that i dont think this line will touch anything. I dont have the bushing in for the picture, so normally the collar is right up against the hard line.

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I was just thinking also i dont think this rack will be accepted as a core return. The lines have been bent a fair amount to clear the oil pan, also they specifically say the hard lines cant be damaged. I can hope they accept it, but its also possible ill loose the $200 core return. So i am on the hunt for a unmolested spare rack, no matter what condition i can send back in.

One thing i am thinking is removing my existing (pre-bent) hard lines and fitting them to the new rack. I can possibly see about having the leaking one rewelded.

Let me see what I can dig up on photos and invoices.

The problem with the existing lines is that the banjos are just brazed on. Bending the lines while attached causes the brazing to crack. I had this happen before I did the swap. I had the rack off for some reason and notice a line was bent, which I may have done inadvertantly, so I bent it back in shape. Started as a slight weep and ended as a gusher over a track weekend. I expect the vibration and pressure finished it off.

If you are down for the winter, then do it correctly by making new SS lines. Not worth going through the hassle again.

Found my invoices. Technafitstore.com

They have the banjos and hose. I actually opted for the custom line option and had these made to standard lengths based on how I expected to route them. -4 with straight connectors however they can do them with others. I just did not want to figure out the clocking since I was not 100% sure of exact routing. I used the stock banjo bolts. The crush washers they sell do not work since stock is for o- ring fittings. I found that Earls sells crush washers with o-ring centers built in. Look on the earls site and I got them at summit.

Jack, thanks for the info. Are you referring to Dowty seals?

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I was looking at the banjo fittings last night and noted it did not look like they were sealed with any type of crush washer. Ill take the fittings off tonight and take a better look.

I will probably end up making custom high pressure lines. This will also allow me to remove the hard lines from the rebuilt rack and throw them on my core to send back. Negating the need to buy another steering rack as a core.

Close, those are too large. Try this

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It is a 12mm fitting.

After getting off the high pressure lines, i see this actually wont be too difficult as i already have most of the parts i need...

Anyhow those fittings were tight as heck, just like the pressure and return banjo bolts. I ended up using a pair of vice grips to get them off. As soon as i removed the banjo on the leaking side it was clear the hard line was really sprung from being bent to fit as it rotated quite a few degrees over.

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O-Ring seals...

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Anyhow ill need to order a few more steel banjo to -4AN adapters and two more bolts. Pictured is a -6AN banjo adapter i am using for the high pressure supply to the rack.

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Line routing might be a little tricky, ill have to mock up the rack on crossmember again to see how i can run the lines.

Took some pictures last night.

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Hard to see but the right most line is the one that loops around the orbital valve in the picture before.

Thanks for the pictures Jack, very helpful.

I ordered the rest of the fittings i need last night, ill have the hoses done locally. This is what i ordered from Technafit..

4x -4AN , 12mm banjo bolts (776-04-M12S-TURBO)
4x 12mm x 1.5mm banjo bolt (775-125S)

Also ordered the stat-o-seals from Pegasus, cheapest price at $1.50 each. I got 8x of 1/2" and 7/16". They are sized for inch fittings, so 12mm is in between. Ill figure out which is the best fit once i get the fittings in.

Shoot, forgot to mention that the two connections at the orbital valve, one is a 45 and one a 90. Sorry. Actually taking those pictures about took me out. I had one of the tie rods pushed up being held by its own stiction and the thing dropped on my forehead like a hammer!

Not sure if you checked Rennbay, Travis may have some parts that will help with your project. I have used his PS rack and pump rebuild kit with great success. He was also very helpful on the phone and via emails.

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While test fitting the rack i noticed the crossmember was touching the oil pan around the steering rack mounting points. Dropped the crossmember and ground it down some more so plenty of clearance now. I cant believe how quickly i did that... a testament to how familiar i am with this car.

You can feel a very slight dent in the pan where it was touching, i am just happy it didnt rub a hole or crack one of the welds in the pan.

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I had the new high pressure lines made today and i am quite happy with the routing and fitment. Used stainless braid Aeroquip line and steel fittings. One hose was about 13" long and the other around 23". Both had 90* fittings on both ends.

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I opted to not use the stat-o-seals i had ordered. As i had mentioned earlier, they are sized for inch fittings. I bought both a 1/2" and 7/16" seals and after test fitting on the 12mm banjo bolts i felt neither fit all that well. I used a standard 12mm copper seal washer on all of the banjo fittings.

Looks great.

After 3 weeks the car is finally off jackstands! Finished the rack replacement this morning. I ran into some complications with the line routing; one of the hoses required 3 attempts at rerouting the line to clear the oil pan. 3rd time was a charm; mostly because I made sure to fully mock it up before having the fitting re-crimped .

Hardest part of this by far is getting the steering u-joint connected to the rack. Normally this is simple with the turbo engine but with the LS the front is blocked by the upright and the rear by the runners on the header.

Anyhow i am really liking this new line routing as it clears up a a little space around the pan, rack and my oil lines running along the block.

Bled the rack and moved the car into its storage spot for the winter. No leaks, so far so good! I think the rack needs to be bled more as it feels a bit funny at full lock still but is getting better. I still need to modify the sway bar bracket braces some to account for the crossmember drop.. Getting the sway bar back on was absurdly difficult so I left it off until I can address that over the winter. I'll need an alignment also after dropping the crossmember. I scribed everything before removal but figure it's best to get one done again.

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Beautiful job !

Totally agree on the difficulty of attaching the steering rack correctly. Especially without a rack! Looks great though!

Put some miles on the car today, first time driving it since October! No leaks from the power steering thankfully, it took a few laps around my neighborhood but all the groaning from the pump is gone so the rack should be sufficiently bled now. Just need an alignment on the front now.

One of the minor things that has been bugging me was the throttle pedal took a abnormal amount of effort to press down. Looking at the cable routing today, it had quite a few sharp bends in it. I rerouted the cable with smoother bends and its made quite a difference in pedal effort. Still not perfect though. The cable is easily 4-5" too long still, one of these days when i get a chance ill cut the braided sleeve shorter and take out the extra length.

Ive been primarily been driving my E39 so i forgot how raw this car is... lots of fun . The car was finished a year ago next month, ive got just over 2500 miles on it now. Knock on wood but i think almost all of the bugs are worked out... looking forward to more track miles next year!

"Raw" is a good way to put it. I normally drive a 1st gen Tundra, nice but not a lot of creature comforts in it. And my 44 doesn't have an interior, definitely raw.

Good job on the rack and glad you're digging your car.

Rich

Glad you're enjoying the car, I know you had some frustrating moments with it.

Appreciate the comments guys. Looking back at my posts this year i put alot of work into working out the bugs, but really not too bad considering the scope of this engine swap. I am pretty confident now though the car is pretty solid.

Currently the car is with Thom getting the front end realigned. I was originally not going to bother and marked the tie rods..etc. But after the unexpected crossmember drop it really needs it now.

I am planning on taking one more quick fun run around the area after the alignment is done then parking her for good until spring. Its nice knowing i am putting it away knowing its ready for the track next year .

I still have a bunch of things i want to finish up on it, but for the most part all minor stuff.

-Replace 4ga battery cable from alternator to battery with 2ga cable.
-Figure out better starter solution; looked into some mini starters that give more clearance around the header collector
-Install larger oil cooler
-Install better power steering cooler; the original shop that did the work didnt do a great job on this. Looking to redo it also with a better bar and plate cooler also.
-Remake all oil lines...this has been on my list since i got the car back!

Some non swap specific stuff on my future plans list...

-Have a proper weld half cage done
-New harnesses; my current ones are really old
-New seats; looking to go fixed back on the drivers side. I have a Recaro Pole Position in storage but after the recent developments about this seat i may look at a different one.
-Racers Edge control arms; Ive got relatively low mileage 968 arms on the car right now, but with all the track usage looking to go with something more durable

At a bit of am impasse with the car right now. I am in the midst of relocating to CA so keeping the car on the road there will likely never happen. I dont mind turning it into a trailer queen to and from the track, but that provides its own issues with buying a trailer ($$$), storing said trailer ($/mo) and getting a more capable tow vehicle ($$ after trading in my Tacoma) i can use as a daily.

Part of me thinks after almost 15 years of owning a 944 series car its time to move on.

I was planning on storing the car in NY at my parents place for a few years but they are likely moving by next year. I wonder if its more trouble (and $) than its worth to try and hold onto it.

Option 2 is to basically redo the entire swap with the CARB compliant E-Rod LS3 engine...eh no thanks .

Ill have probably through the end of the year to figure something out. Was planning on a 2-day event later this month but reluctantly cancelled just due to lack of time with work and moving. Ill be home for another 2-day event in June though with a few auto-x's scheduled also .