All taken from Holden Australia. As is the latest version. (all from HSV ~ Holden Special Vehicles)

 

Returning to the original question, it's a mod that several owners have made. There are a variety of suppliers of complete systems and some put together by owners or restorers. For maintenance purposes, most use XJS racks, some use X300, and odd ones have gone non-Jaguar. My opinion is that it can be made to work well, but it takes someone competent (or very lucky) to do the original design and some careful adjustment afterwards. And possibly to work very well, some stiffening of the suspension at both ends of the car.

I'd leave it as it is until you've got the car running. At that stage, if it feels good to drive and you have an adequate turning circle, then enjoy it. If that's not the case, you can either search through old discussions here and on JagLovers and start adjusting or sell it on and buy an Adwest Marles system.

The critical points, if you get into adjusting it, are the height that the rack is positioned on the subframe for bump steer (you want very slight toe-out on bump for a nice stable feel) and inset of the steering arms on the suspension uprights to obtain some Ackermann.

A final point, which I don't think applies in the US or California (yet) is that some countries are becoming increasingly restrictive about modifs especially non-period ones. When that applies, the owner has to rely on any official inspection being done by someone who is sympathetic or doesn't know what he's looking at.

 

Refresh for better explanation.

 

BTW ~ Out of interest. The Varamatic was a variable-ratio, power-assisted steering system based on an original design by an Australian, Arthur Bishop, and developed by the Bendix Corporation in the USA for automotive use. Its design was derived from an aircraft nose-wheel gear in the mid-1950s, and Bendix adopted it for production in 1958. The attitude of the US motor industry to such engineering innovations is well illustrated by the fact that the first customer was not found until six years later – and that this customer was not an American company! Unlike other types of variable-ratio steering, the progression of the steering ratio in the Varamatic depended on a closely controlled and predetermined curve in which the ratio reduced rapidly from the straight-ahead position and then leveled out completely by mid-turn. The effort at the steering wheel was matched to the slip angle of the road wheels to give the Varamatic its most marked advantage – a very much greater degree of steering "feel" (the driver’s impression that he or she is in direct control of the road wheels) than earlier power-assisted types, which had tended to make the steering feel as if it was being operated by remote control. In mechanical terms, the Varamatic was an hourglass worm-and-roller steering box, with hydraulic power assistance. Jaguar used an American-made 1200psi Saginaw hydraulic pump on the 420, but the main components of the Varamatic were made under licence in the UK by Adwest in Reading. In the final S Types it was run by the pump on the rear of the generator at 1000psi.

 

Peter, Very good post to help keep replies on topic. Homersimpson, I feel your sentiment as I have come to realize that Jaguar owners in my opinion are more often very anti-modifications to the point that they often rant with passion to others very inappropriately.

I did use the XJ5 rack conversion from a previously local Jaguar dismantler and it is working fine with my lowered and much wider wheel Jaguar 3.8s. As Peter stated we did need to some minor tuning and minor mods that a good mechanic can do but if they are just a parts changer then you could have excess bump steer but done right it works fine. One thing I can share is sometimes the tie rods length may need change as well as minor changes to the mounts and this I have found when I purchased a rebuilt XJ6 rack. I ordered the exact same model number but the new replacement had a minor change in the layout where with my car being much lower caused us to do similar but minor tweaks that was done the first time. If they made the replacement rack exactly the same it would be a much faster swap but no big deal the car tracks great with no bump steer.

For new Jaguar owners, I recommend to be extra tolerant as unfortunately Jaguar owners are their own unique and opinionated people, but there are people whom will give honest opinions that are not so one sided. I am on the extreme of having highly modifying my 3.8S as a modern resto-mod so I know the frustration that can arise but hopefully there will continue to be people whom come on at least occasionally to balance the information to help new owners and ones that want help.

 

Primaz' front suspension mods to make it all work. And I'll bet his Ackermann angles are still wrong.

 

I have to come back on you here Primaz.
Jaguar owners are not anti modification per say but as a classic Jaguar owner I bought it and run it as a classic Jaguar. I did not buy it to modify it in to a Chevy V8 time machine. This part of the forum was I believe set up to give advice on keeping classic Jaguar saloons from the 1960s (it says so in the title) on the road by offering advice on problems that arise with a 50 to 60 year old car. There are other forums that cater for modifications on any type of car. I accept that there are some modifications that enhance the classic Jaguar without destroying it's soul. I have electronic ignition, upgraded starter motor, a header tank for cooling but other than that my 1967 S Type is stock. I do 2000 miles a year in the car if I am lucky. I take it to shows to show off its originality but when you start destroying the soul of the 1960s Jaguar by changing the engine to a modern Chevy V8, changing the interior to a 1990 XJ8, changing the suspension to a bespoke modified system, changing the brakes to modern 4 or 6 pot callipers, LED lights all over the place, there is not much left of your car from the original that you can assist with giving advice on. No disrespect because I love what you have done to your car but your car is no longer a 1960s Jaguar and the only advice you seem to give on this forum is "change this, change that". Would the XK120 section of this forum have the same attitude towards your suggestions to change the original engine of an XK120 to a V8 or to stick a wing spoiler on the boot. I think so. Not anti modification but purists is possibly a better description and on a classic Jaguar section of this forum not inappropriate.
Now lets get back to the subject in hand.

 

The conversion on my MK2 was the same, the tie rods have to be slightly shortened as part of the conversion and in use there is no descernable bumper steer or undesirable characteristics that I have noticed driving it normally. With the amount of miles that you have done in yours it shows that the conversion can work well in daily use contrary to what a lot of arm chair mechanics seem to say.

I'm a member of a lot forums for all different cars with some being marque and model specific and some being a broad church of anything and everything, this one is by far the most disfunctional and its a shame because it used to be a really good source of information and a pleasant place to visit.

 

What do you mean by "by far the most disfunctional". I have never had anything but good advice, sound opinion and lively discussions on the forum. I never get offended by someone else's opinion and I hope they don't get offended by mine.

 

You can't violate science.

 

I think you might be on a different forum to me, a lot of what I see is people being pinickity (and quite often wrong), threads spouting off at massive tangents about unrelated subjects that certain members want to talk about (over and over and over again) and posters asking perfectly reasonable questions and getting rude comments such as "i'm not getting into this again" (If thats your attitude don't post) and then being put off and probably not coming back.

 

You need training in cultural diversity. The rest of the world is not "Just like America"

 

Glyn, Homer comes from the UK.

I agree that a lot of the topics go off track and I have tried to focus on the topic in hand and I appreciate the irony of that remark based on the fact that this topic is about R&P steering and here we are discussing attitudes on the forum.

 

Same comment applies. ROW is not like the UK.

 

We started MBWorld out of California & Toronto. Today it is a fully multinational forum and the Jewel in the Internet Brands Automotive crown who also own this forum. We are number one by miles. This has maintained IBA's most vibrant forum and proven extremely healthy.

 

People
The world changes and what was completely acceptable to one generation is an anathema to another.
This is the Australian experience.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s MK2s were as cheap as chips on the second-hand market and Mk1s were worth almost nothing.
S types and 420s were not worth much and a lot were snapped up by hot rodders for their rear end suspension.

One Brisbane inner city building caretaker had a MK2 which had been fitted with a Holden 186 cu in pushrod motor.
He got the Holden motor for $200 from a wrecker (junkyard) as he could not afford $4000 for a Jag engine rebuild.

A number of XJ12s were being converted to V8s as a Chev crate engine cost around $4000 fitted versus $10,000 for a V12 overhaul which would exceed the value of the car.

I agreed with these modifications as it did keep nice cars on the road at the time.

In any group there are absolute purists and then ranging across to "it will be OK" in the spectrum of membership. Our local Jag group has them all!
The name of the game here is tolerance. Let the concourse-oriented members get on with a bit of nit-picking. The rest can play round with their cars as they see fit.

Thats my two bob (twenty cents) worth on the matter.
cheers

 

The OP wanted information on the power steering mod and if you sift through the agonizing rants there are some good information more from Peter, Homersimposn and myself.
Glynn my car handles well and I am approaching 300,000 miles on the road and driving the car often at the limits. Your car is a trailer queen that is not driven much at all and that is fine as that is your desire but come on you are the one that brings so many threads off topic and if there is any mention of non stock you jump on it with lunatic behavior.
Bill Mac great post. Jaguar owners are so polarized and that is just the reality but I do not give a crap. Hopefully this dysfunctional rants don't put off new people to the forum. While some of you spend all your time online trying to push your negativity, I will be enjoying my Jaguar driving hard, fast, and more miles in one weekend than most of you drive in a year.

 

It is not a Jaguar Primaz. lol. and I love the way you still call it a 3.8s when you have a 5 litre V8 under the bonnet. At best it is a Jaguar shaped saloon.
We have a guy in the UK who takes a VW Beetles chassis and body then fits an air cooled Porsche flat four engine, Porsche brakes, wheels and gearbox. He calls them a Porsche with a VW Body. Bloody quick but no longer a VW Beetle.

 

Primaz ~ My car is not a "trailer queen". I enjoy driving it and if I can't drive & enjoy it I don't want it. I do not run up your sort of mileage. I do not own a trailer.

 

Cass,

Again you are so against modified Jaguars and continue to post off topic replies to preach your one sided views.

Get your facts straight, VW and Porsche designed the first beetle and have a long history together. Thus using Porsche parts on a VW is keeping with the founders of that vehicle and upgrading the performance but not changing the use of the car. Improving a car with modern technology while keeping it for the same purpose is not loosing the car's sole. If one were to take an all purpose street car and make it into a narrow use such as a pure drag car that cannot drive on the street because it cannot make normal turns or function in stop in go traffic then that is something different. Not everyone is a purist so stop preaching one view and being negative.

Here are the facts about VW and Porsche:1931

Ferdinand Porsche opens a design office, the first stage of a business that will later become the eponymous sports car maker.

1938

Porsche, who designed the first VW Beetle, oversees the building of the first production hall for Volkswagen.

1960

State-owned Volkswagen is privatized, with both the federal government and the company's home state of Lower Saxony receiving a 20 percent stake.

1993

Ferdinands Porsche's grandson, Ferdinand Piech, becomes chief executive of Volkswagen, meaning "the people's car" in German. His revolutionary "platform strategy," which involves using the same basic design for different models and adding bespoke components on top, allowed economies of scale and was credited with saving the company from possible collapse.

2002

Piech appoints Bernd Pischetsrieder as his successor as CEO and Piech becomes Volkswagen's chairman, a position he will hold until 2015.

2005

September - Porsche says it plans to buy a 20 percent stake in VW and later emerges with a 10.3 percent voting stake.

November - Porsche's supervisory board authorizes an increase in the stake to 29.9 percent, triggering speculation it plans to gain majority control.

2007

April - Porsche submits a mandatory takeover offer for Volkswagen after crossing 30 percent threshold.

2008

March - Porsche SE's supervisory board gives the go-ahead to raise its Volkswagen voting stake to more than 50 percent.

October - Porsche SE says it holds stock and options that give it control of 74 percent of Volkswagen's votes and announces plans for a "domination" agreement. A resulting scramble for Volkswagen shares by shortsellers caught out by the announcement briefly makes VW the world's most valuable company.

2009

January - Porsche SE says it has raised its VW voting stake to 50.8 percent and confirms its plan to raise stake to 75 percent later if conditions allow.

May - Porsche SE drops the Volkswagen takeover plan and says it will instead pursue a merger with Europe's largest automaker. Volkswagen Chairman Piech says Porsche must get its 9 billion euro debt under control before any deal can be agreed.

July - Porsche SE Chairman Wolfgang Porsche, Piech's cousin, calls an extraordinary supervisory board meeting for July 23 to discuss a possible sale of a stake in Porsche SE to Qatar worth over 5 billion euros. A proposal by Porsche's board to prepare for a capital increase of at least 5 billion euros ($5 billion) in cash and/or a contribution in kind, is approved by the supervisory board, setting the stage for a merger with Volkswagen. Porsche SE Wendelin Wiedeking steps down.

December - Volkswagen says it has bought 49.9 percent of Porsche SE's sports car business Porsche AG at a cost of 3.9 billion euros.

2010

January - A group of investment funds sues Porsche SE and two of its former top executives, accusing them of fraud in a "short squeeze" that caused the funds to lose more than $1 billion from Porsche's attempted takeover of Volkswagen AG in 2008.

April - Elliott Associates, L.P. says the securities fraud and manipulation lawsuit against Porsche SE has got bigger, that it is seeking more than $2 billion in losses and 18 investment funds have joined the lawsuit.

October - Auto holding Porsche SE says it may not be absorbed into Volkswagen by the end of 2011, as planned, due to some unresolved legal and tax issues related to the deal, the CEO of both companies, Martin Winterkorn, says.

2012

July - Volkswagen agrees to buy the remaining 50.1 percent stake in Porsche AG from Porsche SE for about 4.5 billion euros. Porsche AG, the carmaker, is now fully owned by Volkswagen AG, while Porsche SE, which is controlled by the Porsche and Piech families, is Volkswagen's largest shareholder and holds a majority of voting rights.

2022

February - Volkswagen and Porsche SE say they are examining a possible initial public offering of Porsche AG, under a proposed structure that would give Porsche SE a blocking minority in the eponymous carmaker.

September - Volkswagen announces its intention to list Porsche at the end of September or early October.