Seeing as it doesn't have it's own thread I'll get one started. After plenty of research the early Cavalier R&P won as the most straight forward and developed steering mod, but good luck finding one. 1986 is the *newest* car they come in which is pretty slim pickings in 2025's wrecking yards. However the concept of a center takeoff R&P stuck with me and I found other's research listing a few later model cars that utilized that style. The 2001-2005 Honda Civics and Acura ELs utilize a center takeoff R&P and because I like Honda I went with them. The steering sweep from a 1970 Maverick is 5.25" (I measured mine) and the steering sweep from a 2003-2005 Honda Civic R&P is also 5.25". They are functionally the same. The Honda Element also uses a center takeoff but it is a few inches wider than the Civic's so I stuck with the smaller of the two. So in a quest to modernize the Cavalier R&P upgrade I am going to detail the job here as completely as I can for future generations. Speaking of future generations here is my son's first trip to the pick to pull to help me out.
I can't claim to be the first one to do it but the info for a mav is sparse and other intel is scattered around. I found this little tidbit to be quite important to me as my car already has the Granada fronts installed...
What I want to know is: 1. How does the rack mount to the car? 2. How does the steering shaft attach to the steering column?
In the Honda the rack mounts up close to the firewall via 3 bolts and those holes are 25 3/4" center to center. The pinion side is 1.5" longer 'off center' but it looks like the pinion and spool valve should clear the frame rail while keeping the steering sweep centered. Also on close inspection it looks like a couple of brackets hanging vertically off the frame should suffice nicely. Similar to the cavalier r&p in spirit anyway. As for the steering column thats tbd, but there is a u joint at the top of Honda's pinion shaft to steering column which I retained.
Well it seems like it's gonna work. There is clearance everywhere I'm going to need it... The only thing I can see at the moment is that the width of the stock Honda steering is awful close to the stock Maverick steering width. Those longer Mustang tie rods are going to make it too wide unmodified. I'm thinking I'll cut the threaded section back some and run a tap down whats left to extend the threads further up. Conversely a guy could cut the required amount out of the hollow inner tie rods and weld em back together. TBD for me for now. Otherwise it all looks reasonable AND I'll be able to use the factory holes for the brackets.
Wow, that really looks like it could work! A lot of R&P conversions don't have favorable geometry. Thanks for sharing.
A little more progress today though for me its going to be a tight squeeze. On the Merc 3.7 I have to fit the steering, exhaust, and clutch slave though the same space but I think I can force it. None the less the Honda rack continues to show promise though its not going down without a fight. Over the last couple of days I had to convert my marine oil pan to a front sump system to make room for the steering though it would have been required rack or not. The wins today were in the mounting. I got the driver's side mounted up with a plate that took a couple hours from start to finish. I started with some heavy paper and came up with a template, transferred it to some plate, and cut it out with a zip disc. Once I was happy with the bend and how it was oriented I laid out some holes and presto. Where the problem lies going forward are the hard lines going into the ram end of the rack. Its a pretty narrow window for the pinion to approach the steering column and to make it work the rack has to be rotated in a way that will cause the tie rods to interfere with the steel fluid lines. The solution I am pursuing are some 90 degree elbows the will lower the profile at the front of the rack. The fittings going into the rack are a metric bubble flare (10mm I think) and the adaptors are rare and priced accordingly. I should just be able to re-flare the tubing with a new flare nut but moving an AN fitting in the process. Otherwise the project continues to show promise.
The only thing that concerns me about this is the really significant difference between the length of the stock tie rods and the Honda tie rods. Do you have a plan to deal with that?
Well another day a few steps further along. The passenger side rack mount felt a little more difficult on a technical basis. There's compound angle there that I didn't get on the first try. Luckily I pulled out the acetylene chiropractor and made a little adjustment that tidied it up. Before getting serious about tie rods I pulled the front springs and set the front suspension to an approximate ride height. Once I had it all dangling I made up a plate to change the take off point and hopefully avoid the oil lines. 4 holes and a quick bend and I was in business. I installed the inner tie rods and voila it looks like a steering system. Also in this configuration I didn't have to adjust the oil lines on the ram end of the rack. The lines will need a tweak as they are rubbing on the takeoff plate. I could have moved it all ahead a whisker more and I could have made the oil pan all little further forward but all in all I think it'll work. All the fasteners need to be finalized and torqued then the next hurdle is the steering column...
There is some adjustment by raising or lowering the takeoff point if needed and if I get really desperate I can modify how it works further. However the much lauded Cavalier R&P uses a very similar setup and guys swear by it so I'm confident this will be no different. The fun part is it won't be on the alignment rack for another 10 months so we'll all have to wait to see what the drive is like
Well the tie rod ends worked out OK. I bought some for a 1995 Mustang as prescribed but as I suspected they were too long. The tie rod ends I got (ACDelco MES80805) were threaded allll the way to the end and the Honda inners only have 1.375" of thread to give so there would be quite a bit of unused thread in the tie rod end if left stock. The solution I pursued was to cut 1 inch off of the tie rod end, and it worked out brilliantly. With the tied rods fully bottomed I was able to achieve some toe out which means it will align perfectly. Another win.
