"The only power I need is from the motor!"

I heard THAT! Power accessories only rob some of that power from the motor.

 

What are you doing shifting through corners anyways? You should be shifting before the corner and accelerating through it. You shouldn't be shifting in parking lots either so, I don't see an issue where you would be doing both at the same time.

 

The only way is "El Manual."

I generally have no problem shifting while turning the wheel, it's when I try to drink a coffee, smoke a cigarette and text my buds while shifting and turning the wheel that I get a little confused.

 

yea, after giving it some thought I'm not worried about it anymore

 

I have manual steering, smaller Grant steering wheel, a 6 speed manual transmission and a full spool 4.30 geared rear end...... It's always a workout to drive, but its a fun workout!

 

Which steering ratio do you have? I have been thinking about going to a different ratio, but don't know what I have (probably the stock I6 manual setup) or what I can go to without making steering too hard. I have a stock wooden style 17" wheel. Any info on the manual quick steer ratio?

 

I have a power steering box, with the power steering center link and a power valve delete kit. It's really not bad, I had a manual pitman arm and center link at one time, but running a different set of headers now that got in the way with that setup.

I'll be going to a rack an pinion setup one of these days. Parts are waiting for me to install! About the manual quick steer, you'll just have to do some research. Dont recall what you would want to get?


Picture of my steering wheel against my 17's.



Control valve delete Kit

 

I'm running a Flaming River Quick 16:1 ratio box with a smaller aftermarket steering wheel and it's fine. I can turn the wheel with the car stationary, but it's obviously not like power steering.

Now, to combine 2 posts....

First to what Norm said, keep your damn hand off the shifter unless you're shifting! There are pads on the shift fork that push against the synchro/slider assembly to move the trans in and out of gear, and if you keep your hand on the shifter you can cause those pads to wear from slight pressure making it so that you may not be able to grab a gear, have difficulty getting it into gear, or it may not go all the way in gear and starts popping out.

And to what Stepman said, if you're shifting AND turning at the same time, then you don't know how to drive. ESPECIALLY in road racing or autocross. All your braking and shifting should be done BEFORE you enter the turn, so you're at mid rpm when you enter and as you begin to turn in you transition from braking to throttle. Then you feather the gas through the turn to maintain max speed in the corner and throttle back in as you start to come out. You should either be totally straight or almost totally straight before you have to shift up again. Power steering or not, your best control of the car is ALWAYS with 2 hands, use them to turn when you're turning.

If you're having to downshift after you started entering a turn then you braked too late and will have a crappy line coming out. If you have to upshift as you're going through a turn then you braked too soon and entered too slow, or if it's a changing radius that gets wider as you come out and you had to shift up as the turn starts to flatten out then that's an issues with the car setup, suspension/gearing etc and you're just getting caught out in a bad spot. BUT in cases like that where you know you'll have to shift up and there's something odd like a change in turn radius or a bump, you typically want to stay a gear higher than normal, or short shift in anticipation of it.

Manual steering is fine when properly setup. But most people are lazy and have little regard for the way they drive so they want things like heated seats and power steering. Driving with manual steering requires you to develop better driving technique anyway, since you can't be lazy and palm the wheel as you shift through a corner.

 

My daughter ended up driving her '66 with a power to manual conversion 'kit' of sorts and coped with it just fine (I think she was about 19 or 20 at the time). 302 with an AOD, so it was probably a little heavier than in its original 289/whatever 3-speed automatic form.

No tinkering was done with the caster settings to reduce steering effort.


Most autocrosses that I've ever run involved exactly one shift, that being from 1st to 2nd. On exactly two runs ever have I needed to briefly use 3rd and then drop back to 2nd. Point being that while it can happen, it isn't all that likely (unless your individual car is not geared very well for the purpose - why 4.10's aren't good autocross gears in most cases, actually).


Norm

 

Lots of great comments and suggestions. This thread has turned into an unusual but informative thread.

I do want to reemphasize the importance of proper tire inflation and frequent lubrication for a manual steering car. Although you should be doing this anyway, inlated tires and greased joints will make it MUCH easier to park.

If you don't already have one, buy a grease gun and hang it on the wall in a handly location. Lube EVERYTHING at every oil change. If you're not a frequent oil changer, then do it between oil changes.

When you buy a grease gun, get one with a hose and a pistol grip as opposed to a lever. You can pump grease with one hand while holding it in place on the fitting with the other.

For the younger enthusiasts, practice with a stick shift will give you a skill that many of your friends don't have. I made a point of teaching both of my kids to drive a stick first. They are very accomplished manual transmission drivers and both of them drive stick shift cars today at the ages of 26 and 30. From time to time they tell me about comments from their friends indicating that they are a little envious of their ability to drive a stick.