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Old November 29th 2005, 08:33
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Steve C Steve C is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 1,757
Hi

I fitted one to a 1302.

It’s a hard job but I believe the benefits are worth it. First find a 75 1303 that has a rack fitted. Take some measurements to get an accurate idea where the rack will bolt to the chassis rails. This is important because the inner guard has some stiffening in it that weaves around the stock steering box and idler arm mounting points.

There is a cross brace that needs to be removed that runs across the base of the spare wheel well. The depression in the 1302 chassis that the rack fits into is not deep enough so you need to make this depression much deeper. I heated mine and flattened it down with a mallet. If I ever did again I would cut the section out and weld ½ circle of heavy wall tubing in there. The job on my car was made a little easier because I have no spare wheel well as it has been removed to fit a radiator. To hold the rack in place you will need to fit some captive nuts in the chassis rail, I just cut a slit in the outer side of the inner guard, fitted some captive nuts and then re-welded the slit. I have seen these mountings fitted another way, make some sturdy 90-degree brackets to bolt to the existing the stock steering box and idler arm mounting points and then the rack can bolt to these.

The 1303 steering shaft will also hit about ½ way along so the body will need a small amount of clearancing.

Steve

PS, who ever owns the photos above, could you please tell us more about the lock stops you have installed?
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