Z rack vs 510 steering box. Who's driven both?

[ByStickel]

17 years ago, I started a project (started, didn't finish) 510 with a 215 buick V8. 3 weeks ago, after 15 years away, I got the car back. I didn't write things down, back then, and my memory of some things is a bit fuzzy...

 

To clear the pan and exhaust, we used an S30 rack(I need to I.D. it), mounted front-steer, ahead of the crossmember. I think we reversed a set of longer, S30 steering knuckles. The geometry is horrible, with anti-ackerman. It has to be changed.

 

I can make a new crossmember that mounts the rack further back...

 

or I can go back to the steering box and find a way to route the link through the pan and the exhaust past the link and the starter (V8).

 

I'm looking for feedback from folks with sorted 510s and Zs: is the Z rack as good or better than the steering box in the Dime? I loved the feel and kick-back that my old box-equipped 510 had, but going that route is going to be really difficult.

 

Anything you can tell me about the Z rack and how it compares would be great.

 

 

[sssr20det510]

on my 215 v8 510 i had a steering box, 

[qwik510]

My 215 had a steering box too. I had custom headers that came forward and went under the crossmember. I have seen one that they made the exhaust fit with the normal routing but they chunked out the firewall and trans tunnel to do it. 

 

My car had very little grouund clearance with this setup. If I was to do it again, I would do it with stock exhaust manifolds from a rover and work around the steering box. Or yank the dinosaur 215 and replace it with a modern 4 banger or V6. I am doing a VG33 swap to replace my 215 car. 

 

Here is a pic of my old 215 510.

 

 

 

[ByStickel]

Thanks for the replies. My firewall is cut and the engine sits back a bit.

 

I'd love to hear from folks with Zs about the action of their racks. I just need to know if the function and feel of a Z rack is good enough to keep in the car.

 

(A close friend runs a turbo engineering group, and the next 510 will be a turbo 4. I wanted this one to have a linear output and good grunt down low)

[ericbrown]

I have a 510, my dad has a 240z. I always thought the Z had much better steering feel than my 510. Even with a steering box brace, new tie rods, and coilovers, my 510 never felt quite as good as the Z. I can't imagine you would regret swapping the steering rack in if you can get it to work properly.