Finally!! ... An update!
Tonight, I went to work on the problem of the front shock mounts. I had to figure out where the shocks are going to sit up front, yet allow the needed space for the mounting and motion of the pushrod and bellcrank... AND allow enough room for the rack and pinion and other needed items.
Here's what I came up with, along with some newer photos of what the frontend looks like now. Also got some photos of the new Woodward rack that showed up on my doorstep last week:
The frontend as it sits after tonight's work:
Suspension is starting to take shape. You can see one of the rockers on the right side of the chassis:
Details of the suspension. I have all the brackets tack welded to the chassis now.
Final placement of the lower coilover mounts.
I custom fabricated these brackets with a little beer-box prototyping work and the plasma cutter. Took 1 hour from start to finish for the set. They are different front and rear due to the chassis width changing, so it was a bit of a challenge to get them right.
Looks like it should work. I have room to change the rocker dimensions should I need to alter the motion ratio.
Top down view:
Top down (front of chassis is up in the photo). Lots of room between the shocks!
With new steering rack mocked up in place:
It'll probably sit just a hair lower than this photo:
End of rack looks good for bumpsteer.. I'll be running the steering link off the bottom of the rack end to allow it to drop down. This will let me orient the rack a little higher to clear the nitrogen canisters on the shocks.
Its snug, but I think its entirely doable!
The new rack is a real work of art:
You can see how the unit is opened up to change the steering ratios:
Woodward Precision, indeed..