In for $20 on steering gear
Also in - let's get whatever details we need to ensure we get the right one. Happy to make it happen.
There's a whole lot of winning here in the last 24hrs Bill!
Ok, lets do this.
Googling for "steering gear" only gave me results for the whole rack. I'm going to assume that's correct, and move forward without question.
I'm striking out on RockAuto, FCP Euro, Oreilley's (sp?), and Napa. Anything I google locally gives me UK results, and I don't want to risk getting a WHD unit. Looks like getting a new one of these is going to be a hard nut to crack.
That being said, I found this on Car-Part:
The bottom two units come from a rebuilder with very questionable reviews. I don't trust them.
The top two are second-hand units, but are probably better than what he has now and that's the direction I'm leaning. I'd 100% be willing to chip in and I'm sure I can use someone's APO for this as long as the packaging was clean and not covered in grease.
The questions then become:
1) Can someone stateside call that $100 unit and see if the XJS and XJ12 unit are the same? (on RockAuto both parts show "BBB Industries PN 3070134", so same)
2) Assuming same. Can someone call and order that $100 unit? If not same, can that someone call the top number and get their asking price?
3) Along with a secondhand unit. Can we, as a GRM collective, purchase rebuild parts from somewhere to send as well so Mayor Kozma never has to go through this again? quick search brings this one up, but boots aren't included (and I'll have to check the vin before we order): https://mossmotors.com/seal-kit-steering-rack-6?assoc=167442
Linkey or Car-Part in case it works: https://www.car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi
Cheers guys!
(This is going to be hillarious when GRM drops this off on his front porch like it was nothin)
Just for the sake of passing info: 1976 Jaguar XJ12, looks like AC and no AC are the same part number. Power steering seems to be the only option.
DarkMonohue said:In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Steering gear = steering box. That's still in use in some parts catalogs and among some (probably older) people here in the states.
I'm trying to generate a blurb about the GFM campaign for publication in our next company newsletter. The gal who is helping me organize it actually lived in Szeged for a bit while in school. She casually mentioned having been to Balaton. The world just keeps getting smaller.
You are deserving of the friendship with Mr Meyer. The duck looks good on you!
holy smokes, no kidding! A friend I work with (Gyongyos Ferenc) used to live in Szeged!
And thanks, man.
Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:Ok, lets do this. <snip> Can someone call and order...
Hey, before we go wheels-up, maybe there's a reason these thing don't exist. I'd hate to send him the same problem he already has. Do we have a resident Jaguar expert (no, not him) who can tell us what Jaguar people do when they need a rack? Or how about a steering gear rebuilder who can tell us what wears out and what to look out for?
Thirty years ago, I'd have known who to talk to in my local British car club.
Oh, snap. I know who to talk to. Or at least where to start. Standby, over.
DarkMonohue said:Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:Ok, lets do this. <snip> Can someone call and order...
(no, not him)
I'm dyin here! XD
Hey, good news. I'm hearing that "the rack is the same on series one, two and three XJ6 and 12 which includes the double 6." Can we verify that the Mayor's Daimler is left hand drive? One can assume, but...
Sorry I haven't been checking in on this thread. I was alerted via PM that I might be able to help.
Steering racks were the same for series one, two and three XJ6,XJ12 and XJS. the LHD ZF unit is special order, Just over $500 USD. Right hand drive is readily available.
I *should* have a low mile rack out of an XJ6C I converted to an Omni rack with an EPAS column. I will try to find it. If that is the case a couple of fresh seals and boots would do the trick. Give me a few hours to look.
Trent said:Sorry I haven't been checking in on this thread. I was alerted via PM that I might be able to help.
Steering racks were the same for series one, two and three XJ6,XJ12 and XJS. the LHD ZF unit is special order, Just over $500 USD. Right hand drive is readily available.
I *should* have a low mile rack out of an XJ6C I converted to an Omni rack with an EPAS column. I will try to find it. If that is the case a couple of fresh seals and boots would do the trick. Give me a few hours to look.
Well hell, if that ain't just above and beyond! Thanks for jumping in. I would have been perfectly happy to just pick your brain, but this is better yet.
I'm starting to feel redundant!
Today's update to the Go Fund Me. (Copied and Pasted)
The Duck Flies.
(Photos for this will be at the end of the post)
If you’ve skimmed through the body of the fundraiser you might have noticed a yellow rubber duck sitting up on the dashboard of my truck there in the last photo. I’d like to explain its significance in case there were some people out there who didn’t know the meaning behind it.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to “The Ghost Camaro” and its driver “Helge Meyer”.
Back in the early 90's, when the Yugoslav wars broke out, UN convoys delivering Humanitarian aid to the area would come under near-constant attack. Eventually, the UN quit sending them.
Enter “Helge Meyer”.
Helge Meyer was a former Jagercorp operative in the Danish Army (Think “Green Berets”). When he heard about the situation with the UN and the relief aid that wasn’t getting in, he bought a 1979 Camaro and approached the US Air Force command in Rhein-Main, Germany. He wanted to help the children and elderly still trapped in the conflict area and his idea was simple:
1) Armor the Camaro, and make it stealth.
2) Add lots of nitrous.
3) Stuff it to the roof with humanitarian aid
4) Drive it through the front lines and into Bosnia by himself.
5) Repeat repeat repeat.
Helge Meyer didn’t carry a weapon. He was armed only with his bible, his vehicle, and his knowledge of the Bosnian back roads. That combination of man and machine made about a hundred trips into areas previously inaccessible to any other aid efforts, earning him the nickname “Gottes Rambo” (God’s Rambo).
By now you’re probably thinking “Bill, a 1979 Camaro is not a duck".
Go back and look very close at that Camaro’s grill. See it there in the center?
In interviews Helge Meyer says he put the yellow duck in the grill because he doesn’t want to take himself too seriously.
So the Yugoslav wars have ended decades ago, and this one in Ukraine has started. Now it's my turn to punch down the back-roads of Ukraine and Hungary (in areas much safer than Bosnia, I must say) and there was discussion on the Grassroots Motorsports Forum of things we should do to the truck. Things I should bring, items I should add.
“A rubber duck” someone said.
I immediately got the reference. Up it went, but not in the grill...
This truck isn’t new, you see, and driving it isn’t like driving anything modern. It’s not comfortable. It’s bouncy, it’s loud, everything vibrates and gives feedback. Rolling down the windows brings fumes and exhaust into the cabin, rolling them up cooks you in the summer heat. There is no AC…
But I put the duck up on the dash where I can see it, and that keeps me goin. It’s been keeping me movin when I’m dead tired. Upright when I should have fallen months ago. It gets me back on the road when, I shouldn’t be able to get out of bed. It’s my nod to a man I hold above men, and I hope to do it justice.
Last week my youngest son came home from shopping with his mom and showed me a duck he bought with his own money. I thought it was just because he’s 6-years old and is age appropriate for the toy.
Nope.
He bought himself a duck so he can put it on the dash of his truck one day.
Here's a video about the Ghost Camaro and it's driver if you were interested in giving it a watch (not mine, no affiliation):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJUF3E27oTU
Prologue:
Mr. Meyer accepted my friend request yesterday, and it was an absolute pleasure to get to talk to him. More than anything else, I wanted to be able to show him: “His duck is still out there and flying, and it looks like it will for generations to come”.
DarkMonohue said:Hey, good news. I'm hearing that "the rack is the same on series one, two and three XJ6 and 12 which includes the double 6." Can we verify that the Mayor's Daimler is left hand drive? One can assume, but...
Just shot off an e-mail to confirm LHD (I'm betting it is, as there are LOADS of RHD units on Ebay.co.uk, but still).
Will let you guys know the absolute second I have an answer.
We have our info:
Dear Bill, thank you for intervening on the forum regarding the steering gear. I will of course send you a precise description and photos. Left-hand drive, series 2.It is important that the new part fits perfectly. And now it would be urgent, because it has been occupying a place in a car repair shop for half a year, and they want to put it out!
(Chassis and VIN number omitted and available on request)
He thinks it might be this one, but I wasn't sure https://www.limora.com/en/adwest-power-steering-unit/13683/
Even if it was the correct one, I bet GRM could get the job done at a raction of the price.
The big question now becomes, should I tell him he should probably rent a tux?
Don't tell him. Tell him you couldn't find one. Find out what shop it's at, get them the part, have them fix it and tell the guy it's gotta be gone by the weekend.
Then tell him you can store it at your pkace until it's fixed and go with him to pick it up. Surprise him then.
Guys,
Here' your Monday moment of zen
Transfers have been made, it's early in the month, and things are goin good.
Cheers guys.
In other news, I've pulled the truck from service for some... service.
I took the kids out dirt-roadin on a hot summer afternoon and the fuel pump started actin up. There's a lake nearby that has a swim area with a nice sandy beach, and if you've got 4wd there are some fun ways to get back there. Short story long, she started starving for fuel once we were outside of civilization and cell service.
Same thing as what happened at the gas station in Slovakia. I just let her cool down a bit (she was at 1/3 tank) and she fired back up. We didn't have any issues after that, but still. Parts are on order. Better to fix things in the comfort of my driveway, than on the side of the roads (or trail).
Good times.
Today was a good day. Here's the update copied from the GFM guys:
Is it Tuesday, or Wednesday?
It’s “day 3” of this week. I’ve given up on trying to keep track of what day it is. I mean, I think it was Tuesday when I woke up but I’m pretty sure now is Wednesday (and it should still be Wednesday when I wake up again). Confused yet? I am. That’s why I’m just calling it “day 3”.
It is “day 3” of this week (when I get to “day 5” I know that I don’t have to go to work the next day).
Ok, so I’ve been meaning to do some shopping with the locally donated money, and I finally got around to doing that today. In the "local envelope" we had about 280,000 Hungarian forint (approx. $715.00) donated in cash for school supplies and medical supplies, we had a surplus of 100,000 Hungarian forint (approx. $255.00) sitting in cash that was carried over from the donations received through Grassroots Motorsports last month, and I had gotten about 4-hours of sleep so far despite the fact that I could not possibly keep my eyes open during morning cartoons at 7am...
Time to put that money to work.
First up was the “Stuffie donation bin”: A Grassroots Motorsports Forum member, and father of 2, contacted me back in late March and asked that I start a “stuffie donation service” with the money he was sending. It was such a good idea, and he sent so much money, that it’s been in operation ever since.
I have a green laundry basket that rides shotgun with me in the Toyota, and when I see a Ukrainian child in need, they get a stuffie. “big enough to hug, soft enough to cry into” was the only requirements he gave for spending his money.
Fast forward and you know we’re expecting 30-35 children in the hospital. Noooo problem, except we only had 19 stuffies left in that bin. We could absolutely not knowingly walk into a situation where we would short children stuffies in that hospital when others got some.
Enter that Grassroots 100,000 Hungarian forint surplus.
Last time we did our stuffie shopping, I opted for a local Ma-and-Pop toy shop and this time was no different. What was different this time was I had my two kids with me.
“alright guys, we got a TON of money and we need to grab a TON of stuffies for the kids at the hospital”
(confused looks follow. Kids return with a stuffie each)
"Guys... We gotta fill these baskets. You can grab more than one”
(each child cautiously takes a basket and drops another stuffie or two in)
“Here guys, like this” (I start grabbing stuffies from all over the store and stuffing them in my basket)
(kids, now up to speed follow suit)
Kid number 1: “Oooh, Dinosaurs! Ooh, Minions! Ooh, Mario! Ooh, Peppa Pig!!!!”
Me: “Don’t forget to grab something you think the girls would like!” (I have two boys)
Kid number two: “Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Dog. Cat. Dog. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat.”
In all, our little shopping trip brought our total up to 49 stuffies in our collection. All of which will be dropped off at the hospital to be handed out at their discretion.
Also noteworthy was the restocking of our football delivery service: Another fellow Grassroots Forum Member started that one early in March when we were visiting shelters as “one toy keeps one kid busy, but a soccer ball keeps a whole group active and entertained”.
We used the remaining GRM funds to bring our balance up to 9 soccer balls, and 3 air pumps (I think that's a good ratio of balls to pumps).
Next up was the school supply shopping. We decided that with so much coming in from this GoFundMe drive, we could go ahead and spend the bulk of the 280,000Hungarian Forint we received locally on school supplies.
Again, using my kids as advisors we picked out BOXES of things they say are most needed (with a focus on quality. They told me what works, and which brands kids say to avoid). We’re not done with that one by any means, but we bought enough stuff that the bottoms broke out of the boxes we were carrying and we had to drive the car right up to the front door of the shop to load it.
We still have about 60,000 Hungarian forint (approx. $153.00) in local funds left over, and plan to purchase some more school supplies with it. Doing so will free up more of our GoFundMe money for hospital supplies for the Children’s Hospital.
All that being said, you can see the updates on the chart I keep for the Grassroots Motorsports folks:
- Stuffie and football balances are up.
- We’ve JUST made our monthly donation to the Kisgorbo refugee shelter (now housing 17 people, up from the previous 10)
- We've dropped off 150,000huf (approx. $382.00) to Ira’s art therapy program in Budapest (now helping 60 children)
aaaaaand
Our fundraiser is up to $2776.00 USD (1,000,000 Hungarian forint yo!!!!!). Sorry. I'm still excited about that.
Cheers guy, and thanks for everything.
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