conversion left to right hand drive steering box position

[Adrian3]

just doing this conversion on my T5....the car is completely stripped, so i can't easily reassemble the steering components.....what i'm trying to work out is the exact new position of the steering box. Would this be the way to work it out?:

Bolt up steering box with LHD pitman arm in LHD position, and with arm in fully 'right turn' position (i.e. with end of arm close to left side inner wing).
Measure exact position of the hole which takes the left side tie rod, relative to inside face of inner wing (for its transverse position) and relative to the upper torsion bar tube (for its front-to-back position).
Remove steering box, and set box in its fully 'left turn' position, and offer it up in, roughly, its new position on the right side.
Trial fit a RHD Pitman arm on the box on the spline which most nearly positions the hole which takes the right side tie rod to mimic the dimensions taken earlier. (a bit difficult as the pin which locates the box on the torsion bar tube won't allow it to sit flat on the t-bar tube).

Or, is this completely wrong?

[40 scout]

Leave it lhd cool

Steve

[vwgillybilly]

Wont alignment with the column determine the position?

Gill

[Mike Smith]

Adrian,

If you want a nice day out in sunny Essex - ?

I have an NOS RHD Dashboard that you are welcome to take measurements from
That will give you `the correct` top mount position, which is not necessarily where you think it ought to be

Also check whether Porsche put a hole in the top Beam for the Steering Box location Peg - I cannot remember

mike356@btinternet.com

[Adrian3]

thanks Mike, i may take you up on that....no hole for peg, unfortunately....i could work back from the column position....should the axis of the column lie parallel to the centre line of the car (in plan view).
I've read that the notch in the dash panel for the column needs to move 35mm....but i really wanted to work it out from the correct box position

[simon james]

Pm sent.

[Mike Smith]

I've read that the notch in the dash panel for the column needs to move 35mm....but i really wanted to work it out from the correct box position

While you are measuring a Real Dash you can also measure my RHD Steering Box Position

[roy mawbey]

Adrian,

Mikes suggestion is well worth while. I remember John Fletcher converting his 'A 'to RHD. This proved for him a difficult task and he was a good guy on 356. I remember helping him somewhat with dimensions when he made the alterations for his converted dash panel.

That alone was hard and then LHD 'A' cars had flat not raised instrument cut outs which for me would have been impossible. The handbrake assy needs moving, and I believe the RHD drive cars needed the RHD pedal cluster.

If Mike was selling apart from the RHD pitman arm, also the dash and handbrake parts, etc from his wide used spares it might make it so much easier.

The fuse box too needs fitting elsewhere and would the wiring be long enough to reach to the other side?

Its a big job. I presume the steering column runs parallel it looks that way but never seen a drawing showing that.

Have you already all the other parts? I could send you the drawing with dimensions I made for John if you needed to make comparisons.

What is your intended procedure to complete this? Maybe I am over cautious Mike would probably advise you the best way.

Roy

[Mike Smith]

You are correct, of course Roy and I do have all the parts including the Pitman Arm which is the really difficult piece

The wiring will reach across OK

The raised ridge around the Instruments is a Reuter thing - I believe that I am correct in saying that the Karmann built Dash is flat but I do also have a Used RHD Dash that was cut from a car - so that might also be an option

We do not push these things - it always seems to me that people like to do there own thing (however long it takes)

[Adrian3]

funny you should mention the dash, Roy....i made a right balls-up when i cut the dash without properly thinking it through....it'll all come right in the end, though

[drew01356]

Hi Adrian
I have my 59A RHD apart at the moment and I'm mounting the RHD pedal cluster into a new front toe board bulkhead so you can see exactly how all the pieces fit, I am just down the road from you in Epsom, happy for you to pop in and take pictures/ measurements.

DSCF7208_sml_sml1.jpg

Regards
Drew

[Adrian3]

pm sent, Drew

[Adrian3]

well, on my LHD T5, the column is not parallel to the centreline of the car, it "runs out" about 30mm over its length, and the steering wheel is almost on the seat c/l...on RHD, column seems to run out more, but not enough to prevent the wheel being offset to left of seat c/l

[Mike Smith]

Come and see me Adrian

[Adrian3]

just thought i'd write up the process:

obtain a rhd Pitman arm (e.g. from PRS) and mount it at the correct position

drill hole in top t-bar tube for steering box, centre of hole is 210mm from inside face of channel thro which the tube first passes

i changed the vertical panel behind the battery, but the (lhd) panels need alteration, i had to remove about 18mm from the middle and alter the right hand opening to clear the steering box, by ensuring there is only about 6mm of land on the inner side of the opening

alter the vertical access cover to suit the new opening

obtain a rhd handbrake "slave" shaft (the big S shaped one) and a rhd bracket for its other end....or convert your existing

grind off fulcrum pin from centre t-bar adjustment assy and weld pin on other side (for handbrake S shaft)

remove the little trumpet tube about 6" long which takes the handbrake cable, weld up the hole in the bulkhead, flip the tube, weld it back on the floor cleat, all so that its fwd end lines up with the inner hole of the S shaft

transfer the reinforcing plate for tyhe handbrake pull assy to the rh side

cut and shut the facia, think very carefully about this, its not as easy as you think: the position of the colum saddle is 238.5 from the centre of the car measured at the face of the facia to the centre of the saddle: this means that the column of a rhd car is at more of an angle than a lhd car

cut holes for pedal box/master cyl, my car had little indents to show exactly where they went, i obtained a rhd conversion kit for the pedal box from PRS, so that bit was easy, but you'll still need to drill a hole for the throtle cross shaft and weld a bush on the main pedal box housing

transfer the holes on the bulkhead for the column , h/brake pull etc to rh side, this is quite tricky to get in the right places

incidentally, the pressed "dish" shape on the bulkhead is not transferred to rh side, as it is on the lh side even on rhd cars

i changed the horizontal panel immediately above the steering box and kept both access covers, but really you only need to keep the access on the rh side (Porsche did not make a rh cover , so just flip the lh one)

remove fuse box and wiring "funnel" and transfer to lh side

obviously, the steering damper moves to the lh side

i haven't done the wiring yet, but apparently, it all reaches ok

other things like the door hinge cover plates need the ident plates swapping, i didn't do mine as i've no intention of pretending that the car is anything other than a converted one

i must have missed a lot, but that's the main stuff