MAN THE HELM!

Lucky finally has power steering and it hasn't been easy at least to make sure it's done the way I want it. When I originally began designing Lucky I did not have any plans to use power steering. Then after a few discussions with National auto cross champion Mike Maier of Maier Racing I was thoroughly convinced that power steering was in Lucky's future. Having owned, driven and raced Mustangs & Shelbys since 1964 I canm honestly say I have a fair understanding of their strong features as well as their weak features and the design of early Mustang power steering is certainly the later of the two. Since I had decided to use power steering I decided to build a better mouse trap so to speak. One of the big concerns with Mustang power steering is how low the hoses are and the fact they hang down so far. Get them up too high and they rub on something.

Using my knowledge of their weakness's I was able to build what I feel will be the ultimate power steering system for this application. I was sure to use the highest quality braided/Teflon hose and then had the ends custom made for clearance and flex issues. This was an all day job today and the end result was almost perfect. Clearance was good, movement was perfect, and no leaks. The only issue with the power steering that still needs attention is that In want it to give a little more assist than it does. This is a simple cure because the racing pump I bought utilizes different restrictors which will allow me to raise or lower the amount of assist I want. It's important to remember the more assist you get the less "feel" you will have at high speed so this will be something we will want to check out at the track in the next couple weeks.

This evening I took care of a few other small details like adjusting the fuel sender so that I will know how much fuel is "usable" when it reads quarter tank. This is a detail all endurance racers live for. And hey... even though I don't have a drive shaft I hooked up the speedometer actually watched the speedometer work. Speaking of the drive shaft, I was told the custom built aluminum drive shaft should be here Tuesday or Wednesday. Think about it... Lucky could actually move under his own power after who knows how many years of sitting in some field in Oregon.