Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

Thought it was time to get it sorted so bought a complete 58 plate Corsa D column for £90 off the bay, should be here in a few of days...



Will update with pics etc. as I do it!

I know Gary and Rick have done this already but though I'd stick up a guide thread for others to see too, any hints and tips from you two would be appreciated though fella's!

Oh, if anyone has a stock column and shaft lying around drop me a PM, need one to butcher the Corsa unit into! lol

Kelly Baker

iTrader: (1)

Love the idea of this......be good to have a step by step guide, looking forward to seeing this.

PETEDUDE007

yeah looks interesting

JonnyBravo

Had the Corsa D one proved to be reliable than the C ?

I have a few columns if anyone else is after one, not the Corsa D ones though

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

No idea Jonny but the motor is smaller so will hopefully mean less dash butchery to fit it.

JonnyBravo

Yeh I did notice that, tbh for what they cost if one did fail its hardly massive expense to replace it. the hard bit is making it fit then its plain sailing from there.

rsmark86

iTrader: (3)

i want to do this aswel to my s1 and rs16i...... keep us posted karlos great work

project rs

first thing we did was smash all the barrell etc of the thing to get to the heart of the beast then cut the top part of and re welded the escort one on to it so all the escort stalks etc could be used then offered it up in place to see where to then cut lower part of escort one to get it back to standard lenght for steering wheel position then welded it so basically you now have the corsa one as a sandwich in escort one then welded tabs onto it to bolt to car to stiffen it all back up and take the load placed on it when driving hope that gives you a quick rough guide to get you on your way

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

Cheers Ritchie, that is pretty much what I'm going to do, just need a escort one to lay beside it and meassure up before I start cutting and welding!

Chopshop85

iTrader: (4)

Hope this goes well for you! once you've got it done would you like to make one for me

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

lol

crazycage

ill post what ever pic's of it i have when i get home tonight. But i didnt take them as a guide was just to keep rick in the loop as i did it.

rsmark86

iTrader: (3)

and me i want it done aswell lol... i might even have two coz i just brought a rs1600i shell to build lol

155lee

iTrader: (10)

still need an escort column?

billybob

i bought 1 of these kits of rick but never got round to fitting it as it was f**king nightmare, its not a 5 minute job, it now lives in the loft lol

rsmark86

iTrader: (3)

well i would rather pay someone to do mine whos done it already save me butchering my car lol

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

Cheers Gary!
Yes mate I do, and the shaft that runs from the steering wheel to the rack if you have one?
It's only the dash that needs a bit trimming out AFAIK, not proper butchery! lol

rsmark86

iTrader: (3)

yer but i get over excited with power tools lol its not just that tho im crap at welding....

mentalasanything

What are you going to use to control it Karlos? Been thinking about this myself.

Keep us informed!

Lee

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

From what I can make out from other pics the ECU is built in to the center section by the motor, and just needs a RPM signal, and speed signal, plus obviously your normal live and earth.
So RPM is easy, speed signal I will try from the speed sender on the gearbox, if that doesnt work then there is a guy on ebay that sells a little control box that plugs in and simulates both.

mentalasanything

Cool! Just depends if the steering ECU will take the ford speed signal then I suppose.

Good stuff!

Lee

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

Yup thats what i'm thinking.... if not then ebay it is!

rsmark86

iTrader: (3)

wicked sounds good guys

crazycage

we use the little control box off ebay. Didnt get done till late last night (in the garage lol) so didnt get on my pc ,on my phone in work hours .

155lee

iTrader: (10)

I have the sleeve,whole shaft from wheel to rack,new column bushing.I still have the shell if you need the bracket that fixes to the bulkhead.14 deliverred?

graham c

iTrader: (5)

i,ve got this in the mk1 the corsa b,s are crap but the c,s are good

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

Got one sorted local, cheers though Lee!

155lee

iTrader: (10)

know how long i spent taking it out,skinning my knuckles?and i could have had another 10p if it had been in the car when i weighed it in today!no bother,ill maybe list it on ebay.

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

Sorry Lee!!
me

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

The two columns side by side...



Thinking about just having the first knuckle joints swapped over, using the RST bottom half fitted into the top half of the Corsa kuckle..



Then just cut and sleeve/weld the top half of the RST shaft to the Corsa one, if you remove the outer sheath of the Corsa column there is just a normal size shaft in there.

Have not got my car right now to see where that would sit the motor etc. in relation to the dash (having a new battery tray fitted) but these are just my first thoughts.

Also here is a pic of inside what looks like the ECU part...



Need to find out what pins do what on the multipin socket you can see, the two bigger spade connector ones are for the power and earth I guess, and the one that is still plugged in is for the torque (steering wheel) sensor in the top half of the column.

crazycage

heres the only pic's i can find

Rick

Karlos, I trusted mine to a pro welder, ie. Gary - make sure you do the same as you don't want the bastard snapping on you mid bend...

It's an awesome conversion though. Trickiest bit is getting the lengths spot on, and then making nice strong brackets to keep the top half study.

Rick

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

Cheers Rick, it will be done properly, I wouldnt want mine snapping mid corner either!

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

Decided to leave this until the spring, instead my money is going on a new tacho, speedo, fuel, and water temp gauges to match my, oil press, temp, and boost ones!
Speedo cable broke the other day and i'm fed up with having a wobbley needle anyway so a good excuse to change the lot! lol

DazC

iTrader: (1)

Wobbling speedo needle is usually down to a sticking cable anyway!

Karlos G

iTrader: (4)

It's always done it, had two cables and a different set of clocks, and 3 different gearbox's! lol
But I want all my dials matching now it's in my head!

Daveysaff

iTrader: (9)

is this still a goer Karlos?

MarkN

That's potentially very dodgy..

Whoever made that has cut out the "collapsible can" safety section from the original Escort column. The whole point of it is if you have a front ender the steering column will collapse into the dash if your chest hits the steering wheel. With that section removed the column won't fold and your ribcage will collapse instead.

I'd rather have the collapsible section than PAS if it has to be one or the other. PAS isn't going to be much good to you if you're dead...

Paul81

Hi thinking of doin this to a mk1 fiesta but cant seem to fine this control box every one keeps talking about any help would be great
Thanks
Paul

Rick

Irrelevant in this case, as the harnesses/cage should do their job. The way it is mounted in the car is totally different from std and it would just lever upwads if it was hit that hard. All the electric steering conversions for track cars I've seen use a solid setup.

I'm not convinced the collapsable can as you say does much. The steering wheel is bolted to the inner column which is solid anyway.

Rick