Triumph Repair: Spitfire steering rack, Spitfire, Vixen

Question
I will need to refurbish a steering rack in a 1968 TVR Vixen. I am told they use a
Triumph steering rack. I ASSUME from the spitfire. How can I accurately identify
the rack? Thanks

Answer
Bob,

Yes, the Vixen used the Spitfire steering rack, which itself was shared with the Triumph Herald.

The Spitfire steering rack is clamped to the car with brackets that hit against 2 ridges in the rack, 13" apart.  The rack unit is comprised of a steel outer tube that the rack slides in which is approx 1 1/16" in diameter.  The outer rack tube is approximately 18" long.

The pinion rides in an aluminum housing that's part of the rack.  On the Spitfire units there is a flat on the top surface of the pinion extension that seems to be stamped with serial number (or production date, it's unclear).  

The TR6 and the GT6 used steering racks that are externally similar in dimension although the front of aluminum pinion housing is round, not flattened on top.

The GT6 and TR6 units have a different ratio to allow easier steering with the heavier 6 cylinder engines.

I hope the description was enough to resolve the problem.


Cheers,

Jim