Seeking Advice Regarding Rebuilding or Replacing A Deauville Steering Rack

Picture of the car...

 I spoke briefly with Steve last Monday and he indicated he was going to be away from his business until Tuesday of next week.

Larry 

Thanks, Larry - this is really helpful as I have been calling like a stalker for three days  , will try again next week after Tuesday.  

There are very few Deauvilles or Longchamps in the U.S so I have never worked on one, but I'm almost sure that is a ZF steering rack.

Hi Jose,

As far as I know the first series Deauville/Longchamp used a rack made by Cam Gear in the UK. It is not one that is used in a period Jaguar/Maserati/ferrari or Jensen.

Cam Gear is part of TRW nowadays as far I know. Maybe there have been posts about the Longchamp rack on this site and, hopefully, some more usefull tips.

Best of luck,

chiel

I was able to reach Steve Wilkinson;  he still owns the same (beautiful) fully restored Deauville he had 10 years ago when I first met him.  He explained that parts are no longer made for the original rack, and that he ended up using one from a different car in his (but cannot remember from what car).    It is not clear if the original was made by ZF or Cam Gear (likely one or the other).  I have searched the web for pictures and if I were a betting person I would bet on Cam Gear.   I dropped off the old rack a week back at a small shop in Pasadena, Master Steering, to see what they can do to get it going again.  Will update this thread if I have new news.  Thanks! 

Arrg - the shop in Pasadena tells me that the last mechanic that rebuilt the rack in my Deauville damaged the interior chamber where the sliding piston floats - it is all scratched up and destroys the seals if replaced.  So I need a new core (talk about unobtanium) or a different solution.  Now investigating alternatives from other cars that can be adapted.  

Can a speedy sleeve be installed?

Hi Jose,

not sure if you ever solved this one but the rack looks like the Cam Gears unit fitted to the early Longchamp (pre 75). Later longchamps had the ZF. There is some info on the below post which may assist if you are still working with the old unit.  I'd recommend the patent document (linked in the post) which was published by Cam Gears in the 1960's and has diagrams and explanations of how it works. Also may be worth checking with Finlandese as to whether his was finally sorted.

https://pantera.infopop.cc/top...ring-rack-adjustment