Recently I had a regular customer call over to the shop, inquiring about getting some service done on his '88 Zimmer Quicksilver. Our shop owner had apparently OKed having it sent over, but it arrived with a list much longer than anything we had ever discussed with him. The vehicle had a few regular service items on it (change plugs, check tires, change oil and fluids, etc...) and then one that stood out a bit more than the others: Repair power steering.
Now, if you're familiar with the Quicksilver you understand why this was the daunting portion of the task. If you're not familiar with the Quicksilver, you're probably wondering why the heck the new guy is posting about something other than a Fiero. The Zimmer Quicksilver was based on the chassis of the Fiero, except that it was completely modified to reflect the classic luxury look and feel that Zimmer sought in all of their automobiles. To be clear, this is not a kit car. This is a complete, no-lose-ends, no mismatched body panels, luxury coup, with a ridiculous attempt at classic styling. These cars were hand built from the ground up, starting with just a chassis. One of the key features of the Zimmer Quicksilver was that it had power steering, whereas it's Pontiac counterpart did not.They achieved this using a modified rack from a Merkur XR4Ti.
On to the fun part. The power steering on this leaks like a sieve, so every couple of turns you need to put another bottle of fluid in. We initially sent the rack off to a company (let's call them B2 Cardon't) to have all of the seals replaced and to hopefully solve this problem. A week or so after sending it out, the company called and requested (in very broken English) the VIN off the vehicle. After a few minutes of trying to explain to the gentleman that the Fiero VIN on the car wouldn't help him find information on the Merkur rack, he took us at our word. A few days later we got another call saying that they couldn't (possibly wouldn't) work on it and were sending it back. I believe that they refused service because we didn't give them a VIN and due to some kind of liability issue they didn't want to fool with it. We're still waiting to hear the specifics on that in case we get word that the housing is cracked or warped.
After doing a bit of research, I came across a few different sources detailing how I could go about modifying a rack for use in a Fiero. We can fabricate here, that's not a problem, honestly though I'd rather have the original rack remanufactured. I've been talking to a company on the west coast that claims they might be able to it, but I'd much rather find someone on the east coast since this thing has been up on a rack for 2 weeks already. So if anyone knows of a place that might be interested in rebuilding this rack, please send me the information so I can free up some valuable shop space.
In the meantime, anyone have any questions about the Quicksilver? It's here and it's going to be here awhile, so feel free to ask about any of the specs on it or for pictures.
------------------ I'd love to own my own Fiero, but for now I'm just fixing someone else's chimera...
A 2000-up Camaro rack can be used. Check with West Coast Fiero for information on their approach. I just installed one on an 86, there were a few small glitches with the adapter bracket to mount the rack, but its very do-able.
Great info, thanks! Did you have to adapt the input shaft? The connection there and the tie rods were my biggest concern for installation. The Merkur rack had to be done up a bit, but mounted in easily from the looks of things.
Also, I just got a call that the reman company may have actually fixed the rack... the email information we got showed that it had been rejected for repair, but the rep didn't know what we were talking about when we asked why it had been rejected.
At any rate, I'll be posting a picture of the rack once it comes in, fixed or no. I'm sure there's someone around who like to see exactly what was done to this thing.
I've seen a number of horrific kits and downright dangerous stretch jobs, but the Quicksilver had to be the most professional jobs outside of factory in terms of welds and finish. If I remember correctly the front compartment under the hood was carpeted the same material in the trunk. Peaking under the carpet I was expecting it to hide a butchers hacking but was surprised how well things were placed, painted and clean.
Would it be possible to get (any) VIN from the rack source car? Or maybe just an OEM rebuilt rack and then modify from existing parts?
Sadly I didn't get a chance to scour the rack for a VIN before it got sent out and I'm not even sure if there is one. I was able to locate some original racks for the XR4Ti, but due to the amount of modification needed, we decided to try the route of getting it repaired first. With any luck this thing will come back, sealed up and ready to put back in.
I did come across this link while searching for options though. It's a rather thorough walk through of how to convert an XR4Ti rack for use in a Fiero. The Quicksilver has a bit more room to work with since they stretched the nose out to make the front trunk roomier, but I believe this is essentially what was done.
I've seen a number of horrific kits and downright dangerous stretch jobs, but the Quicksilver had to be the most professional jobs outside of factory in terms of welds and finish. If I remember correctly the front compartment under the hood was carpeted the same material in the trunk. Peaking under the carpet I was expecting it to hide a butchers hacking but was surprised how well things were placed, painted and clean.
Like I said, this is not a kit car. Other than a few places where they chopped and stretched the frame, it's extremely clean and well put together.
The Camaro rack requires much less fab and mod time than the Merkur or Chevette. It might make sense to give your customer an upgrade to something more readily available. I think the Camaro rack was only $230.
Interesting thread, thanks for posting QuickSilver Mechanic, hope it all works out. Isnt it cool you instantly found a guy who had replaced a rack in a Quicksilver?
The Camaro rack requires much less fab and mod time than the Merkur or Chevette. It might make sense to give your customer an upgrade to something more readily available. I think the Camaro rack was only $230.
Awesome, I'll probably be going down that path if the old rack gets back and is defunct. The owner wants to keep the car as "Original as possible" (Yeah... I felt the irony in those words), so we're hoping the rack from the reman company turns out alright.
quote
Originally posted by 2.5:
Interesting thread, thanks for posting QuickSilver Mechanic, hope it all works out. Isnt it cool you instantly found a guy who had replaced a rack in a Quicksilver?
Definitely knew this was the right place to ask about it, but I assumed that he meant the application worked on the Fiero chassis. If he had replaced the rack on a Quicksilver, that would blow my mind, as there are only about 600 of them around (sans whatever was lost to poor driving and a lack of available parts.)
Interesting thread, thanks for posting QuickSilver Mechanic, hope it all works out. Isnt it cool you instantly found a guy who had replaced a rack in a Quicksilver?
Actually not on a Zimmer, but on a stretched 86 Fiero chassis with very nice Testa Rosa rebody on it. I have seen a few Zimmers, not my cup of tea.
I just put a 1995 Trans Am rack into my Fiero, had to make a bracket and get the" tie rod adapters", but NOT a hard job. works great. And they are Plentiful and cheap.
The reason they needed the VIN is that the XR4Ti used two racks - a TRW and a ZF. The very early cars - '85 - mid '86 used the TRW (2.75 turns) and mid '86 & up used the ZF (3.2 turns). They are 100% interchangeable outside of the inner tie rods. Aside from the ratios, you can tell them apart as the TRW racks have a smooth body and the ZF racks a waffled one. If the earlier, quick-ratio isn't important you could order from from a '86+ Merkur Scorpio - it's the same ZF rack used for the entire run. You can get repair kits from pskits.com if you don't mind doing it yourself. You can get these racks anywhere, I bought one last year from Advance Auto Parts (a Fenco reman). Money no object, I'd buy one from Maval out in Ohio.
The reason they needed the VIN is that the XR4Ti used two racks - a TRW and a ZF. The very early cars - '85 - mid '86 used the TRW (2.75 turns) and mid '86 & up used the ZF (3.2 turns). They are 100% interchangeable outside of the inner tie rods. Aside from the ratios, you can tell them apart as the TRW racks have a smooth body and the ZF racks a waffled one. If the earlier, quick-ratio isn't important you could order from from a '86+ Merkur Scorpio - it's the same ZF rack used for the entire run. You can get repair kits from pskits.com if you don't mind doing it yourself. You can get these racks anywhere, I bought one last year from Advance Auto Parts (a Fenco reman). Money no object, I'd buy one from Maval out in Ohio.
Good grief... perhaps there's a build sheet out there somewhere that details all of this information. I'll have to let you know which they put in the vehicle.
quote
Originally posted by lou6t4gto:
I just put a 1995 Trans Am rack into my Fiero, had to make a bracket and get the" tie rod adapters", but NOT a hard job. works great. And they are Plentiful and cheap.
Interesting.. sounds like if there is a will, there is most certainly a way!
Originally posted by QuickSilver Mechanic:Good grief... perhaps there's a build sheet out there somewhere that details all of this information. I'll have to let you know which they put in the vehicle.
If the car is an '88, I gotta believe they used an '88 ZF rack. The TRW racks are very rare - < 18 months of use in a car that wasn't made in big numbers. Although, I guess maybe the Sierras use them in previous years overseas? I dunno. In any case, by '88 all the Merkurs used the ZF rack. I'll bet the Zimmer is a ZF.
I have the XR4Ti rack in my 88 Mera. The steering is so fast it is almost scary. The first time I drove it after I installed it I went to make a left turn. I ended up somewhat in the oncoming traffic lane it turned so fast. Good thing there was no car in that lane at that time. Maybe mine is a TRW rack?? One of the best improvements IMO that I did to my 88 Mera. Like driving an Indy car now.
Hey Quicksilver Mechanic, if you want to get that car off your rack and out of your shop til parts are available,, just put a standard Fiero rack back in it with an intermediate shaft and your good to go.
This could give you more time to locate the needed parts. Who knows, your customer may like a little road feel.
Spoon
------------------ "Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut
Sheeeiiiit. No one here asked for pics yet (!?) I wouldn't mind seeing a few of the Quicksilver AND the Chimera.
Well the Quicksilver is the Chimera that I was referring to. It's a mix of Merkur, a Fiero, styling from another era, and goodness knows what else.
Nothing screams luxury coupe quite like an enormous Chrome bumper. The front end of the stretched out chassis. The Quicksilver itself. Rear trunk, complete with plush red carpet. Wouldn't you love to have this interior in your Fiero? Front trunk, because you can never have too much plush red carpet. The put on a custom intake, but there's still a "Powered by General Motors" stamp.
Download Pennock's Image Poster, the blue box at the bottom of the page. There are size limits. If you're using a high resolution try to resize using your camera software or photoshop or something.
The rack finally came back and it's been repaired! We might be having an issue with the pump now, but hopefully it was just air trying to get out of the lines...
*For whatever reason, I can't get things to post properly or don't have permission to post them in the first place...
I wouldn't mind seeing a few of the Quicksilver AND the Chimera.
