9/16" tie rods, Fast ratio arms, etc...

I recently parted out a 1970 Polara and saved a few of the parts that are not likely to sell online or at swap meets. I saved the 9/16" tie rod sleeves and ends and the Idler arm.
I recall that the 9/16" tie rod was an upgrade for the A-B-E crowd over the smaller 1/2" stuff we had originally. The sleeves from the C body are longer than my stock ones in the Charger. It looks like they are threaded the entire way through from end to end. I am thinking of cutting them to the length of the Charger sleeves. Anyone else here have good luck doing this?
I am not against buying new stuff, I just LOVE finding ways to improve things by using a little creativity.
I already have the Fast Ratio idler and Pitman arms in my '70 Charger....BUT the idler arm from this Polara is LONGER than any stock Idler arm I have in my parts stash. As I am typing this I am kicking my ass because I did NOT check the length on the Pitman arm from that car...I just scrapped it. What if they are a CHEAP substitute for the Fast Ratio arms? The Idler is about 3/4" to 1" longer than an A or B idler arm.
I may put the Charger up on the lift tomorrow to compare the Idler arms. I wonder if I just stumbled onto something cool!

Almost all of the original Direct Connection suspension parts were repurposed C body or Van parts. That is where the early NASCAR stuff came from. If you have access to the old Kit Car build materials you'll find a lot of C body, van and light truck stuff that was put on the ABE platform so what you're looking at is basically the same stuff. I'm pretty sure the "fast ratio" idler arm is just a C body idler but I don't recall exactly which make and model it comes from. Could be the same thing with the Pittman arm. It would have been easy for the Mopar engineers to grab a C body or van Pittman arm and stick it on the TA and call it a "fast ratio".

Isn't the c-body pitman arm ball joint stud larger than on ABE cars so it doesn't interchange (I know the indexing is wrong too but that could be corrected with a file)?

ABE tie rods are 9/16" from factory - C-body is 11/16".

A taper reamer takes care of any mounting hole diameter issues. Speedway sells them.

Sure enough but if you have to buy a C-body pitman arm and the reamer (they are expensive) you could as well just get a fast ratio arm

Actually I believe the "normal" TR are 9/16" and the C body stuff might be 11/16".you saved.

There is no engineering need for the 11/16" "upgrade" on a street driven car you mentioned, none, unless one has already added 3/8"+ thick LCA gussets with their KYB shocks. and running into curbs is one's idea of recreation. .

Thanks, I did have the sizes listed wrong.

Wow, it has been a while since I bought a reamer, they are indeed expensive.

Even when NEW stuff is readily available, I like finding cheaper ways to do stuff using REpurposed old stuff. I've made sway bars from other cars and trucks work, I've mixed and matched leaf springs to get a height and ride I wanted. I've made my own torque boxes and frame connectors too. Fun stuff.

If you know the angle you can buy one from Ebay. I saved a lot. Common use was for GM truck upgrade in the off-road field.

The Firm Feel Stage 3 steering box in my car has felt sloppy for awhile. I had suspected the coupler to have some slop but it always feels snug.
Still, the loose feeling on center or more specifically, from the 11:00 to 1:00 positions always annoyed me. I could turn the steering shaft by hand with the engine off and see a fair amount of movement before the pitman arm started to move. The splined shaft on the steering box moved in and out with the rotation of the steering shaft too. Today I adjusted the nut and screw on top. The 3/4" nut was cracked loose and the slotted screw was turned about 1/4 turn clockwise, then it would not move any more. I tightened down the 3/4" nut and drove the car. The slop is greatly reduced but a little still remains. I wonder if this means that I am at the end of what can be done with this box. I have considered a Borgeson box for the car so maybe I'll use this FF box in another car.

How many miles have you put on the FF3 since new/install?

I can't see it wore out yet anyway, something else must be at play, pun intended..

There is maybe 12,000 miles on it since the 2003 rebuild.