Mr Simmonds 3B lite project.

[K Simmonds]

Yeah I thought that rack was a fair enough price given that it would be hard to find one much newer, the marks on the casting suggest it was manufactured in 1999. Hope I never have to fit it to be honest but at least I have it ready if needs be. I'm confident I could do the complete job again in a day now having done it once and sorted all the niggle's that took up time.

I should have her back together by tomorrow afternoon, won't take long to sort the Darleks head and fit the hoses, also going to have to move the steering wheel to center it on the splines which I wasn't expecting, I tried the bottom mount in both possible position's and the wheel wasn't straight in either, no big deal though.

Your dam right I'm keen to get her out again, really missed being able to blast around this past week esspecially with weather we've been having.

[andy10v]

Having it on the shelf is probably the best way to guarantee you will not need it!

[K Simmonds]

Spent today sorting the air leak from around the edge of the Darleks head, due to poor access it took me three hours to get it clean and roughened up using various wire brushes on a drill and a fine diamond file. I never want to touch it again, wish I hadn't removed to be honest, in hindsight I should have welded the AN fitting to a short bit of tube and used the original rubber coupling. I applied a bead of sealant around the lip before drifting it in the first time, however as it's now NLA I had to reuse an old slightly distorted one.

After much cleaning it looked like this.



Can't see that leaking, not very pretty but it's not visable once it's all back together.
I've not tried Quik steel before but it seems to do a good job and was really easy to use.



I took the engine mount off to improve access so I replaced it with a much better one from an Audi 100 turbo I broke a couple of years ago, it's about 5 mm taller, same part number.



Also got the Samco's fitted and test fitted my alloy radiator, it seems to be about 10mm taller than the Behr so I need to modify the bottom mount to get a satisfactory amount of bonnet clearance.

[andy10v]

New rad looks nice, thick core!

[K Simmonds]

Yeah I'm really pleased with the rad, can't recommend Colin enough, nice guy to deal with and his work is flawless.

I've got a day off today, should have her runnning again by lunch time.

[K Simmonds]

All back together and working, no leaks from the rack unions, feels much better than with the old Servotronic unit but it will take another couple of excursions to get used to it.

The new rad fit's nicely, I did think it maybe a little tall however the bleed screw only just touch's the bonnet sound deadening, the fan bolted up perfectly

[andy10v]

Job well done.

What row oil cooler did you go for? How many more rows do you think would fit?

[willg54]

Glad the racks all ok!

[K Simmonds]

Cheers chaps.

Than again for servicing the rack Will, it feels spot on and I haven't adjusted the preload as yet, good job sir.

Andy, I've just mentioned the oil cooler on your thread, it 13 row and does the job just fine, haven't had the oil much over 100 C. I reckon you could get a 15 or 18 row in there at a push.

[K Simmonds]

Took her out to fill up with V-power followed by a decent 50 mile blast on a couple of my favorate A roads, the new rack feels much, MUCH better than the old Servotronic unit. Even though I know the geo needs setting up again it's still a massive improvement, much more connected and less vauge as well as being quicker.

All in all well worth the hassle.

Fitted a pair of new rear diff bushes even though the one's on there looked OK and the mystery clunk from the back end has gone, result, thought I was going to have to change the diff.

Just got a pair of straight rear wishbone's to fit and and I can get the allingment done again, going to get on this tomorrow.

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

I remember the journalists at the time mentioned the servotronic rack had a vague feel so i am not surprised you have noticed a big difference when compared to the ABY rack.For some reason b3/b4 cars have a habit with bushes looking ok yet when replaced make a big difference,ie your nock has now gone and yet it looked fine. Once your car is 4 wheel aligned those welsh roads will suck your car to the tarmac

[K Simmonds]

I can see why the Servotronic unit got slated by the motoring press when the first S2's hit the market, having driven the car back to back with each type the difference is like night and day. OK, it's hasn't suddenly become a Westfield but at least now I feel like I'm conected directly to the road by metal componants, before it was like something was made of Toffee.

I could see nothing what so ever wrong with the old diff bushes, both having been replaced by the previous owner along with a poly rear mount which I reverted to stock some time ago. However I'd still get a cluck on fast gear changes and the odd dirty great thump from the back when going over pot holes. Stuck another pair of OE mounts on and it's now all quite, very pleased about that, it was bothering me.

[Error404]

Nice one Kit! Yeah the ABY rack is a real improvement.

[K Simmonds]

Cheers Alex, yep I'd say the rack swap is the best thing I've done for the handling as yet

[Error404]

You should have a grope of my rack at ADI