Changing Steering Rack In-Situ

[Error404]

It can be done:




Took me about 3.5 hrs to remove the "old" one, spent an hour getting the new one in place, bolted in and the steering column attached. Waiting on some new compression washers. I guess another 1.5 - 2 hours to get everything torqued up and back on the deck with fluids in. So all in all about a 6-7 hour job, probably 7-8 hours on an S2 as I think you would need to remove the throttle body and possibly the inlet manifold.

Would not like to try it on a cq / 3B with the battery tray in place, in fact I doubt it is even possible; The rack does not fit through the tie-rod hole in the inner wing. I had to wrestle it up through the gap where the battery tray would have been. Perhaps you could drop it out the bottom by removing the passenger side driveshaft and heatshield.

I will do a write-up with some more pics over the next few days

[rj scotty]

Go and bathe your knuckles and have a beer

Well done!

[Error404]

amazingly all knuckles still intact!

[Tony Stark]

Good stuff. I did one on an M reg 2.0l 8v coupe some years ago. I must have sounded like i was suffering from tourettes leaning over the front swearing every 5 minutes. Looking back it wasnt actually that bad. But now my 3b cq rack is leaking, so i guess its wait until the motor needs to be pulled which probably wont be long knowing mine, failing that ill cut the pas belt off, join the gym and ignore it.

[HORCH]

god I would hate the job of having to change mine, touch wood, touch wood

[K Simmonds]

Good job mate..

I told you a rack swap was doable within a day age's ago as part of a thread about such matters, fair play for doing it that quikly

Those old slow racks are due to be scrapped very soon. If you want them you can have them for nothing. Also got that good ABY rack sat on the shelf.

Hope you got back in good time last night.

Next time we meet up you must have a blast in the G60. Took a mate to Bristol airport this evening, rush job. Did 80 miles in just over an hour

[macspring]

if this is the special reconditioned / tweaked rack from the US, looking forward to your feedback on how it works.

Thanks.

[Error404]

Cheers Kit, yes journey back was OK and S4 survived unscathed thanks to the 600sq ft of cardboard
I may take the ABY rack off you once I've tested this prototype out

David yes this new rack I'm putting in is the one with the stiffer torsion bar

[K Simmonds]

Cool, if this rack works like you expect it to and I'm hopeful that it does, what with all the effort you've put in to this venture I'm going to have to have one. So assuming all is well with it I'll send you both the quick racks I have when the time comes. Obviously I want one back for my car, the other you can use.

Glad to hear the S4 interior survived carrying all that metal work, was a close thing getting that sill in

[spink]

Lots of patience you must have Alex,they are awkward enough to get out with the engine out

[re2500]

Thats impressive work! When i fitted my ABY rack it was awkward enough wriggling it in and out with the engine removed!
Couple of questions, can we have a pic of your bay with removed battery tray, i may tackle removing the tray when i relocate the battery.
And also what rad is that you have fitted, looks like a beru, but i notice it has no aux rad outlet at the top??

[Error404]

Actually it was not that bad a job, just fiddly getting to some of the bits. It would be even easier on an ABY coupe since the fuel lines don't run in the way. I'll report back on the prototype rack once I've given it some thorough testing Kev also has my drawings and a core unit for my adjustable PAS pump prototype too, that should be getting built & tested some time in the next couple of months

James if you have a look in my project thread there are some pics of the battery tray being removed
The rad is a Behr/Hella unit for the 10v cars. The p/n for it is 8MK 376 711 271. Have a look at this thread.

[re2500]