Rack and Pinion Installation: Page 2
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3. Installation
The installation of the rack was very straight forward, and
involved about a weekend of work for an amateur mechanic such as myself. A
professional with a hoist would do it in a day.
The basic work required is to remove
all the original steering equipment from the car, including the steering column
and the tubular cross- member behind the sump. The end of the steering column is
fitted with an adaptor and reinstalled. The rack is bolted
in, replacing the cross- member, (the rack body is stronger
than the factory cross-member) using the existing
cross-member and suspension mounting points in the chassis
rails. The rack is connected to the end of the steering
column with a slip-shaft and unijoints,
the tierods are connected to the rack, pump connected and that's basically
it.
Set out below is the basic install process with some photographs
from my 1970 model. (Earlier models have some slight differences). Click on photos
for blow ups of the various pictures.
| 1 |
Remove steering Column |
|
| 1.1 |
Disconnect the "rag joint" at the steering box. |
 |
| 1.2 |
Inside the car, remove the four seal plate bolts where the steering
column bolts to the firewall. |
 |
| 1.3 |
Disconnect steering column wiring harness (two pull-apart plugs) |
|
| 1.4 |
Remove the three steering column support bolts, and lower the column
to onto the seat. |
 |
| 1.5 |
The column can now be removed from the car. (Note: Earlier cars
have a one piece steering column and steering box assembly. This can
only be extracted by removing the steering wheel, and sliding the whole
unit out from under the car. The car must therefore be positioned high enough to
enable this to occur.) |
 |
| 2. |
Remove steering gear |
|
| 2.1 |
Jack car and support on stands. Remove wheels. Unbolt and remove the
tubular cross-member between the engine and gearbox. |
 |
| 2.2 |
Disconnect outer tie rod ends. (Both sides) |
|
| 2.3 |
Disconnect centre link to pitman arm ball joint below the steering box |
|
| 2.4 |
Unbolt idler arm (two bolts) |
 |
| 2.5 |
Remove the complete steering linkage assembly. |
 |
| 2.6 |
Unbolt steering box (three bolts) |
 |
| 2.7 |
Disconnect exhaust front pipe (if necessary). Manoeuvre the steering box out the bottom.
On automatic
transmissions perhaps remove the
kick-down linkage, or for manuals, the clutch linkage may be in the way. (On cars with headers, it may be necessary to remove one side to get the
steering box out of the car.) |
 |
| 2.8 |
The complete steering
system including cross-member (top of the photo) is now out of the car. The only items to
be reused, are the two tie rods (bottom of photo) Note: Earlier cars have a one
piece column and steering box which must be slid out, as an assembly,
from under the car.) |
 |
| 3. |
Install rack |
|
| 3.1 |
Remove the two inner mounts from the rack, and bolt to the lower suspension arm inner
pivot points, replacing the existing bolts and adjustors with the new longer bolts and
square adjustment plates provided. |
 |
| 3.2 |
Bolt the right-hand rack chassis mounting to car with the bolts supplied.
At this point three of the four rack mounts are installed, but the bolts
are only finger tight, so they can be aligned as the rack is installed. |
 |
| 3.3 |
Mount rack into the mounts, and install the clamp screws finger tight. |
 |
| 3.4 |
Bolt the left-hand chassis mount to car with bolt supplied. It may or
may not be necessary to install a supplied square spacer under the outer
chassis mounts to get everything into comfortable alignment. Tighten
all the mounting bolts. |
 |
| 3.5 |
Remove the rack centre link and mount the inner tie rod ends to it
using the adaptors provided. (Photo also shows steering connection shaft
with unijoints)
(See
update page 3, re tie rod mounting holes on centre link) |
 |
| 3.6 |
Remount the centre link to the rack, and bolt up with the Nylock nuts
provided. (Photo shows tie rod assembly ready to be mounted). |
 |
| 3.7 |
Connect the outer tie rods ends to steering arms on both sides, and
roughly adjust the toe-in. |
 |
| 4. |
Modify and reinstall steering column |
|
| 4.1 |
Pull the existing slip-shaft out of the end of the column, and tap in the new one, till the
bearing housing is fully seated down over the end. |
|
| 4.2 |
Drill two small holes in outer column housing (for two Stainless sheet metal
screws supplied) to secure the lower bearing cap assembly onto the column. |
 |
| 4.3 |
Mount the assembled intermediate steering shaft and both universal
joints to the end of the steering column and refit the column into the
car. Mate the lower universal joint onto the rack and temporarily
install two upper column support bolts. Carefully check the operation of
the shaft assembly, by slowly turning the steering wheel to ensure the
intermediate shaft is not too long, such that it is protruding through
the unijoints and causing binding. If necessary remove the assembly and
cut a section off the end of the intermediate shaft so that the length
is a perfect fit, and the steering rotates smoothly without binding. |
 |
| 4.3 |
When all is operating smoothly, complete bolting the column into
place. |
|
| 4.4 |
Tighten the Ellen key grub screws on each end of the uni-joints to
lock them firmly in place. Recheck the steering is still operating
smoothly, then complete the steering column reinstallation. |
|
| 5.0 |
Connect Pump (For a powered rack) |
 |
| 5.1 |
Mount pump, drive pulleys and Vee belts. |
| 5.2 |
Connect hoses supplied to the rack, (being sure to connect to the correct
ports as noted in the instructions) and carefully route back under
the engine mounting, and up to the pump. Connect to the pump. |
 |
| 5.3 |
Full the pump with fluid, run the engine and move rack left and right to
purge most of the air. Top up the pump. |
|
| 6.0 |
Completion |
|
| 6.1 |
Start engine, and check for correct operation, clearances at full
lock, leaks etc |
|
| 6.2 |
Replace wheels, lower car and roll it back and forth to settle the
suspension. Set toe-in using a tape measure or by
carefully sighting along the wheels front to rear until they look dead straight
or a very
slight toe in. |
|
| 6.3 |
If necessary remove and re-centre the steering wheel. Road test and
double check for fluid leaks or other problems. (Note: Camber and toe-in
settings will probably still be out, and so the car may initially feel weird to drive). |
|
| 6.4 |
Get wheel alignment (camber, caster and toe in) professionally reset
to the TCP specs. |
 |
