Junkyard '83. Manual steering worth it?
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Junkyard '83. Manual steering worth it?
I found an '83 at the local junkyard with a manual rack. Working in a junkyard is a pain in the ***, is the rack worth it? It will almost certainly need refurbished...
#4
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
So how much of a pain is it to remove? I looked at the procedure at Clark's, but I'd like a real-world estimate of how long this will take while working in a junkyard. Any gotchas I should have a special tool for? Should I get the tie-rod ends too? It would be easiest to just leave the ends on the car and take the rest.
#5
Took me about 30-40 min at the junkyard when I removed one. I pulled everything, but I had the tool to pop the tapered ends out of the spindles. A big flat head screw driver to help spread the intermediate shaft pinch bolt ends to get it off.
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#9
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
It looks like the steering column is also different between manual and power steering according to the parts lookup. Is that correct or can I just use my current steering column?
#11
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Just spent a couple hours trying to get the rack out and just couldn't get it. I couldn't get either the lower or upper ends of the intermediate shaft to come off the splines, the rack and tie rods came off no sweat except that they're still attached to the shaft. I also couldn't get the brake booster out of the way, so it was difficult working with the upper end of the intermediate shaft. I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the brake booster from the brake pedal, the 17mm nut behind the brake pedal is seized and I couldn't figure out how else to disconnect. At this point I'm thinking of using a sawzall to cut through the steering column near the intermediate shaft so I can get the thing out of there and worry about the splines later. Any better ideas?
#12
Three Wheelin'
Just spent a couple hours trying to get the rack out and just couldn't get it. I couldn't get either the lower or upper ends of the intermediate shaft to come off the splines, the rack and tie rods came off no sweat except that they're still attached to the shaft. I also couldn't get the brake booster out of the way, so it was difficult working with the upper end of the intermediate shaft. I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the brake booster from the brake pedal, the 17mm nut behind the brake pedal is seized and I couldn't figure out how else to disconnect. At this point I'm thinking of using a sawzall to cut through the steering column near the intermediate shaft so I can get the thing out of there and worry about the splines later. Any better ideas?
#14
Race Director
I've found that a small wood chisel works great to separate the joint once you've removed the keyed pinch bolts. Lightly tap it in there to wedge it open and them pull the shaft out. Don't worry about wedging it in there, you won't break it. Spraying a little penetrating oil in the spline area doesn't hurt the effort either.
Good luck!
T.
Good luck!
T.
#15
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
I got it! Thanks everyone for your help. Once I figured out how the clip that holds the brake pedal to the brake booster worked, I was able to get good access to the intermediate shaft. $28 for the rack, intermediate shaft, and both tie rods. Can't beat that.