mike77

So I got all the bushes in my rack and am now trying to get the rack back into position. My problem now is that the 4 bolts that hold the rack in position are slightly too big to fit through the holes in the bushes. Perhaps they are not the original size bolts. Removing the 4 bolts appears difficult as, perhaps due to motor mount failure there is not enough room vertically to push 3 of them out.

If I drill the holes in the bushes slightly larger am I going to create issues with play in the steering?

I did find my bushes to be a tight fit so perhaps they are squashed in a little?

Been a while since I've had to deal with a tight bush so advice welcome?

soontobered84

Always heard this was the case with the Scottish: Just use a bigger tool to push the bolts through the hole.

It should be tight to hold the rack firmly, which is part of the beauty of the Delrin bushings.

Imo000

The bolts are not what hold the rack in place but friction from the clamping force of the bolts. So slightly enraging them should be fine but once you try drilling them, they might start spinning as soon as the drill bit bites into the bushing. I honestly would have just gotten new OE style bushings and be done with it.

Lizard928

Instead put the bolt in from the bottom up and thread it in. Have yet to have one that wont go in this way.

StratfordShark

The bolts were tight fit through my delrin bushes too. I just used mallet to tap the rack upwards till it was fully home. It actually made job easier, as rack held itself up on tight bolts while I span the nuts on.

mike77

"Instead put the bolt in from the bottom up and thread it in."

It doesn't seem possible to remove all of the 4 bolts (perhaps due to motor mounts) as vertically there is no room to push them out. I imagine they could be threaded in but just don't really have access from above. When I was undoing the rack in the first place it was hard enough just to get my fingers in there with an allan key to catch the top of the bolt.

Lizard928

If you cannot get those bolts out, it is likely that your motor mounts are shot.

I turned down a socket so it was a little thinner and then welded a bar on to it so I can hold the nut/bolt on the top making it much easier to undo those guys.

mike77

"it is likely that your motor mounts are shot."

Yup I think so. I have motor mounts ready to replace but just don't have time right now to do them.

StratfordShark

How about cutting shafts off the bolts so they are short enough to push out? Cheap enough to replace.

Cut slots in ends of new bolts, so you can counterhold with big screwdriver as you torque the nuts. No need to grope about above crossmember then you can install rack till you can schedule time for new mounts.

GregBBRD

Pass a 25/64 drill through the bushing sets. That should make them loose enough to fit on your bolts.

Crumpler

This is not sounding like plug and play anymore...
I have a Derlin set, still in the box.
Assumed they would pop in, when the time was right.

mnotz

I guess it's really hit or miss - on my '80, they went in just fine with the right amount of interference for a nice fit. Haven't done the same job on the 86.5, but that's sure to come soon enough...

jcorenman

If the rack is dropped for bushings, then you are almost halfway there. "All you gotta do" is support the engine and drop the crossmember.

But back to the rack bolts: On both our '88S4 and and '90GT the M10 bolts go in from below, with the nuts on top. I use a stubby 17mm box wrench to hold the nuts, tighten and torque from below, easy peasy. The GT has had many PO's messing around, but the S4 has only had one rack replacement (at 68K miles) and the bolts were in from below from the factory.

However PET and the WSM both show bolts from above, nuts below. Was this an early/late thing, or Fritz being creative on the assembly line?

As for bushings, if you are having to pound them in and then the bolts don't fit, sumthin's wrong.

Captain_Slow

I don't remember any challenge putting the bolts through the bushings. I may have used the nuts as a press. I can't remember....so it must have been easy To get some room above, if you can lift the engine just enough (about 2 centimeters) to get to the stock height relative to the cross brace you may have the space you need to work with the bolts. But it may not be a good idea to flex tired and cooked mounts if you plan to leave them be for awhile.

GregBBRD

How about a picture.