Steering rack conversion fail v.weird parts
 

I got to this part:
http://photos.motoiq.com/MotoIQ/Proj...13_9df9D-M.jpg
http://photos.motoiq.com/MotoIQ/Proj...61_G87wt-S.jpg
http://photos.motoiq.com/MotoIQ/Proj...11_mAZeH-M.jpg
http://photos.motoiq.com/MotoIQ/Proj...41_bMY8q-M.jpg

Mine looks like this:
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5686099_n.jpg
MotoIQ's:
http://photos.motoiq.com/MotoIQ/Proj...61_G87wt-S.jpg

WTF is going on?

Early vs. late NA rack is my guess. I know the '97 rack in my car is much different than the original '93.

Any tips on putting this thing back together with the wheel straight? Should the shaft be equidistant on either side from the case when centered?

The first rack is from an Nb. When I did mine mine was like that. If you look on tm's site you will see pictures of your rack.

As far as getting the wheel on properly. You have to turn the rack to lock in one direction, mark it then count how many times it rotates. Then rotate it back half as many times as you just turned it.

Have a great day,
Jared

did you just cut that long seal? also are you using that seal on the pinion shaft? I'm in the middle of the depower on mine lol

That long shaft is not just a seal, it's a guide for the rack, leave it. I ground down the little seal (the one MotoIQ machined) with a grinder, hacked it with a chisel and punch, then banged it off with a dead blow.

I also power washed all the old filth off. Once I get it installed I plan to play with the resistance spring thingie and set it for what I like the best. I remember reading an article about how some great cars like the MC412c has light steering, the GT3RS has heavy steering...I plan to go heavy. I so excited about this mod.

Nice, I'll keep that long one in (giggity). What about the one on the pinion shaft?

Please, be more vague.

Just an FYI to future power to depower guys. There are like 5-10 different rack variations. The main thing to concentrate on is welding up the joint and removing the seal on the inside shaft to relieve built up pressure when turning. The seal was so strong in mine I had to use a press to get it out. You should add R-package tie rods while in there. Also remember to mark the steering shaft to rack with paint pen. Also, the factory powered rac feels better depowered than the factory manual rack at speed.

Johnfag and I may start offering an exchange service once I confirm the awesomeness of my retrofitting skills. I've done two racks and they're power-washed, welded, rack seal cut,regreased, tension set, powerwashed, and painted so you can see future leaks and fight the battle against dirt.

What and why do you mark it with a pen?

i may be your first customer.

So you can duplicate the original mesh between the pinion and the rack. Otherwise it has to wear-in again. Not necessary, but nice.

There are 8 teeth on the pinion too. you have to mark the couplers, the teeth on the pinion, and the teeth on the rack, clean all three, grease, and still expect to read the marks. Not a chance this is going to happen upon disassembly.

So your not like me with a steering wheel 50 degrees out... :vash:

I was referring to whether you keep the seal on the pinion shaft, see below


http://photos.motoiq.com/MotoIQ/Proj...68_HyHRx-M.jpg

There are 3 seals in that pic. from left to right
no on the white seal
no on the o-ring under it
no on the big black seal
yes on the metal seal on top of the bottom bearing.

Maybe I'm totally missing the point of all this work.:confused:

When I "de-powered" my steering I removed the pump and all associated hardware. I used one of the original lines from the pump to the rack to form a loop and made sure the rack was full of PS fluid. I ran the line from one fitting on the rack to the other. Made it a closed loop system. Fluid Keeps the rack lubricated without any pressure/binding problems.:winner:

IIRC the power rack has a better ratio then the OE Non-power that's why it feels better.:D

The part you are missing is that every time you turn the wheel, you push air back and forth from one side of the rack to the other through a tiny hole. If you remove these seals, it makes the depowered rack that much more amazing to drive.

Huh...Less effort I'm guessing? Low speed,high speed all around?

Yes less effort. I would imagine mostly at low speed, but seeing as I never looped the lines and just depowered it properly, I can't really say.

Properly???

Has anyone tried looped and with the seals blown out? I'm not willing to do it but it would be neat to see a real world comparison.

It's pretty light looped. My wife drives this car too. She says her dads 74 RSR is harder to steer then the Miata. She's driven them both and doesn't like moving the RSR out of the trailer or around the paddock area because of the steering effort. Says they're the same once you get rolling.

I can't even think of a time there would be enough fluid moving to slow steering response. On jack stands I can easily move the steering side to side by moving the actual tire (holding it at 3 and 9 o'clock) and when I do the steering wheel is turning faster lock to lock then I could/would turn it, so there is no way I could move it that quickly driving.

Air flows more easily but I like the idea of some sort of lubrication and I don't feel resistance with the fluid in there.

There is no hydraulic assist either way so I imagine the effort is the same at 0 speed, especially since you really can't turn the steering wheel fast enough to cause restriction. It would be different if you just plugged the rack and didn't allow the fluid to move.

Plus with the loop I can just add the bracket pump and lines if needed/wanted.

Eh.. say whatever you want. If you are happy with it, that's fine, it's your car. I'll take my rack with plugged lines, removed seal and slathered in synthetic grease. It doesn't really matter either way if you are happy with it.

/threadjack

Don't forget to weld the pinion input shaft. I does flex even though it feels tight to the bare hands. Others have tried it both ways and say it makes a big difference. I did it the first time so I can't give a before/after.
-hyde

like my crappy iphone pic in post #2?

Yes, just like that. I've seen that picture around in many of these threads - you are famous! :bowdown: Welding the pinion is often skipped because people fail to understand how it works - they give it a twist with their hands and assume it is solid. I'm just suggesting a serious track guy would want to do the full monty and weld the pinion. ;)
-h

weld the pinion shaft, it makes a difference. You can leave the "directional head" out (part with all the grooves and white ring seals) there is a bearing and seal in the top of the pinion housing, pack the bearings with some grease, thats all they need.

I started putting everything together yesterday, but I was overcome by confusion:
It seems there are multiple steering rack shafts and apparently the shaft from the rack's u-joint to the fire wall does not have a "bolted coupler" at the firewall. Is this correct? There are grooves in the shaft for two bolts, but I don't see where these bolts would go...it slides in and out until bolted to the rack's u-joint.

I have this thing together now and there is some very minor plan in the pinion. I have ~1mm from the driver's seat. I can feel the play at the u-joint/pinion housing. I tightened up the lower pinion bolt a bit more, and added some tension on the spring and it's better but still there. Is that slight slop fixable?

Did you weld the pinion shaft? If not, that is your 1mm.
-h

.

I just depowered a FD RX7 rack for a guy a couple of weeks ago and just last night he mentioned reading about welding the pinion shaft. I had never done this before as it wasn't in the FM instructions. He's bringing it to the house tonight and we are going to weld the pinion. Interesting to see that here as well. Never knew about it.

I put it on the ground and drove it yesterday, trying to load up the wheel as much as possible and it felt pretty good. It seems to hold steering angle better than ever before. I already have a lot of pressure/resistance on the little spring loader guy, but I think I'm going to add a touch more to get that heavy, Porsche feel. I think more resistance will help me hold steering angle better and not react so much/saw the wheel mid corner.

Thanks to everyone who provided input, and no thanks to anyone who drives a Bauce 302...however I appreciated the late-night sexting.

You need 245/45/17s in the front for the real Porsche feel. ;)

not sure what resistance would do to change steering input. if you needed to do that to keep the rear inline and you stopped doing that, the rear will come around. if your just turning the wheel back and forth for no reason, your wierd. lol...