So I'm in the process of de-powering my rack. I'm at the "Do I weld this pinion and screw it up, do the pin method, pay a professional, or do nothing and roll the dice if I notice any slop" stage. For my own track car, I'm just going to pay someone to TIG it. I can also TIG weld but I'm a YouTube welder, not a pro.

But this got me thinking, would the community be interested in a drop in solid one-piece pinion? I'm thinking I'd send it out to have the alloy & hardness confirmed, then 3D scan it -> model -> CNC. I'm a software engineer by trade so I'm definitely out of my lane on this, but I could probably orchestrate this into existence if we think it's worth doing?

Just sort of an off-the-wall idea. Also, hi I'm new here and I ask dumb things like this all the time

 

If you don’t mind the car being down a few weeks, you can have it welded reliably online:

https://miata-source.com/collections...elding-service

I had a good experience. Everything said and done, with shipping, it’s just under $100.

It’d be awesome to pre-buy a core to swap in and speed up a Depower project. But you usually have to buy the whole darn rack.

As a one man operation, that’d be a lot of work on your end.


I wouldn’t stress over a welded pinion that much. Hindsight, it felt like a lot of work for very little return. For me, it tightened a little slack, but some was still there. Do it because YOU will be happy about it. If you don’t do it, your brain will compensate and get over it.

 

Totally agree. I’m thinking more so as a product for the community. My own I’m just going to send off for a pro to do, but just had a thought experiment that of creating a solid piece. I’ve chatted with some engineers and the consensus is it’s probably not worth the squeeze.

 

If I hadn’t had my pinion welded already, I would’ve sprung for an off the shelf option/replacement.

You probably won’t notice the slop from leaving the pinion un-welded. You will likely notice the steering is tighter after welding the pinion, though. At least that was my takeaway after having run a depowered rack both ways.

 

CNC with hardening, etc... I can imagine would cost what a completely done rack costs...or more...just for the one piece. For what advantage?

My local guy charges $300 for a done rack and he does a spectacular job(tig pinion, shave tube, paint, etc...). He has racks on the shelf generally.

Edit: local guys prices went up....450 for depowered rack plus core...

 

What’s your local guy’s name/website? That’s a screaming deal compared to the MiataSource depowered racks.

Hell, I think I barely paid any less when I bought my reman’d rack.

 

PM sent...

And it looks like he upped his prices since I bought mine from him.