Manual steering conversion for CGT??

[Eyvind Spangen]

On Fri, 25 May 2001 10:47:00 EDT, you wrote:

>I am wondering if there is any way to turn a power  steering rack into a 
>manual rack and have it live?  (remove the pump and reservoir, fill the rack 
>with fluid?)  I have heard that the VW/Audi racks won't live if you do that 
>but I know people who have done it to other types of cars and have no 
>problems with it.  Anyone ever BTDT, anyone have a manual rack for an early 
>4K, CGT?  

A power rack without hydraulic pressure is heavier than a manual rack.
Beware, even with a manual rack, the steering will be _very_heavy when
the car is going slow/stopped. When you drive at normal speeds, it
will be fine. I once drove a BMW E30 with manual steering. It really
sucked when going slow and doing parking lot maneuvers, but once it
reached 15 mph or more, it felt great. Now, the BMW steering is really
nice too, but..

I wouldn't recommend manual steering on a nose-heavy Audi. The
4k/Coupé doesn't suffer as much as the type 44 with the quirky
hydraulics either..


BTW: Today, I replaced the hose going from the hydraulic pump to the
bomb with a hose from an S4. (couldn't get a used type 44 88-91 hose)
It fitted in nice, looks like it works fine too. As far as I could
see, it doesn't have a damper inside. Does this matter? I seem to
remeber somebody that removed the damper from their type 44 hose, and
it worked fine..

-- 
Regards,
ES