Rack Success... finally

["Janet Scruggs" <scruggs@mbay.net>]

I did finally get the old rack out and the new one in place.  The car, '87
5kCSq, is up and in service again.  The goal of the effort was to see if the
old rack was contributing to the vagueness and tendency to wander that I
mentioned weeks ago to the list.  Can't tell about the ultimate success of
the rack swap as here in Monterey we have had 20-30kt winds since I finished
the project and nothing on the road is very stable, and I'm sure the car
should be aligned anyway.  I do believe there is increased
directional stability but the final assessment will have to wait for better
conditions.  Contrary to my initial plan, I did not replace the inner tie
rod bushings with custom made delrin or urethane bushings.  The OEM ones
were perfect and nearly as tough as new plastic ones could have been... so I
didn't replace them.

Regarding my difficulty in getting the old rack out, the 'pivotal' movement
was to first rotate the steering input shaft out of the firewall... which,
thinking it was not necessary, I had not done.  This then allowed sufficient
lateral movement for the passenger end of the rack to be extracted through
the wheelwell.  As has been said, the job is tedious but not
particularly difficult. I would advise to reattach, but not tighten, the
hydro lines before rotating the new rack into the final position.  Entire
process would have been much easier with a helper.

Thanks to all that responded to my plea for help... I appreciate both the
encouragement and the information.

Regards, Gross Scruggs