Fast Marina Magazine

Hi, My 1978 1800 Super has an almost full MoT and I only bought it last month. There is an annoying knocking from the front nearside corner and, after checking it out, my mechanic friend reckons it needs a replacement steering rack......now I need to find one!! Any help out there. Cheers.

You may not need a complete rack, it sounds like the internal bush is suspect. Check out this thread for information:

index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=12& ... 363#p52363

Chris Weedon (Club Secretary) can help supply the bush you need.

Ben

A few people in the Marlin world have had exactly this problem. It seems that some, not all, refurbished racks fail in a similar way.

I have stripped and rebuilt a number steering racks now and the quality of the bushes in the previously reconditioned racks vary enormously. From replacement BL bushes (now unobtainable) through to narrow plastic rings made apparently of toothpaste (probably a reaction to the lubrication used). I have heard of reconditioned racks failing in as little as six months.

I can supply a polyurethane bush that is twice the width of the standard bush and is resistant to the gear oil in the rack, they seam to work well.

You cannot recondition a rack on the car. Budget 2 hours to get it out, 3-4 hours to strip the rack and rebuild and 1-2 hours to reinstall. You will need to have the car retracked by your local garage afterwards.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Many thanks, will follow up.

You will need to have the car retracked by your local garage afterwards.

Whenever I remove steering or front suspension components I use a marker pen to draw a line along the topside of the tie-rod, locknut and tie-rod end.
I then back off the locknut by half a turn, and unscrew the tie-rod using polygrips on the shaft inboard of the threaded section.
Sometimes I need to release the outer clip on the gaiter to allow free rotation.
On reassembly I simply screw the tie-rod up until the locknut touches the tie-rod end - back off until my lines match up - tighten the locknut.

Unless major changes have been made to dimensions anywhere - steering is back within tolerances.

Kilroy wrote:

You will need to have the car retracked by your local garage afterwards.

Whenever I remove steering or front suspension components I use a marker pen to draw a line along the topside of the tie-rod, locknut and tie-rod end.
I then back off the locknut by half a turn, and unscrew the tie-rod using polygrips on the shaft inboard of the threaded section.
Sometimes I need to release the outer clip on the gaiter to allow free rotation.
On reassembly I simply screw the tie-rod up until the locknut touches the tie-rod end - back off until my lines match up - tighten the locknut.

Unless major changes have been made to dimensions anywhere - steering is back within tolerances.

Great tip, thanks, Kilroy.