While doing some work on the front end of the DeLorean, I discovered that the steering rack boot on the passenger side was leaking. I also found a lot of evidence of leaking in the area where the steering shaft meets the steering rack.
I was just going to replace the boots and potentially replace some seals and other wearable parts myself, I followed the advice of several DeLorean owners and shipped it off to PJ Grady for a professional rebuild. He was quick to start working on it and it was on its way back to me about a week after it arrived.
But before I could ship it out to Grady, I had to get the rack out of my car, which is pretty straightforward.
I followed these steps:
- Disconnect the tie rod ends from both driver and passenger side knuckles
- Disconnect the steering shaft from the rack
- Remove the four bolts from the bottom of the frame that hold the brackets. Once the brackets are loose, you then fish out the rubber bushings that go inside the brackets and fish them out of the frame
One of the brackets snapped off when I went to remove the bolts, so I had to get a replacement. I also got new bushings so that everything would be refreshed after 40+ years. Once I got the steering rack back from PJ Grady, I went to install it right away. What I discovered was that it did not go together easily at all. It was a fight getting the new bushings correctly positioned in the brackets and the brackets in the right place. It took several hours to get it all lined up and tightened down. It's not a job that I would voluntarily do again. It sure looks good all cleaned up and refreshed:
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