Last night I finished assembling my front suspension but I am far from
done.
After filling my rack with oil, I heard a farting sound and noticed a pool
of oil (separate from existing pools) on the floor. Further inspection
found the driver's side rack boot had expired. I pulled the boots and
noticed how much of the rack you can see so I thought that I would clean it
in order to loosen the steering more. Well that didn't help so I split the
U-joint for the steering column. I had bought new felt bearings so I
pulled the steering shaft out of the column and started sanding down the
new felt bearings (per Barney's recommendation) and they are presently
soaking in oil. If they are still too tight, I will bludgeon them with a
mallet (per Lawrie's recommendation) until they are sufficiently thin
(insufficiently thick?). I also noticed that the U-joint was a little
loose so I'll get a new one of those while I am at it.
The rack does seem looser without the steering column attached but whether
this is a function of misalignment or friction/ inertia from the wheel/
column I am uncertain. My present plan to check the alignment is to put
thin screws through the centers of each U-joint yokes and mark the centers.
I am thinking of using 6-32 screws through rubber corks but I will go to
the hardware store and see what looks like it will work. I will mark the
center of these screws and align the yoke halves by moving the column.
It is supposed to be 60 F here Friday so I am sure that I will be kicking
myself for still having my car apart. But LBC's are about feeling and one
thing that really stands out in my memory was the MGB's fantastic steering
feel. When I put the A on the road I want to experience the full effect of
that feeling.
Regards
Bill Eastman
61 MGA with new areas taken apart
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