Well, between the rain showers I have been working on that pesky steering.
It seems Brad was right--the spacer goes under the driver's side bracket on the
rack. It goes there because I am using an early rack in my '79 rather than
the flimsy stock rack. So the spacer is for the differences in design in the
rack, not in the cars themselves.
After moving the spacer over, loosening all steering rack bolts, then
tightening, but not torquing the pinion side bolts, the steering column slid
right
onto the pinion shaft--not REAL easily, but just with arm pressure, rather than
the block of wood and hammer method before. THAT was encouraging. And the
steering felt looser than before, although not as loose as I thought it should
be. I am going to loosen all the bolts now, since the steering column is in
place, turn the steering wheel lock to lock, then tighten the bolts. This
should flex the system into the best alignment. Then I will torque the
mounting
bolts down. At that point I will deal with the two spring tension devices.
One thing--when I pulled the passenger side wheel, noted that the silicone
bootie on one of the brand new Vicky Brit Taiwanese ball joint ends had split
open. I was not real happy when I received these cheap copies, since the
silicone boots are permanently attached to the bodies of the ball joints, and
they
have NO means of lubricating them--no grease fitting on the backside. If you
have a VB catalog, on page 96 is the set I ordered--they appear to have NO
integral boots and look somewhat like the original. That is what I ordered.
Now
look on the first page inside the front cover. THERE you see the ball joint
set and pictured is what I actually got. They are different pictures of
different products--same catalog number. I tried to call Vicky Brit but their
customer service is conveniently closed until Monday.
I normally specify when I order from VB that I will accept NO oritental
parts, and they have complied in the past, but this time I ordered through
someone
else and didn't get that message through.
--David C.
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