[Tigers] Steering rack question

[Tom Hall]

On 11/22/2014 9:20 PM, Andy Walker wrote:
> Hey, guys:
>
> Well, the restoration of my Mk1A is proceeding slowly but surely.  At this
> point, I'm just basically waiting on paint to dry before I can finish
> assembling the front suspension, which leads me to tonight's question
> concerning the steering rack.  Mine is in good shape except for the fact
> that it's a bit dirty and seems to have some leaks from the bolted-on cover
> plates at the bottom of the steering shaft area, and also at the
> football-shaped covers that nut onto the front of the rack (one on each
> side).  All I plan to do is to clean the rack and then remove all three of
> these plates and make and install new gaskets for them.  I'm sure that
> someone out there has maybe tried something like this before and I would
> just like to know if there are things I should watch out for when performing
> this task.  Am I asking for trouble doing this or is it pretty
> straightforward?  I must admit that, even though I've owned Tigers since
> 1979, I've never had a steering rack apart on any of them.  Therefore, I'm
> certainly interested in reading what you all have to say.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Andy Walker
>
So you know, there are shims under the rack pinion bushing (the 
"football" shaped cast iron piece on the bottom of the pinion) and the 
top cover plate.  They are there to set clearances and adjust the 
tension on the pinion.  Actually your likely to find both shims and 
gaskets.  The gaskets can tear when you remove these plates. The other 
cover plate on the right side is for adding oil and should have only a 
gasket.  The oil will also run out of the rack from the open hole under 
the pinion unless you position it to prevent this from occuring.

Typically I reassemble these pieces with RTV between the dissassembled 
layers, which essentially squeezes out the unneccessary quantity on 
re-assembly.  I would recommend this as opposed to attempting to replace 
the gaskets.   If you do drain the rack, it only takes a cup of 90 wt 
gear oil to fill it up.  I've done hundreds of rebuilds so let me know 
if you need any help.


-- 
Tom Hall
ModTiger Engineering LLC
www.tigerengineering.net