HELP!!! I have read and re-read the prior posts on steering rack replacement. I am at the point where the following has been completed:
1. Removed fuel tank.
2. Removed right and left tie rods.
3. Detatched U-Joint directly inside driver compartment.
4. Removed two bolts that attach steering rack to the support.
5. Removed two bolts that attach support bar to body (off the tabs that face the rear of the car (shown at item 6 in the diagram).
6. Removed the two bolts that attach master cylinder to the bulkhead/pedal cluster.
7. Removed the two bolts that hold the steering shaft bearing (over the steering shaft bellows underneath the fuel tank).

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Question 1: How do I move the master cylinder out of the way? The short brake line that goes to the tunnel doesn't give the master cylinder a lot of distance to back off, and the support bar (item #1 in the diagram) is in the way when I pull the master cylinder back.

Question 2: How do I actually remove the rack? The steering shaft directly connected to the rack seems to require that I drop the rack directly down. But the bolt tabs on the support bar itself (Item #1 in the diagram), as well as the bolt tabs that run a few inches to the underside of the body (towards the rear or the body) (item # 6 in the diagram) all seem to be in the way? What am I missing???

My thanks.

Eric Read

No answer yet.... Hmmmmm Guess I need photos.

Another 914 site participant suggested I push the bellows up, and unbolt the steering shaft from the steering rack.

Here is a picture or the fuel tank area. As you can see, the steering shaft bellows is quite hard and takes up the entire area. Unless I cut the bellows (which I don't want to do), how can I push the bellows up? The bellows are already pretty well compressed, and do not seem to want to compress any further. Or am I just being a wimp, and the bellows is compressable, I'm just not trying hard enough?

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Here's the inside of the cockpit which shows the steering shaft.

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A picture from underneath the car showing the steering rack disconnected, but not yet removed.

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And a final picture from underneath, showing the support bar brackets.

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Is removing the bellows and unbolting the steering shaft still the best answer?

Again, my thanks!

Eric Read

There might be a way to do it without dropping the entire front suspension. But if I was to do it, I would just drop the entire front suspension, then pull the rack off.

If you disconnect the 2 big bolts holding the crossmember and lower the crossmember, you should be able to pull out the rack.

When I 5-lugged my car, I removed everything, then installed the rack first, then the crossmember.

I'm really trying to avoid that, but it's looking like that may be the only reasonable way to complete this...

Eric

Please explain... Lowering the cross-member requires only two additional bolts? Is the the bar shown in this picture?

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It seems to me that the entire front suspension is attached to this bar? Is that the bar identified as #1 in the following diagram? Where exactly are the two bolts needed to lower this bar?

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Thanks!

Eric

remove #2 and #6 and the crossmember #1 should start hanging down, giving you more room to remove the rack.

There isn't much holding the front suspension on the car. There's 2 bolts on the front of each A-Arm, bolts #2 and #6 on the crossmember, and the 2 bolts on top of the struts and the whole suspension comes off.

Removing #2 and #6 should allow the crossmember to droop enough to remove the rack.

The crossmember can be removed by removing the torsion bar adjusters (#20 and #21) and tapping the crossmember with a hammer towards the back of the car.

Excellent!! My thanks for the advice. I'll get to work on this first thing in the morning.

Eric

Just looked at your pics. Your jackstands are under the crossmember so you will have to reposition them behind the front wheel wells where are the little bumps. Use a piece of wood to distribute the weight and place near the edge of the wheel well so the weight isn't on an unsupported area of the floor pan.

Take a close look and you'll see the top of the jacks are actually several inches under the crossmember. My primary jackstands are under the lifting "bumps" you mention. These are secondary jackstands in case I experience a failure with a primary jackstand.

I will move them aside when I drop the crossmember.

Thanks for taking a look at the pics. Let me know if you see something else that might pose a problem. Your review and advice is greatly appreciated.

Eric

Thanks everybody. I ended up dropping the entire front suspension. That allowed me to easily swap out the old 914 steering rack with the replacement 911 steering rack. I knew ahead of time that I would need to swap the 914 steering shaft for the 911 steering shaft, as the 911 steering shaft is too short.

When I removed the old 914 rack I determined that there was significant free play in the teeth of the rack! So I guess you can wear these suckers out. Since my odometer had just turned (I believe for the third time) 300,000 miles does present some wear on those "un-wearable" parts. Let me know if anybody out there wants a worn steering rack. It's yours for the price of shipping.

As for dropping the front suspension, I always fear what I don't know. But, like dropping the engine, once you have done it, it seems much less overwhelming.

Thanks again everybody for your advice!

Eric Read