Greetings SOL-ers,
After considerable time without any progress on the semi-restoration, I'm
happy to report success this past weekend on the steering boot job.
First I must thank everyone for the information on steering boot replacement.
With the use of some penetrating oil, I was able to loosen the locknuts
on the tie-rods and unscrew the rods from the ends (16.5 turns driver, 21
turns passenger!) and slide the old boots off and the new ones on. Doing it
that way wasn't too bad after all. And with the boots done I can put
the radiator back and start work on the engine, which is nearly runnable,
at least it ran in October before I started replacing and rebuilding.
After examining the tie-rod ends (ball joints) I've decided I must replace
them as well, or at least thoroughly clean them, because their boots are
broken and there's some visible dirt in the ball joints. So it's time
to order that $8 part from J.C. Whitney (thanks to Jerry Kaidor for
the description of that item) and pay the $8 in shipping, or rent a pickle
fork for a day for somewhat less money.
More news as it happens,
-DannyD. ('73 MGB)
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