My thanks to those who replied; I am prepared to attempt to solve this
problem again. One thing I would like to know more about: Getting the shafts
into and out of the U-joint is quite difficult. To extract the shaft
initially, I clamped a vise-grip pliers on the shaft just below the U-joint,
and used a ball joint separator to drive them apart. I am having a hard time
getting the shaft back into the u-joint. Any tips on accomplishing this
would be appreciated!
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of
paul.hunt1@virgin.net
Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2002 10:50 AM
To: Marc; mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Seeking advice on MGB steering rack install
Shims were fitted by the factory to set the alignment of the rack, both the
vertical and horizontal position of the column-end of the rack shaft.
Stress on the column-shaft bearing is the issue, not on the rack tube.
Depth of engagement of the shafts in the U-joint, which is bolted up to
fixed positions on the shafts by dint of a circumferential groove in one and
a notch in the other, is controlled by the column bolts under the dash.
Having disturbed the cross-member you may now need to fit shims even though
there weren't any there in the first place. Shim selection was done using a
pair of pointers on the end of the rack and column shafts, the objective is
to get the two points touching one another. I and others have made ersatz
pointers using wire, blu-tak etc. Early shafts had the turn signal
cancelling peg screwed into one position, hence the shaft only had one
'correct' rotational position for straight-ahead. This is set by insering
it into the U-joint in the appropriate position, then altering the position
of the wheel on the shaft as required. Later columns have a turn-signal
cancelling collar that can be twisted on the shaft, you can still assemble
column shaft to U-joint so that the wheel is 'straight' or assemble any-old
how and adjust the postion of the collar and wheel afterwards.
-
Marc
///
/// mgs@autox.team.net mailing list
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
///
|