Alright guys, I FINALLY got around to doing my Unisteer install this weekend! It started out quite exciting...
The first thing I had to do was remove the old steering. I started by renting a puller kit from Advance Auto, which included a large and small Pitman arm puller, a tie rod end puller, and a couple other things which I couldn't figure out. I disconnected the bottom part of the steering at the two tie ends (ask me how I figured out not to leave the castellated nut on the end of the tie rod while removing it!), the idler arm (2 bolts through the frame rail), and the Pitman arm.
[Picture: Bottom part of the steering assembly, which I pulled as one unit]
I then went to work on the upper portion of the steering. I started by removing the steering wheel (I went with the "yank as hard as you can" method instead of a puller since the wheel seemed a bit loose to start out with ), along with all of the mounting gear and - most importantly - the little collar bearing that's wedged down in there on the shaft. If you don't remove this, you don't get to pull your column. After that was removed, I unbolted the three bolts holding the gearbox down to the frame rail. That allowed the whole assembly to move, and I was able to twist off the column from the inside of the car with a good deal of cursing.
[Picture: The steering shaft with collar bearing pulled up]
Next... removing the actual steering shaft / gear box. That was a flat-out NIGHTMARE! I ended up having to remove my equalizer bar (which I found out was improperly assembled anyways), my Tri-Y header, my spark plugs, AND my booster / master cylinder to get the damned thing out the top of the engine bay. Even then, I was just barely able to wedge it out. Whoever designed the one-piece steering system was just sadistic!
[Picture: Who designed this? At least it works well, I guess...]
Anyways, I then went on to the next step in the process, which was modifying the column length. My dad cut a hole out of a block of wood to use as a square guide / holder - it worked really well. We then did a test cut of 1.5" and a 'real' cut at a conservative 2.75" (the instructions call for 3 and 1/8"). I then spent several hours grinding it down an additional 0.25" to the perfect length - should have just cut it to 3" to start out with!
[Picture: Basic wood guide]
We then installed the new bearing on the bottom of the column. The new steering shaft fit into it perfectly with no wiggle room, and I reused the old top collar bearing to set the shaft in place. I then added a brass washer and the bottom U-joint. I left it all as one assembly because I figured it would be easier to install that way.
[Picture: Perfectly measured and cut column with bearing, washer, and U-joint installed on shaft]
I then chose to leave that assembly alone in favor of working on fitting the rack. This is where I truly got SCREWED. Unisteer's instructions say that 'some grinding may be required' on the rolled lip of the LCA brackets in order to fit the rack bracket into the old crossmember holes. Now, apparently some people have not had to grind at all. Also apparently, this car hates me and anything I try to do to it - so of course, no matter how far I ground down the bracket lip, the holes still didn't line up.
[Pictures: Ground-down lips on the LCA brackets - about halfway through, we continued to grind them after this]
We jacked the rack up to the holes and tried to tilt it to wedge the bolts in, but with minimal luck. I think that the bolt on the driver's side would work, given more attention, but the passenger's side bolt is determined to not make my life any easier. Furthermore, now that the rack is more or less in place it has come to the attention that the U-joint is very close to my Tri-Y headers (I don't know how much clearance it will need), the rack bracket is brushing up against the passenger side of my oil pan because I had to crank it over to clear the U-joint (and make the bolts more or less work), AND to top it all off my clutch release lever spring is rubbing on the U-joint, which will cause excessive wear.
[Pictures: Lots of problems.]
So as of now, my installation has been halted. I've pretty much given up and I have NO clue what to do. I put in a call to Brian at Unisteer but he didn't pick up, so I'm waiting for him to call back with any suggestions he might have. I honestly don't know what can be done about this though, and I really wish I hadn't done anything until I had checked the fit of absolutely everything
Does anyone have any suggestions and/or thoughts? Opinions? Feel free to tell me that I was retarded to even attempt this in the first place :loco:
The first thing I had to do was remove the old steering. I started by renting a puller kit from Advance Auto, which included a large and small Pitman arm puller, a tie rod end puller, and a couple other things which I couldn't figure out. I disconnected the bottom part of the steering at the two tie ends (ask me how I figured out not to leave the castellated nut on the end of the tie rod while removing it!), the idler arm (2 bolts through the frame rail), and the Pitman arm.
[Picture: Bottom part of the steering assembly, which I pulled as one unit]
I then went to work on the upper portion of the steering. I started by removing the steering wheel (I went with the "yank as hard as you can" method instead of a puller since the wheel seemed a bit loose to start out with ), along with all of the mounting gear and - most importantly - the little collar bearing that's wedged down in there on the shaft. If you don't remove this, you don't get to pull your column. After that was removed, I unbolted the three bolts holding the gearbox down to the frame rail. That allowed the whole assembly to move, and I was able to twist off the column from the inside of the car with a good deal of cursing.
[Picture: The steering shaft with collar bearing pulled up]
Next... removing the actual steering shaft / gear box. That was a flat-out NIGHTMARE! I ended up having to remove my equalizer bar (which I found out was improperly assembled anyways), my Tri-Y header, my spark plugs, AND my booster / master cylinder to get the damned thing out the top of the engine bay. Even then, I was just barely able to wedge it out. Whoever designed the one-piece steering system was just sadistic!
[Picture: Who designed this? At least it works well, I guess...]
Anyways, I then went on to the next step in the process, which was modifying the column length. My dad cut a hole out of a block of wood to use as a square guide / holder - it worked really well. We then did a test cut of 1.5" and a 'real' cut at a conservative 2.75" (the instructions call for 3 and 1/8"). I then spent several hours grinding it down an additional 0.25" to the perfect length - should have just cut it to 3" to start out with!
[Picture: Basic wood guide]
We then installed the new bearing on the bottom of the column. The new steering shaft fit into it perfectly with no wiggle room, and I reused the old top collar bearing to set the shaft in place. I then added a brass washer and the bottom U-joint. I left it all as one assembly because I figured it would be easier to install that way.
[Picture: Perfectly measured and cut column with bearing, washer, and U-joint installed on shaft]
I then chose to leave that assembly alone in favor of working on fitting the rack. This is where I truly got SCREWED. Unisteer's instructions say that 'some grinding may be required' on the rolled lip of the LCA brackets in order to fit the rack bracket into the old crossmember holes. Now, apparently some people have not had to grind at all. Also apparently, this car hates me and anything I try to do to it - so of course, no matter how far I ground down the bracket lip, the holes still didn't line up.
[Pictures: Ground-down lips on the LCA brackets - about halfway through, we continued to grind them after this]
We jacked the rack up to the holes and tried to tilt it to wedge the bolts in, but with minimal luck. I think that the bolt on the driver's side would work, given more attention, but the passenger's side bolt is determined to not make my life any easier. Furthermore, now that the rack is more or less in place it has come to the attention that the U-joint is very close to my Tri-Y headers (I don't know how much clearance it will need), the rack bracket is brushing up against the passenger side of my oil pan because I had to crank it over to clear the U-joint (and make the bolts more or less work), AND to top it all off my clutch release lever spring is rubbing on the U-joint, which will cause excessive wear.
[Pictures: Lots of problems.]
So as of now, my installation has been halted. I've pretty much given up and I have NO clue what to do. I put in a call to Brian at Unisteer but he didn't pick up, so I'm waiting for him to call back with any suggestions he might have. I honestly don't know what can be done about this though, and I really wish I hadn't done anything until I had checked the fit of absolutely everything
Does anyone have any suggestions and/or thoughts? Opinions? Feel free to tell me that I was retarded to even attempt this in the first place :loco: