1977 280Z steering rack rebuild questions

[Reinier]

Hi guys,

I'm rebuilding/cleaning the steering rack of my 1977 280Z and I have two questions I hope you guys can answer.

1. My pinion shaft and bearing are stuck. Is there a way to get them out without destroying the bearing? The bearing seems in good condition and I don't know if I can find a good replacement.

2. After sandblasting the housing I noticed a white/transparant plastic peg or nipple or something next to the pinion shaft in the sport where the rack bushing goes. Does anyone know what it is and what it does? I kinda looked like it had a pin hole in it. You can see it in the picture in the middle of the bushing location after a coat on POR-15.

Thanks!

Reinier

[grannyknot]

There are a number of very good steering rack rebuild threads in the archives that go into detail on the procedure.  When I rebuilt my 77 steering rack I used a slide hammer to remove the pinon shaft and upper bearing, the upper bearing and grease seal are still available and inexpensive, not sure about the lower bearing.

As I remember, that white plastic plug was actually poured in to the rack as a melted liquid and holds and seals the rack and housing together, don't f--k with it.  @zKars sacrificed the life of a steering rack to bring us that info

 

 

[Reinier]

Thanks for the excellent info grannyknot. That clears up a lot for me. I will look for the old rebuild topics.

Can you tell me where I can order the bearing and grease seal? I can't find them on my regular Z-shops like RockAuto, ZCarDepot, MSA and ZCarSource.

Thanks.

[Patcon]

The bearing should have some numbers on it. You can order or cross reference from that. The seal should also have some numbers on it but they may not be legible. I believe I found my steering rack seal at Rockauto

Looks like Rockauto has it. Steering shaft worm gear seal SKF 5810. I didn't see the bearings

Edited April 29, 2019 by Patcon