z3 rack swap nightmare

[bastianshaw]

How the fuck are you guys running the stock hoses? and dont say I flipped them, no way. it seems to me I can either have the HP hose from the pump or the feed line to the rack from the reservoir; do i need to go to a shop and have this bent?

S3rious PITA if you swap racks plan on having no PS (still awesome, ive been running no ps for over a year)

[Sagaris]

How the fuck are you guys running the stock hoses? and dont say I flipped them, no way. it seems to me I can either have the HP hose from the pump or the feed line to the rack from the reservoir; do i need to go to a shop and have this bent?

S3rious PITA if you swap racks plan on having no PS (still awesome, ive been running no ps for over a year)

I bent my stock line into some sort of hodge-podge oddity which worked, but was total crap aesthetically. I mean this thing was looping up and over the engine mount, the rubber portion was looped to make it shorter, it was total crap. I bought another stock line to try again, and strangely it fit just fine with no modifications needed.

You may have seen this write-up, but maybe this pic will inspire some ideas.

http://e30performance.info/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1340

[Todd Black 88]

I had to twist mine in a vice.

[bastianshaw]

even w bending the line I cant see how it would be easy to bolt these up w/o interfering w the steering knuckle or the low pressure line...can someone running PS w the rack snap a pic of the lines going into the rack?

[LJ851]

I just tweaked the stock lines a little. It's hard to get a good pic.

[defaultName]

I tried to install the line without bending it for a while, but then I gave up on power steering altogether.

I'll probably try again at some point.

[bastianshaw]

I tried to install the line without bending it for a while, but then I gave up on power steering altogether.

I'll probably try again at some point.

did you feel likw murdering someone or lighting hella shit on fire?

[bastianshaw]

I bent my stock line into some sort of hodge-podge oddity which worked, but was total crap aesthetically. I mean this thing was looping up and over the engine mount, the rubber portion was looped to make it shorter, it was total crap. I bought another stock line to try again, and strangely it fit just fine with no modifications needed.

You may have seen this write-up, but maybe this pic will inspire some ideas.

http://e30performance.info/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1340

this is the e36 line so its not of much use to me but thank you, im trying to stay positive about the whole thing i guess it just cought me off guard I was nt expecting this much headache

[Varinn]

Does anyone know of someone who has had a custom high pressure hose built up by a hydraulic supplier? I haven't actually looked underneath at the routing and compared the racks but my swap is coming up soon and I'm thinking of having one built in advance

[defaultName]

did you feel likw murdering someone or lighting hella shit on fire?

Yes, but I always feel that way! But seriously I figured it would be a pain to fit the line before I started so I bought a PS delete from Condor Speed Shop just in case.

Does anyone know of someone who has had a custom high pressure hose built up by a hydraulic supplier? I haven't actually looked underneath at the routing and compared the racks but my swap is coming up soon and I'm thinking of having one built in advance

I found this from Zionsville Autosport...

http://www.zionsvilleautosport.com/store/screen/prod/store_code/6134/product_code/RCMSH.htm

It says "This steering hose is a new factory part which has been modified to connect the quick ratio steering rack to the e30 steering pump." so I would ask if "modified" just means bent or what.

[Boostesi]

i used stock e36 lines with only minor hand bending, but i have an m50 in my car, and its a late model... these things may make a difference

[jeffnhiscars]

Im not sure how much the Z3 rack varies from an e36 rack but I've done 2 swaps. The 1st was in to the M10 which had the angles flare connector instead of banjos. That was easy. On the M20 swap I recall using the pump as a vice by bolting the e30 hose to it and prying against the metal pipe on the hose. I was just trying to take some stress off the re-routed hose so it didnt take much to get the angles right.

That probably doesnt help much :-/

Note: I just got my reman e36 rack to swap in to the barn find and I'll probably be punished on that for posting this.

[Varinn]

Yes, but I always feel that way! But seriously I figured it would be a pain to fit the line before I started so I bought a PS delete from Condor Speed Shop just in case.



I found this from Zionsville Autosport...

http://www.zionsvilleautosport.com/store/screen/prod/store_code/6134/product_code/RCMSH.htm

It says "This steering hose is a new factory part which has been modified to connect the quick ratio steering rack to the e30 steering pump." so I would ask if "modified" just means bent or what.

Cool thanks for that link, another question. Is the standard e36 rack different in dimension than the z3? I see many people claiming to just do a direct reverse of the hoses with no bending while others are doing tons of bizarro twists to make it fit

[bastianshaw]

Cool thanks for that link, another question. Is the standard e36 rack different in dimension than the z3? I see many people claiming to just do a direct reverse of the hoses with no bending while others are doing tons of bizarro twists to make it fit

im highly skeptical of this, i tried reversing the hoses and it no worky