now the tricky bit. The pinion shaft on the new rack sits a little bit
taller than the old one and the result of this is you have to slide the
splined end of the steering shaft a little further down onto it to get
everything to fit in place........
The end result of this is, when fitted, the hole in the steering shaft coupling
for the pinch bolt to slide though now doesn't line up with that groove
(it has slid down a little bit past it).........
It's not the end of the world however, as the bolt will still fit in fine and
do it's job, it just needs to be screwed in now rather than simply falling in as before.
The one thing this is mucho importante is that the splines don't protrude to much
up into the coupling and start to interfere with the free rotation of the upper part
of the joint.........
To help with this I loosened the coupling at both ends of the steering shaft
and made sure the same amount of splines were protruding both ends,
rather than trying to do it all one end.........
With everything nipped up tight the steering gets a few locks from side
to side while checking theres no fouling going on and everythings as smooth
as it was the day it left the factory. However much of a pain in the arse it is
to have to deal with problems now, there's a good chance it would be pain all over
if you start finding problems while thrashing down a country lane.
With the rack, pump and reservoir now in place all that was left was the hydraulic
pipes that join them all together........
The original M3 pipes are all good to go again with one small tweek.
The low pressure pipes are good to go as is, as being made of rubber
they easily flex to their new locations. The high pressure pipe however
needs a little bit of modifying to match up with the slightly different
angle of the new steering racks inlet port.......
The "tweek" isn't too complicated, it is however a little hard to photograph.
Basically the steel end of the pressure pipe needs to be bent a little to
open up the angle on the pipe as shown below. There's two ways to bend the
pipe, slowly and gently in the vise, or, quickly and roughly and the resulting
call to the main dealer to price a new one..........
The bend shown above is to steer the pipe clear of the engine block
and engine mounting leg when it's fitted.......
theres one other slight bend needed and thats to take the pipe away from the
steering knuckle.......
although it doesn't look it above due to the crap angle I decided to take
a photo at, theres a good half inch clearance between the pipe and the knuckle.
And thats about all that was involved in getting the steering system sorted.
More as the week goes on..........
taller than the old one and the result of this is you have to slide the
splined end of the steering shaft a little further down onto it to get
everything to fit in place........
The end result of this is, when fitted, the hole in the steering shaft coupling
for the pinch bolt to slide though now doesn't line up with that groove
(it has slid down a little bit past it).........
It's not the end of the world however, as the bolt will still fit in fine and
do it's job, it just needs to be screwed in now rather than simply falling in as before.
The one thing this is mucho importante is that the splines don't protrude to much
up into the coupling and start to interfere with the free rotation of the upper part
of the joint.........
To help with this I loosened the coupling at both ends of the steering shaft
and made sure the same amount of splines were protruding both ends,
rather than trying to do it all one end.........
With everything nipped up tight the steering gets a few locks from side
to side while checking theres no fouling going on and everythings as smooth
as it was the day it left the factory. However much of a pain in the arse it is
to have to deal with problems now, there's a good chance it would be pain all over
if you start finding problems while thrashing down a country lane.
With the rack, pump and reservoir now in place all that was left was the hydraulic
pipes that join them all together........
The original M3 pipes are all good to go again with one small tweek.
The low pressure pipes are good to go as is, as being made of rubber
they easily flex to their new locations. The high pressure pipe however
needs a little bit of modifying to match up with the slightly different
angle of the new steering racks inlet port.......
The "tweek" isn't too complicated, it is however a little hard to photograph.
Basically the steel end of the pressure pipe needs to be bent a little to
open up the angle on the pipe as shown below. There's two ways to bend the
pipe, slowly and gently in the vise, or, quickly and roughly and the resulting
call to the main dealer to price a new one..........
The bend shown above is to steer the pipe clear of the engine block
and engine mounting leg when it's fitted.......
theres one other slight bend needed and thats to take the pipe away from the
steering knuckle.......
although it doesn't look it above due to the crap angle I decided to take
a photo at, theres a good half inch clearance between the pipe and the knuckle.
And thats about all that was involved in getting the steering system sorted.
More as the week goes on..........
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