At last, depowered the rack.

[ZAKU]

Originally Posted by Bigsyke

The gear shaft housing uses 3 torx bolts, I hammered a small 8-9mm socket on them IIRC.

I used a snap-on 12-point 5/16 wrench. Fit PERFECTLY.

[TurboSE]

Started doing this tonight, here are some thoughts, opinions and questions:

-5/16" 12pt. socket makes easy work of the torx bolts
-PB Blaster is a "must have" for the fittings.
-The "steering fluid facial" is a very real threat, I'd highly recommend safety glasses.
-If you're gonna paint you gear housing, you're gonna need a lot of degreaser.

-Did you guys use a heat gun on the seal like the FSM says or cut it like the Miata guy?
-Any need to keep the black washer inside the gear housing?
-Any idea where I can get replacement lock washers for my tie rods?

[Bigsyke]

Cut it very carefully like the miata guy if your going to actually pack the rack...if your going to just grease it up real good, then you can just cut the seal.

[TurboSE]

My rack was about empty of all lubricants when I pulled it...is it normal to have grease coming out the driver's side shaft? The passenger side is clean and shiny...driver is red and greasy.

Also, any idea where I can get the lock washers to replace the ones ruined when I removed my tie rods?

[Bigsyke]

Means the drivers side seal is torn on the actual housing, and the ATF became contaminated and sludged up.

You may need new tie rod arms, thats the only way I got new locking clips.

[TurboSE]

Originally Posted by Bigsyke

Means the drivers side seal is torn on the actual housing, and the ATF became contaminated and sludged up.

You may need new tie rod arms, thats the only way I got new locking clips.

Can you see this becoming a issue with a modified rack?

[Bigsyke]

Not with a modified one, im sure its pretty tough for dirt to get in there unless you arent runing any boots on the tie rods.

[TurboSE]

Originally Posted by Bigsyke

Not with a modified one, im sure its pretty tough for dirt to get in there unless you arent runing any boots on the tie rods.

That's kinda what I figured. Any ideas on installing a grease-fitting in the pinion housing? Maybe fill/drill/tap on of the fittings?

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by !Zar!

No powersteering is dumb and pointless.

Matter of fact it's quite possibly one of THE dumbest mods to do to a s13 imo.

Exactly. Anytime I see a swapped 89/90 without PS I think "HACKJOB" as the owner was to lazy to do it right and find the PS lines.

But to go out of your way and delete PS on a PS rack is just stupid. I've had pumps fail on my car and that just sucks.

I've also driven cars with Manual Steering and when you have a rack with ratios and that is designed for it, it's alright.

So looping or packing your PS rack to run no PS, that, once again, is a Hack Job.

Get a manual rack or leave it alone.

[TurboSE]

Originally Posted by Corbic

Exactly. Anytime I see a swapped 89/90 without PS I think "HACKJOB" as the owner was to lazy to do it right and find the PS lines.

But to go out of your way and delete PS on a PS rack is just stupid. I've had pumps fail on my car and that just sucks.

I've also driven cars with Manual Steering and when you have a rack with ratios and that is designed for it, it's alright.

So looping or packing your PS rack to run no PS, that, once again, is a Hack Job.

Get a manual rack or leave it alone.

If you don't spend money, it's not a good mod....

[TerminalSamurai]

So I'm in the process of doing this on a spare rack, does anyone have any idea what the actual Torx Socket Size is? I've pretty much completely rounded one of the bolts with differant tools, including a 5/16ths 12pt box end.

[stinky_180]

Originally Posted by Corbic

Get a manual rack or leave it alone.

or depower the rack.

[az_240]

This is a little off-topic but I just got a HICAS rack today. There is a slight rough spot where the shaft gets kinda stuck when I try turning the knuckle. It feels like the shaft dips down slightly in that one spot when the shaft rolls over it... almost like there is a tooth missing. The rack feels solid everywhere else besides that one spot near the center.

Any ideas what this could be? Could a rebuild correct this? Anyone know of any rebuild kits?

Thanks

[Matej]

Bump from the future.

Does anyone on here provide this rack de-powering service if one sends them their rack?
Or would anyone happen to have an already 'properly' de-powered S13 rack for sale?
Cheers.

[racepar1]

Originally Posted by Matej

Bump from the future.

Does anyone on here provide this rack de-powering service if one sends them their rack?
Or would anyone happen to have an already 'properly' de-powered S13 rack for sale?
Cheers.

I can de-power and powdercoat your rack, it's really pretty simple. Mine feels amazing pushing the car around. When it still had an engine in it and 275/40/17 ra1's steering was a one handed affair whether the car was moving or not. Granted the car was not complete and was still a little light, but I think it would have been acceptable fully assembled.

[the a3k]

another bump!

i have a rb25 s14 and definitely want to convert mine to a manual rack

[Slammed180]

Get your head out of your ass, and get to work then.

[the a3k]

Originally Posted by Slammed180

Get your head out of your ass, and get to work then.

calm down lol

[NoPistons!]

Bump for old ass thread because i have searched since i woke up thismorning with the sole intent to depower my rack and relocate it 20mm or so forwards.....

I have my rack completely apart and clean right now. ALready notched the piston too.



First of all, this little spool valve from what i'm reading causes friction because of the little rubber rings all up on it and how it works by design. This pin my finger is pointing to, i simply drill that out and this piece slips off, yes?






Second, this rubber ring that fits up against the old piston pressure seal, junk it or slap it back in?




This is a worthy resurrection thread for the spool valve alone.

Edit: this is a tits easy mod. If you half ass it by just capping lines and not taking the rack apart and love it, more power to you. You are doing it wrong with a smile when it's not a whole lot of work to do so. My rack end where the cap is was dimple punched. If you tried to thread the cap off you would have destroyed all the threads. Check for that BEFORE you try to wrench it off. You should only have to break the seating torque and then off it goes easy by hand. If not, STOP! Take your time to drill the dimple out SLOWLY, remove all shavings and then thread the thing off.

[ixfxi]

i dont think the above is necessary, but im sure it cant hurt


on several of my cars, i simply drained the rack - swing the steering back and fourth emptying the fluid. i left the line provisions open and simply stuffed a bit of open cell foam in there as a small filter - or leave it open, the dirt cant really cause any harm

anyway, i dont think the above is necessary...

[onehundredoctane]

EDIT: If this info has already been covered I apologize, I don't have time to skim over 4 pages of people saying "don't do it" etc.


That being said. . .


Dave Coleman (if you don't know who that is stop reading now) de-powered the steering rack on FrankenMiata and detailed it in the link below. It's what I would consider the proper way to de-power a rack if you aren't drifting or have small woman like arms lol. If I ever get around to doing this on mine this is exactly how I'll do it. Granted the link below is on a Miata (yes, I realize that) it is very similar to the S chassis rack.


Project Miatabusa Part 5 - De-Powering the Steering

[NoPistons!]

Edit, i was looking at project miatabusa yesterday as well. They spoke OF the spool valve, slipping it out and the actual part where the u joint splines are and pinion gear is are two pieces. They slip fit. They have play. It'll grenade your shit IF you have a miata doing the depowered says THEM. I dunno about the real world but motoiq is pretty awesome reading material on the reg. Our cars dont have that two piece gear/spline crap going on so there's no need to weld the shaft into one piece. Nobody who actually cares about getting things done has time to read any pages of negative unproductive banter.



I just happened to be bored and have a spare rack to play with. I didn't think removing the spool was necessary either. Taking shit apart and re-engineering it is stupid fun though. I wouldn't be playing with cars if i didn't. =D If anything that spool should come out so i can get my nerd on making a lightsaber handle. Lol.


Between you and me, (ixfxi) if my pump failed or something broke related to my ps when my car was running i would have just looped the lined and depowered later. Simplistic opportunist.

[ixfxi]

looping the line makes driving really tough. its either no fluid or bust, if you ask me

[bejota180sx]

im going to take the oportunity that someone revived this thread and ask something...

After i did this mod i can say that this mod makes driving the car much easier, but i want to ask a question. Because of simple physics moving the wheels while on a dead spot, like at tight parking lots, has anyone tried to play around with suspension settings like more/less camber, caster, toe and such or anything else and see how this changes? would like to know if anyone has tried anything...

[comablack783]

Originally Posted by bejota180sx

After i did this mod i can say that this mod makes driving the car much easier,

easier than? I dont see how no power steering or depowering the rack would make anything easier.. easier then not having PS at all?

after I did my sr swap I had to wait for lines and a pump, kinda got used to no PS... drove it like that for the better part of two years, then eventually put it back in and yeah 2,000,000x better..

on that note I would be interested in buying a true manual rack, since mine is busted and leaking...BUT the group buy is dead .. I read somewhere you can retrofit manual datsun Z racks? I cant find specific info on this tho, anyone???

[bejota180sx]

easier/better than driving with just the lines disconnected... it's not as smooth as power steering but way smoother than just the lines disconnected...

[Bigsyke]

Just dropping back in a few years later - still depowered. The S14 has been retired to a DD/winter drift car and I've since wen't to a Z32TT.

The Z32TT's engine bay sucks, so I've removed everything to make it easier to work on and for better airflow. I was an idiot and removed the HICAS and devaned the TT pump. The pump the leaked flud when I put it back. So I yanked the PS. Right now rack is open and steering is horrible. I feel like I'm going to snap the linkage. Turning the wheels from a standstill is nearly impossible. I've backed out the preload adjustment bolt.

I snapped all 3 torx bolts holding the speed regulator on the rack, so Im forced to depower it now. I'll post back impressions after my first track event. Maybe I'll take a few pics of the depowering progress.

[Matej]

If anyone is having problems finding a way to plug the ports without welding them shut (they are M12x1.0, M14x1.0, and M16x1.0, if I recall correctly, and finding bolts in those sizes proved to be impossibly hard), I found out that '89-95 Miata racks use the same ports, and there are plug kits made for them.
MiataRoadster power steering rack depowering plug kits - MiataRoadster - High-performance customer service...and parts for Roadsters

I however ended up going back to power steering, to be able to run negative camber and modded knuckles.

[rawgarage]

I plan on doing this for my 90 coupe...just pulled the single slammer last night...

[Hoffman5982]

^That really wasn't worth reviving this thread over.

But here we are, so I will give my impressions on having a depowered rack:

I love it. I've had it in for about 2 months now after my 3rd rack started leaking like crazy. Throwing the car is harder, obviously, but the amount of feedback you get is incredible. I can also transfer as hard as I want not worry about countersteering fast enough. A manual rack forces you to become smoother while drifting. Parking lots really aren't bad. if you're standing still, turning sucks. But if you're moving slowly its super easy to pull in and out of spaces. On my garage floor I can turn it with one hand while standing still, but not quite as easily on concrete that isn't so stiff.

If you're going for a low power drift car, this is definitely a great option. One thing I should note is that the faster you're going while drifting, the harder it is. So if you're running more power and going for higher speed entries, keep your power steering.