MX-Brad

Moving along at a snails pace, i'm finally removing the front subframe. Brakes and rotors are off, outer tie rods are off, and the 8 bolts holding the subframe are loosened as are the upper shock mounts.
But i cannot get the steering shaft unhooked from the rack(manual rack). i removed the top nut of the joint that has the small boot on it. I'm not exactly sure how this comes apart. I also took off the mounting bolts holding the rack onto the subframe hoping if I pulled down on it the shaft would slip off. Even gave that little clamp a couple taps with a hammer hoping to loosen it off.
Surprisingly a couple hrs searching the internet did not reveal the secret. How does this come off?
Thanks,
Brad

V8MiataMike

Brad, the coupling that the steering shaft (from the steering wheel side) goes into down at the rack has a bolt and nut that clamps it onto that steering shaft. I'm not sure but based on your description, you need to remove that bolt completely. There is actually a slotted area of the shaft that prevents the coupler from coming off the shaft if the bolt is still in it. That may be the problem. If the bolt is out, try using a large screw driver and carefully spread the coupling just a very little bit to relieve the clamping force on the shaft.

Mike

MX-Brad

Thanks for the reply Mike. Btw, I'm really enjoying your build...making great progress.

I do have that bolt out completely (i just reread my original post and see i mistakenly said "nut"), I even took the bottom bolt out hoping that would slide off the rack end. I tried to pry the little clamp apart but there still is no movement in the shaft. Does the shaft slide up towards the interior or does the rack need to move down to disengage it? I'll give it a shot of Liquid wrench before i start working on it today.
Thanks

tbone heller

Remove pinch bolt at coupler on rack & pinion. Drive large pry bar into the split in the coupler. I like to use my 3' Snap-On bar & a 5 pound hammer.

Gator Bait

BFH FTW! ..no idea if the method is correct, but guaranteed to have a result!

MX-Brad

Thanks Tbone,
To be clear, the pinch bolt is the bolt directly above the boot on the shaft that holds the splined part of the shaft. Pry open the little clamp part and bang that clamp downwards. The rack needs to be unattached from the subframe to allow it to pull away from the shaft right? How far does that splined part go into the coupler?

edit.
Got it. A couple more little taps with the rack unbolted- it came right out.
Thanks all.

MX-Brad

Thanks again guys. Got the ball joints separated as I want to clean and paint the suspension before transferring everything over to the new subframe, and the old subframe is out. Now I can finish my engine bay cuts this week and start working on the harness. Progress sure is slow but I don't have a deadline and I'm really enjoying this.