steering rack – One Man And His Mustang

A long week and the weekend couldn’t get here fast enough so I can get down to Mustang Maniac. I arrived with change of clothes and a packed lunch. The dogs were in high spirits and enjoying the sun running around the now spacious yard. Adam looked over the car with me and gave me my instructions for the day. Final clean up of the left side and remove the shock tower bracket that had been badly welded on. I wanted to replace the brakes with a nice smart export brace so they needed to come of anyway. I have seen some were the export brace sits over the top of the brackets and it looks a poor job. So while I was at this stage it was an ideal time to remove the first one. It was a case of the angle grinder to reduce the weld to as thin as possible then lever the old bracket off the shock tower. With the bracket off I was able to grind down the weld almost flat. I have become a lot better at using the angle grinder with finesse and can grind away quite accurately now with only the bits I want removed.

Bracket in place

Bracket removed to leave the old welds

Cleaning up the metal to make sure no rust was about and wire wool the tight spaces to leave a fresh bare surface.

With my ears still ringing from the whine of the angle grinder it was time for some peace and quiet and start the stipple of the red oxide. This was to continue to edges where I didn’t need welding and again stop about an inch in to allow welding to be done. Of course there will be some bits that I may have to go over again when the repair welds start, but that can’t be helped. I completed the complete left hand side inner fenders and the fire wall now. Adam came to give me a hand a little later so we could roll the car over ready for next week’s more of the same all be it on he other side. What a difference it makes to see the red oxide on there. The pictures here were taken as soon as I had finished, so it was a little wet in some places.

Sunday the wife wanted me to give her a hand with the garden as she wanted to get our lovely bamboos out the garden, as they were start in to go a bit mental. I came home Saturday evening to find the big bushes cut down but the stumps or shoots still in the ground. The ground was soaked by the rain in the morning so it wasn’t to bad to dig. What I wasn’t expecting was the shoots to travel as far sideways as they did. Under the loose laid patio in the corner, and to the fences. We lifted the slabs up to find a find a complex web of infiltration from the roots that was more complex than a cold war spy drama, it was everywhere. We eventually got it all up but it was a pain. Tip: Don’t plant bamboo in the ground unless you have a couple of giant pandas coming to stay to keep it under control.

In case you are wondering, I did manage to sneak a couple of hours in at the man cave while she was out. I started to clean up and strip down down the steering setup. But shoosh, don’t tell the wife! I will create a step by step process and add it soon. I can’t do a Sunday without a little tinkering on the car or car bits now can I?

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The weekend arrived and I couldn’t wait to get down to see what the guys had done to my car. I wasn’t disappointed. The car was well and truly in bits and the rear axle was on the leaf springs on a pallet. The engine was out and the front suspension was in bits on the floor, all the smaller parts were all in a large plastic tub ready for me to clean up. The steering rack was out, and all that was left was the steering column and the brake servo in the sparse looking engine bay. When I asked Adam what needed to be done, there was a walk around the car and the list duly flowed forth. The rest of the engine bay to be stripped clean, pipes off, the gas pedal out, steering box out and the servo without saying. All brake pipes underneath and fuel lines, the rear valance, oh and the rear lights out, oh and the gas tank out with the shocks out too, don’t forget the rear valance of as well as that was damaged beyond repair. In fact, if it had a bolt on it, it needs to come out. The day was going to be busy and I had my instructions, I was excited and off I went. I completed my tasks as requested with the guys giving me tips and tricks of the trade as I went along. When I got to a certain part like how do I get the column out, I was shown the parts in question, told the process and off I went again. In fact I have taken lots of pictures of the removal process’ and I will write them all up. But I have some teaser pictures here for you.

Engine out

almost empty bay

steering rack

springs and shocks on the way out

suspension removed

spndle and suspension out

steering box

steering column

top of the steering column

Sunday I decided to clean up one of the larger bits I had in my man cave the prop shaft. Last week I explained the process (click here for the link). I took the prop shaft into the garden on the sunny day and I needed to remove the old underseal from it. The rotary wire brush made short work of it attached to the drill until I got to the UV ends. At the diff end there are two cups that are held in place by the U-clamps on the diff. These cups come off but are filled with small needle bearings and need to be treated with care so they don’t all fall out. Once the cups are removed keep them safe out-of-the-way, then it’s de-grease and clean, and clean again, and more cleaning. The grease and grime were so bad that you couldn’t even see the grease nipples. The Marine Clean in a 1:1 mix made a good job of breaking it all down.

diff end with cups held in place

gearbox end

unable to even see the grease nipples.

wrap removed

removing a cup

cup removed

both cups

With the prop cleaned up and de-rusted it looked a very different part that’s for sure. Off to the man cave.

cleaned up shaft

gearbox end cleaned

grease nipple can now be seen

other side of box end

diff end cleaned

again grease nipple can be seen

I retired to the man cave for the POR15 first coat. the problem was how to paint it? I had to make a rack to hold the prop in the air so I could get access all around the prop. The idea worked well if not a little delicate, I think I will spray the prop white, the same colour as the shocks once it’s done. The full process of the painting and clean up can be seen on the quick link below.

diff end

bare shaft

box end

starting the paint

half of the shaft

box end treated

shaft single coated

diff end treated

diff end

I shall be posting the steering box removal process, soon as well as the other little projects and clean ups. I mentioned the lights earlier!

rear lights in place

no lights and fuel tank out.

The process was very simple, four Philips screws hold the lens and trim in place, remove them and pull the housing and the lens off to expose the bulb, remove the bulb as well. Inside the car there are four studs with nuts on for the housing, undo these and the light housing will pull out. Dead simple. I will have to replace the holders as the as reflectors are rusty and no good for anything now unfortunately.