Miata Mailing List: January 1999, Message #184

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This topic keeps coming up.  I wish that I had written it up for the Miata.Net
when my memory was still fresh.  The conversion is relatively easy; maybe a
4-hour job if you go slow.  The car's steering benefits greatly from the change,
IMHO.  There should be someone on the list, or a junkyard owner, who would
gladly give you his or her manual rack in exchange for your power steering (PS)
components.

IIRC (Consult the Enthusiast's Manual to verify all details and ascertain all
torque values):

Put the front of the car up on ramps to hold the wheels straight.

Remove the PS fluid reservoir first.  It's held on with a few 10-mm screws and
you need to drain its contents by detaching the far end of its hose.

Loosen and remove the PS belt by loosening the bolts securing the PS pump to its
brackets and swinging the pump toward the engine.  Remove the PS pump by
removing its remaining mounting bolts.  Drain any fluid as you disconnect it
from the hoses that connect it to the PS rack.

Remove the PS pump mounting bracket from the engine by removing its mounting
screws.  You must use a mallet and block of wood to slide the bracket's mounting
sleeve to one side (it moves in only one direction; I can't remember which) to
get at one of the mounting screws.

Disconnect and drain the metal PS fluid tubes that feed the rack.  Carefully
snake them from out of the car's "mouth."

Detach the steering tie rods.  You have a choice here, between unscrewing each
tie rod in the middle and removing it from the corresponding wheel hub.  One one
side I removed the cotter pin from the steering knuckle at the wheel hub,
inverted the castellated nut, and beat the knuckle out of the hub with a
hammer.  On the other end I unscrewed the inner tie rod from the outer tie rod.

Remove the rack by removing its four mounting screws and loosening the
attachment to the steering column, right above the universal joint.  (BTW,
you're swapping U-joints so your manual rack's U-joint will accompany the
rack--this fact dispels the suggestion that your PS U-joint mightn't be up to
the job of turning a manual rack.)  Note how the U-joint lines up with a white
dot painted on the column.  Wipe away any grease covering the white mark (this
mark denotes "straight-ahead" on the steering wheel).

Install the manual rack, using new cotter pins to replace any pins that you
removed, and doing your best to make the tie rods of equal length.  Installing
the manual rack entails simply screwing in all of five screws (the four mounting
screws and the one on the steering column), in addition to installing the tie
rod ends.

Get the front end (toe-in/toe-out) aligned immediately.  Your car won't steer
right until you do.

Eric Amador


April & Richard wrote:

> I have had my blue 90 for about two years and never thought much about the
> power steering in it. Today I drove a friends Miata without power steering
> and liked it a lot better.  He had suggested that it probably does not take
> too much to replace the racks. I am sure there are those out there that have
> done this.........how much work is it and is it worth it?
>
> I also believe that removing the pump would help with various intake
> modifications I am considering..
>
> Thanks
> Richard Norman
> 90 Blue
> Bumped Timing but otherwise Stock
> Getting Konis soon!!!!!!!!!!!