Miata Mailing List: January 1999, Message #186

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One last detail:  If you have a/c, you will have to buy the OEM idler pulley that
will put tension on, and allow the adjustment of, the a/c compressor drive belt.
The pulley, pulley bracket, and belt are around $80 from Roebuck, IIRC, and the
idler pulley bracket bolts on where the PS pump bracket came off.

Eric Amador

"Eric A. Amador" wrote:

> 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!!!!!!!!!!!