Making my FD manual steering removing PAS etc.

[DR SCHNITZEL]

Hi everyone.
 
At the moment i run my FD power steering rack but with nothing attached. ALL gone. I have been told by at least 3 tuners that this is dangerous because it can seize up.
 
Tonight im going to take my spare PAS rack apart and remove all the bits that is explained in a (miata power to manual conversion page) And fit this to see if it makes a difference.
 
Can someone explain why removing the pas is dangerous?
 
Is it because the components i am about to remove are prone to seizing in the assembly?

[redgti]

A brief google, has shed a little light on the situation, i believe the general feeling is either
1) leave everything on and remove the belt. This makes the steering very very heavy as you have to push all the fluid round the system.
2) loop the in and out fluid lines together so there is still fluid in the rack, if the rack is run dry the componants inside can sieze, the dangers then become apparent.
 
Hope that helps, this is just what i gather from reading bits and pieces, but as ever it is probably best to do it properly with a proper manual rack, maybe get saving for one of those sexy atomic rex billet ones.

[DR SCHNITZEL]

Cheers red, i saw those atomic ones at rotorstock, very very nice. bit pricey though.
 
I have found a site in america that sells fc manual racks for 120 dollars. great but do they do left hand drive only ? or can one be modded. i dont know. but i am waiting on a reply from the guys.
 
i have removed the belt and yes very heavy.
 
i have also looped teh lines. heavy but much better.
 
for now i am going to leave it as is until i get a reply from america.
 
In the mean time i am going to unloop the pas and fill all the holes with plenty of grease/oil and re loop. this should be safe yes???
 
I have just tried removing the internals but there is a 50 mm allen key i need to get off in order to the guts of it.
 
there has to be a fc manual rack uk dealer surely???/!!!!!!!

[AtomicRex]

We have a RHD rack sat on the shelf...potentially with your name on it!
 
I have heard of a few scare stories across the pond with people modifying the racks themselves. Our rack has gone down a storm in the states, and as such we are now looking to modify it again to offer more travel for drifting. Should be able to obtain almost 40% extra. We are also looking to offer a variable ratio rack This will give you a nice stiff feel whilst driving in a straight line, so correcting slight changes due to road surface imperfections wont leave you bounding across the road. But when you start applying lock the rack automatically speeds up
 
The rack bar and pinion is just mad! Straight out of the F1 crowd:driving
 
The racks are a good investment and aren\'t that expensive....compared to what people spend on wheels, suspension, turbo kits etc

[DR SCHNITZEL]

Tempting tempting,
 
to cure the horror stories some people remove the bits that seize and/OR fill the gaps that had pas fluid in them with lots of grease. then seal so they will never dry up.
 
Im in the process of doing this now and i will report results.
 
Secondly i am looking at a 1988 turbo manual rack from the states.