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Steve Duncan Member
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Am making plans to remove and replace engine. LHD. Two piece header. Can I leave the header and the steering shaft attached during the process? |
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Dakota123 Member
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I have the cast manifold with the two-piece downpipes, but what I ended up doing was leaving the “header” in place. Unbolted the lower shaft joint from the rack input stub, loosened the rack mounting bolts and pulled the rack away from the subframe so the lower joint disconnected from the stub, and pulled the engine/4-spd trans together, leaving the steering shaft in place. Ended up working great. The cast manifold is bulkier than the two-piece header, so I would think the two-piece would be fine, too. Engine is going back in today or tomorrow. |
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Dakota123 Member
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[duplicate] Last edited on 06-13-2020 04:28 pm by Dakota123 |
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Steve Duncan Member
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So I'm clear on your approach, you left the upper u-joint on the steering shaft connected to the steering column as it comes out of the firewall? |
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redracer Member
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I've never left the lower steering shaft in place; if you unbolt the bottom part and loosen the rack as Dakota sauid, it's easy to loosen the upper pinch bolt and remove the shaft(before pulling out the engine, tm, & headers as one unit). WARNING": TO REMOVE THE UPPER PINCH CLAMP, YOU MUST SPREAD THE CLAMP A LITTLE USING A TAPERED CHISEL AT 90 DEGREES TO THE AXIS, OR YOU WILL BREAK THE 2 NYLON INSERTS INSIDE THE COLLAPSIBLE 2 PIECE COLUMN--GUARANTEED; VERY DANGEROUS |
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discogodfather Member 
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I've found the header to be extremely easy to remove if you remove the exhaust cam housing. If you don't, it's difficult. It's fairly easy to remove the steering rod, granted you do what red said and spread those joints a bit. If you are going to rebuild the engine anyway then taking the cam towers and even the head out first makes engine removal much easier, granted your cherry picking it from the top. |
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Dakota123 Member
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“ So I'm clear on your approach, you left the upper u-joint on the steering shaft connected to the steering column as it comes out of the firewall?“ Yes, that’s right. Last edited on 06-14-2020 01:50 pm by Dakota123 |
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Steve Duncan Member
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Thanks everyone. Appreciate the quick answers and comments. |
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redracer Member
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Since it's so dangerous, I've been asked to comment with a tech article on the upper 2 piece steering shaft(that's the part that's inside the car and extends through the firewall to be joined by the 3 pin upper steering knuckle). I will post the rewrite(Issue #55, The White Lady", December 1990, pages 8-10) in a separate article. bruce |
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Steve Duncan Member
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I'd very much like to see that. I replaced those nylon pieces a number of years ago but can't visualize the construct. Yesterday I removed the lower shaft after loosening the u-joints. Didn't take much effort. But based on your warnings, I'd like to now determine if I unintentionally damaged the nylon inserts in the process. Can you provide the specifics on how to determine if they are damaged? Excessive play? Will it be obvious? Thanks |
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redracer Member
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Steve: I typed the article right after I sent the previous post( a "rewrite"). As for telling/checking whether or not you have already broken the plastic pin, you really can't, so I would ASSUME it IS broken and try the "REPAIR" i posted a little while ago(better safe than dead??) |
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