First off, it's a '91 N/A. I recently found a thread on this forum a few weeks ago about disabling your power-steering rack to a manual one and I was seriously considering doing it. Well, as it turns out, my power-steering pump started knocking pretty loudly the other night and the wheel would sometimes stick. So I decided, what the hell, this gives me a reason. The rack might be going also.
So today, I pulled off the pump and bracket, took apart the rack, removed/ cut a few seals and threw it all back together. (I did find metallic-like grease inside the rack when I dis-assembled it).

(Note: this can't be done with the Turbo II racks due to their steering ratio.)

Driving:
At first it took a little getting used to not having power-steering, but after a little while, I was really starting to enjoy the feel of the road on the backroads. I would honestly have to say that it is the best manual steering I have ever felt, even though the effort is a tiny bit more than the usual manual steering. The steering has a very "solid" feel now.
At a dead stop, the steering is harder than usual, but definitely not unbearable. Once you get moving, it's fine.
Powersteering was nice to have while it lasted, but I would have to say that my car feels more "sporty" now that it's gone.
I don't think I'll miss it that much

 

thats good that you dont regret it and enjoy it

i cant live without power steering!! lol

 

parallel parking is so annoying without power steering

 

^^^
wow! i didn"t think of that one! Oh well, I'll live with it

BTW, here's the link:
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-gen-archive-72/how-de-power-your-steering-rack-right-way-440198/

 

Now, drive a car with the "real" manual rack and you'll never go back to your "hacked" version again. The ratio isn't as quick on the manual rack, but it's far more balanced and direct.

 

my car didnt come with power steering...but i love the feel of it.

 

I also disconnected my PS on my FC. The feel is so much better that I won't ever go back to power assist. At a stop it of course takes more effort, but I agree that it isn't anything too much. Hell it's even more manageable than my old Fieros were. On a winding road there is so much more feedback from the wheel. Feels great!

 

can i simply remove my power steering belt to see if i like the feeling, or would this cause something to go wrong when the belt is off?

 

it wont hurt anything but it will be much harder to steer with the belt just taken off than it is with less fluid and suck after the conversion is done. i tried mine with the belt off before taking out the power steering, it was twice as hard as it is after removing it. you will not regret taking it out, it isnt hard at all to turn

 

Ive thought about this as a way to increase the power and sportiness of my (future) car.
oes this do anything for more power? And how much? (hoe much parasitic losses are yuo losing?

Its also the arguement for removing A/C (here in western WA i might not need).

I might just do it for the feedback and feel though, I dont like the lack of feedback from PS cars.

 

I disagree.

I switched from a "hacked" version to a Manual rack... but then went BACK to the modified power rack. There was no difference in feel and a marginal difference in effort.

The power rack had a quicker ratio which I found necessary for autocross.

It takes some effort to turn at low speeds, but nothing that isn’t manageable… Even with 245 R-compounds on the front I toss my car around the autocross course like nobodies busyness.

 

manual racks are the ****, i love manual steering.

 

Yeah, I'm with all of you folks. In fact, I took it step further and got rid of my power brakes. A vacuum brake booster is for pussies. I love the feel of the road while I'm driving and slam on my manual brakes. I'll never go back.

Anybody yet figure out to to convert power windows to manual windows? I don't like the power windows because I get little feedback when the window is being rolled up and down.

I'm also gonna get rid of that lousy power antenna and put a manual one. The manual one cuts my 0-60 times by one-tenth of a second.

Next mod is to remove the power from the transmission and cut some holes in my floorboards so I can get even better feel of the road when I'm "Fred Flinstoning" it. This should also help my fuel economy too while maintaining same 1/4 mile times as my na engine. Yep, I suspect that parallel parking would also be a little harder with this mod.

I love this depower fad that's going on....any more suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

i did it to my TII PS rack......felt great.......I started driving my fiancee's FC with PS and it feels like I should steer with my pinkies.........she want's me to remove it but I refuse to mess with the car especially now that it's running perfect.

 

hahahahhaha nice one homebrewer!

 

hahahahahahahahahaha...good one homebrewer.

the only reason i dont want power steering is because with the A/C on, as soon as i turn the steering weel, my RPMs drop by 300, then my car shuts off .
and i NEED A/C in this SO CAL HEAT!

 

I converted mine to manual as well, with a non-power rack into my Turbo. The ratio isn't quite to my liking for street driving, as I have to hand-over hand it sometimes to get the right angle on some city streets, but on the track it's awesome. I don't autox anymore, which is good, because it would suck for autox with the longer ratio.

I did it for a few reasons... the feel is better, and it's one less thing to break on the track and spill slick fluids under the car. Also makes more room in there for IC piping if I ever get that project going.

 

Agreed. It is a night and day difference between the two. I drove my TII with just removed PSing and my SE which now has manual steering (thanks Mr. Atkins!). I love a manual rack, after three days you would never know the difference between the two.

 

My car is the base model, therefore it did not come with power anything. I've driven RX-7s with power steering, with "depowered" power steering and the proper manual rack, and frankly I hate all of them but the manual rack. It takes very little effort to use the manual rack, it's simple and it's light. The power steering is FAR too floaty in my opinion. I think Mazda just wanted to jump on the fad regarding power steering. Try and find a car these days with manual steering, you won't. Hell, even my Insight, an 1800 LBs car, has power steering and no option for manual...A properly built manual rack is a joy to drive.

Now, non power breaks...that's just frightening.