Hey all, I need a small favor... I need a little bit of welding done in Rockville, MD.... It doesn't look to me like it's a hard project if you have experience doing this stuff. I took out my steering pinion gear and shaft and I want it welded up so there is no free play in it. This is the same type of modificationt that Maval Gear does for people (but you gotta send them your whole rack!) There is nothing broken... you're just making a mod to the pinion.

I think the material is steel or maybe hardened steel if that helps.

Thanks,
Brian

 

PFS not an option? Ray has a welder there now part time...

 

If you want to drive your car down here Brian I could tack it for you. You could probably just swing into any exhaust shop though and throw them a $20 and get it done. A weld that small would only take 5 minutes if that. Driving down here or even PFS would be a long haul for such a little thing.

 

Is it hard to get to? From reading your post, the rack is already out of the car? I could do it for you if you could get me the rack. Is it something you could bring to the next meet or do you need it ASAP?

BTW, how far is Rockville from Catonsville area?

 

I left the rack in the car, but I have the pinion in my hot little hands! In case you're not familar with the "problem" I'm fixing...

The power steering rack has a quill shaft (also called rotary valve) design. What this means is that there is a skinny shaft inside the outer shaft. When you turn the wheel, the outer shaft twists slightly "around" the inner one, and power steering fluid gets dished out appropriately to make your power steering work.

The problem is that I have removed my power steering pump and looped up the lines. At this point, the rotary valve is no longer needed and in fact, the quill shaft design is actually making my steering a little mushy/sloppy since every time I turn the wheel, it twists that thin flexy inner shaft somewhat.

The solution is to weld up the pinion end of the shaft so that the two shafts can no longer turn independantly. There is a very narrow gap that you can kinda visualize near the gear... this is the area to weld up.

The second picture below shows the two shafts partly separated so that you can see the area more clearly. In the assembled position, the pieces are pushed together, and the top is pinned by a solid pin jammed through the end of both parts. I tried to get the pin out today but I couldn't... I'm hoping that someone can either just "weld over" the open space to form a solid link or maybe jam some very thin pieces of metal in there and then weld over it.

http://www.zeroglabs.com/rx7/images/pinion1.jpg
http://www.zeroglabs.com/rx7/images/pinion2.jpg
http://www.zeroglabs.com/rx7/images/pinion3.jpg

 

Hey Brian.. I have a MIG at home and am just across the street all day.. That shouldn't be a problem. Just let me know.

Dave