Steering rack,

[claypole1360]

Hi all, am I right in thinking the steering rack is triumph spitfire based? I have some play in it and I was thinking of bushing it out if that was the cause.
Calvin

What's that coming over the hill? Is it a monster?

[Hasbeen]

Calvin I have never seen a 7 rack that required bushes. Of course I may have just been lucky.

The rack should be greased every 6,000 Km, [or miles, one or the other], but the grease nipple is removed, so many have not ever been done.

This does tend to cause more wear in the centre of the rack, but not often terminal.

To adjust the slack you remove the very large nut on the front of the rack, carefully so you don't drop/loose any of the shims under it. By removing some of those shims, & refitting the nut & pinion pad, you push the pinion into tighter contact with the rack, removing any slack.

If the rack has excessive wear to remove all the slop in the straight ahead position will make the thing too tight at full lock at each end of its movement. It is a matter of adjusting for little slop in straight ahead, but not too tight at high lock positions.

I have found that removing 5 to 10 thou of shims is enough or too much to fix things. Grease thoroughly then regularly in future.

Hasbeen

[silverseven]

anybody have a pic of the grease nipple on the rack ???

Ron.

[Hasbeen]

Sorry no picture Ron, but if you look in the centre of that large nut, with the shims under it, in the front of the rack, you will see a plug/bolt/setscrew or some such in the centre of it.

The idea is you remove this plug, fit a grease nipple, apply 6 strokes of a hand grease gun, then remove the grease nipple, & refit the plug.

Why on earth they wouldn't just leave a grease nipple in there I can't imagine, I do. I have found a nipple with a 45 degree bend is easiest to get my grease gun onto.

Hasbeen

[Jolyon39]

Jolyon

[silverseven]

thanks !

Ron.

[mb4tim]

I'm gonna have to check that out!

-Tim
http://www.morSpeedPerformance.com

[nick]

And here I thought I had heard of nearly everything. What a great forum.


nick
'79 TR7

[HDRider]

The rack is completly diferrent from the Spitfire one by the way.

Edward Hamer
Petaluma CA

[claypole1360]

Thanks guys,
I would have been involved over the weekend but I have been sprinting(and breaking) my Bond Equipe. I have since unearthed a TR7 rack that I found in my shed and didn't realise I had. I now have the unexpected and most welcome luxury of being able to play about with it off the car.


So, remove the shims to tighten the rack then?



Thanks Calvin

What's that coming over the hill? Is it a monster?

[Hasbeen]

CORRECTION. Sorry Jolyon, wrong rack mate!

Please note the photo Jolyon has added to this thread IS NOT A 7 RACK that I have ever seen.

The only ones I know have a large cap nut, with an external thread, which screws into an internal thread in the rack housing.

This has the pinion pad with a spring to hold it against the pinion, housed inside the nut, & the shimsunder the flang.

The grease nipple is screwed into the top of the nut.

I have not seen one of these with a large male thread which is part of the housing.

Sorry I can't do photos. In 1976 I took a heap of rolls of film, exposed during 2 years sailing around the Pacific islands to be developed, only to find it all mildew.

Annoyed I gave the camera a float test in Cairns North Queensland harbour that day, it didn't & I have not owned a camera since.

Hasbeen

[Jolyon39]

Hi,

This is a rack out of a 1980 DHC that i dismantled. Definitely a TR7 rack. I have had it cleaned up and intend to install it in my FHC.

I will grab another rack from another wreck and compare it.

Jolyon

[mb4tim]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Hasbeen</i>


Annoyed I gave the camera a float test in Cairns North Queensland harbour that day, it didn't & I have not owned a camera since.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

You gotta let go of your hostility, man. LOL Go get a cheap point-and-click digital. You'll save us all loads of work. [:D]

-Tim
http://www.morSpeedPerformance.com

[Hasbeen]

Jolyon, I suppose it could be a very late model one mate. It does not look like that one can have the same pinion pad & spring system as mine, & the one in the manual.

It is different to the 3 of, 79 & 80 model racks I have. Those are the same as the one depicted in my 1977 Leyland workshop manual.

Tim, getting a camera would only build my hostility I'm afraid, as I would have no chance of transferring any photo to the computer. I bought a scanner a while back, & am waiting for one of the kids to come & show me how to do something useful with it. Perhaps I will get there some time this decade.

Hasbeen

[FI Spyder]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Hasbeen</i>

am waiting for one of the kids to come & show me how to do something useful with it. Perhaps I will get there some time this decade.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Time to tell son number 1, in return for TR8 usage, to buy you a basic digtal camera (They're cheap these days) and show you how to take pictures, transfer them to your computer, upload them to a photo website and copy the url to the forum. No mold.[:D]

There are apparently two different racks for the TR7. One regular and one quicker ratio. They are differentially ID'd by one having finned body. Can't remember which has what. Don't know what other differences there are. I personally haven't seen them but Ron (Orange Rag) has them. I think he has quick ratio on his TR7 (but then he also has 3:45 diff, unusual for an early 1980 Ann. Edition.)



- - - - TR7 Spider - - - - - - - - 1978 Spitfire - - - - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - - Yellow TCT