So I was bolting the steering rack back to the car tonight, and ran into a little snag. I got 5 of the 6 bolts that hold the rack bracket to the car back in with no trouble, torqued to the proper amount. The 6th one managed to bugger up the threads a bit. I pulled that bolt and cleaned up the threads on the car with a tap. I had another new bolt handy, so I used that and got it in there snug. It's not to full torque, as I'm afraid of stripping the threads even more.

I'm assuming I'm okay with the other 5 in properly and this last one at least snugly in place -- but I wanted to ask y'all just to be sure.

I vote for - just fine

Yeah, I'd agree with John-Peter. You should be fine.

By the way, I bought a Spridget once that the former (clueless) owner had been driving for several years without wondering why the steering was "clunking".
I found several rack bolts missing, *plus* one of the bolts that was in place was a big lag bolt (for holding wooden beams together)!

Now I'm concerned about mine. What's the proper torque for those?

Or... if it concerns you, this is a good opportunity to start your heli-coil collection.

Tight

as I recall, there generally aren't actually torque figures for bolts that attach to the body of the car. Tight for many seems to be around 40 lbs. if you want to put a wrench on it.

I vote for hand tight with a regular ratchet.

There was a torque figure in the Haynes manual, though I can't remember what it was offhand.

Thanks for the reassurance, guys.

Steering rack housing clamp bolts 20-22 lbs., and steering rack mounting bracket bolts 17-18 lbs...according to the Haynes manual.

Also be sure you use the correct size bolts. I folund when I replaced bolts they looked to be the correct size but needed an extra washer to keep from bottoming out in the bottom of the hole. Also lots of swarf and other junk gets in the bottom of the hole and needs to be cleaned out with a bottoming tap.

I have gone through similar problems trying to find torque values. I am not a mechanic. I don't have the experience of knowing how tight a bolt should be - I tended to overtighten and brake bolts in the past - definately not fun. I try to stick with torque values for that reason. A couple of other members on the forum alerted me to the fact that if you know the grade, diameter, and composition of the bolt, there are standard tables to refer to. I did an internet search and found numerous tables for torque values. I taped one of these tables into the back of my manual which only has a few torque values listed. The only thing I have problems with is when I have different metals involved. Luckily forum members have been helpful enough to help me with those torque values.

Kevin

One additional install tip, I glued rubber inner tube to the inside of the rack bolt contact surfaces one the rack as well as the rack clamps. Definitely solved any issues I had with rack moving around after being tightened down.

I forgot to list a couple of other tips forum members have suggested. One is to always run a good tap and die over all parts you are putting together. Even a lot of the new bolts and nuts I get from vendors are damaged. Try to get USA or Japan made. You can pick up USA or Japanese made ones on Ebay for less than the China garbage. And yes, I have compared and tested the three together before. Things go together better and quickly this way. I have not had problems with damaging threads since doing this.

The other suggestion given to me was to use the Loctite blue over the threads. I have never really tested to see how well it works, but it was suggested by a number of mechanics on the forum.

Kevin

Funny thing is I almost always now run a tap/die over the threads, especially if I'm reusing a bolt or nut. For some reason I didn't with this one. Oh well, another little restoration lesson learned.