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Midget Steering

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tony barnhill

tony barnhill

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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As I go about rebuilding my '63 Midget's steering, I'm gonna have to replace the inner tie rod assemblies (#14 in the diagram below)...I might be able to reuse #15, the tie rod itself, but why take a chance? The left ball housing & socket of that tie rod is so loose it scares me; so, since I'm replacing it, I'll also redo the passenger side even though its not as loose.

<u>The question:</u> Do I need a special tool to undo the cup nut (I think that's what its called - its not numbered in the diagram below)? I know the tab washer (again, I think that's its name & it's not numbered either) must be 'undimpled' before loosening & removing the tab washer, but I don't want to damage anything.

SPM-030.gif
 
You can use a pipe wrench and a bunch of muscle. Then you'll need to clean up the marks left by the wrench. I was able to remove some shims from mine and it snugged up nicely and is still good (approx 5,000 miles later).
 
Looks like he used a spanner for reassembly.
 
Trevor Jessie said:
You can use a pipe wrench and a bunch of muscle. Then you'll need to clean up the marks left by the wrench. I was able to remove some shims from mine and it snugged up nicely and is still good (approx 5,000 miles later).
Click to expand...

Same here.

But do check the cup nut (seems like a good name to call it) and be sure there's no cracks in the cup-area.

And just so you know, starting around '75, the racks are a new design and completely different from the older cars.
 
Nope... they changed racks in late '72.
 
Tony,

Think about changing the pinion gear. On the older rack it was really cheap and really helped the handling. Be sure to get a new locking nut not a nylock for the steering shaft attachment to the pinion gear.

Use a bottoming tap on those rack mount bolts to clean out the holes. Those pieces are aluminum do not overtorque.

Also be sure to get the correct length bolts or bolts will be bottomed out and not tight. Result is rack moves back and forth.

I used a piece of inner tube glued to the mounting bracket to secure the rack. Without it rack was sliding back and forth.

There is a porcedure in the manual for proiperly shimming the rack. Too many shims and it binds, too few and not sure what happens. Little thin, thin, thin shims needed.
 
Steering rack itself is in great shape, tight with no slop...its just that 1 inner tie rod that appears to be bad.
 
John is at UniversityMotorsLtd. You can find videos of his on you-tube. Eclectic Motors is Carl Heidman(sp?). John rebuilt that rack for Carl's Classic Motorsport Midget
 
Those dimples in the inner rack cups are easy to undo with a thin screwdriver. Same thing when reinstalling, dimple with a screw driver and hammer.
 
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