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steering wheel rock back and forth

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I suspect it should not rock at all, after all it is a sports car. Miss Agatha does not.
 
Shouldn't rock - is the wheel rocking against the shaft or the shaft against the body? If the wheel rocking against the shaft, could be the nut holding the wheel on needs tightening or the bushing is wearing (unlikely) or it is an aftermarket wheel that doesn't quite mate. If the shaft, then likely the bolts need tightening.
 
What I am talking about rocking is being caused from slop between the steering wheel shaft pinion and the steering wheel rack. I can rotate the steering wheel a bit befor any movement of the wheels happen. The nut on the steering wheel shaft is on there solid holding the steering wheel.
 
Ahhh.. you want the lock nut and screw on the steering box down front. *Some* slop can be removed by loosening the nut and giving the screw a bit of a turn. You might also want to check your inner and outer tie rod ends as well.

m
 
By "rock back and forth,” you mean, "play in the wheel"
Start checking out at the tie rod ends then the inner.
Then it could be wear in the rack or the pillow packing around the 2 rack to body mounts. If it is the mount boss, you could try replacing the packing around it. Moss or Vicky should have it .
There is a way to correct a small amount of play in the rack. You adjust the amount of spring preload put on the pinion by shim thickness. This is tricky precise measuring required see one of the manuals for this.
Please careful with this sort of work as your life is on the line.
 
What "lock nut and screw in the steering box down front" are you talking about?

I also did some work on it today and didn't see any slop in the inner and outer tie rods. The slop looks like it is comeing from the rack and pinion area. I did play with the plunger (the cap that has a plunger and spring that pushes on the rack), but it did help remove any slop.

My steering gear arrangement is the one as shown on page 160 of https://www.spridget-tech.com/service_manual/Section-J.pdf
to give you an idea of the setup that is in my car since there are a couple of different arrangements.
 
recordsi,

Using your link look on page 160/drawing E3189A at parts #'s 5 & 6. That is "the lock nut and screw" referred too earlier. Then go to page 163, fig J.2 and read the paragraph below it. In other words remove the cap and the shim(s) that are present and reinstall the cap and screw it down until the steering feels tight, measure the space between the bottom of the cap and the boss to get the correct shim thickness. If the cap goes all the way down to the boss then the rack and pinion are too worn to be adjusted and one or both will need replacement.
 
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