That is a pricey steering shaft.

04/30/2019

Good news and bad.

Oil is drained from the motor, water pump mating surface is clean. Bad is the water pump backing plate was a steel one and has some pitting which would rust and cause a leak.
Need a new aluminum backing plate. $40
The water pump bolts are pretty rusted and should be changed for $18

The steering rack is finally out and measured and the bushings and rod ends are off.
The steering shaft was a pain in the butt to get off even after I dropped the rack by disconnecting it at the firewall. I had to drift it off with chisels.

 

Now that everything is off I can clearly see a crack in the u joint on the steering shaft. It's split on both sides so it's gotta be changed. $180 is the cheapest I can find which annoys me cause that's more than I paid for the rack.



The tie rods needed new dust covers and a new hit of grease in them. $6

I guess I gotta just work on the body until I save enough.

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