Greasing the Rack and Pinion on a 76

[Healeyalt]

I don't see any grease fittings or plugs for grease fittings on the rack and pinion on my 76.

I bought this car about 2 years ago and the boots (bellows) were falling apart so I finally got around to getting everything cleaned up. There didn't seem to be any "grittiness" to it and it seems to turn easy and smoothly so I'm hoping everything is still OK.

As far as greasing, Do I just turn the steering as far as possible in one direction and coat the rack with grease then turn it in the other direction and do the same?

Thanks

Gary

[siteunseen]

That's what I did on my '77, no grease fittings either. I used a wooden paint stirrer to pack it down in the "teeth" and turned back and fourth. I thought I had found a hole for a zerk fitting but it was a plastic plug thing I never figured out.

[jfa.series1]

Page ST-15 on the '72 FSM shows a location to install a zerk fitting at the pinion housing - it looks to be on the underside. This model also had the grease reservoir on the right side, easily replaced with a zerk fitting. This all may have changed by the time the '76 models came out.

[Jarvo2]

There is a plug in the threaded hole that you can take out & replace with a Zerk fitting for greasing.

[Healeyalt]

As mentined by Jim Arnette, grease fittings must have changed by the 1976 model year. I'll probably have to do as Siteunseen did and use a paint stick or similar to pack grease in the teeth, etc, hoping this will be adequate before I slap new boots on to seal it up.

[Zed Head]

Why don't you lube from the inside? Remove #2 and the parts underneath, pack it full of grease, then do the adjustment procedure to tighten things up. You'll probably find that there's been some small wear and there is room to tighten.

[Healeyalt]

Hi Zed Head, I haven't pulled the rack out of the car because the mounting bushings still looks good. I'm not sure if I can easily take that apart and get it back together with it in the car. I'll have to look it over better.

I wanted to mention to Dave (off topic), I see you are a member of the Windy City Z Club. I just recently came across the club web site. I'm about 300 miles North of Chicago. I'm hoping to have my car together by Spring so I can consider attending some of the club events. I used to work on/own kit cars and never felt like I belonged.... Now I feel as though I could belong to a legitimate club! Gary

[Zed Head]

It's not difficult. You just have to work blind or with a mirror, but there's room from underneath. Finding a tool big enough for the locking nut takes some work though, I think that I used padded vise grip jaws on mine. And, as I think back, I also had to fabricate a big "screwdriver" from a flat piece of steel to turn the adjusting screw. The old grease inside was dry and chunky though, and I did get 10-15 degrees of extra tightening on the nut, if I remember right.

[240260280z]

38mm socket. Easy to get to from above only if you don't have the AC or smog pump in the way.

I picked up a tool like this when in Japan. I think it would work nicely.

[Patcon]

I love Japanese tools especially their hand saws. They make a special saw for every cut imaginable...

C

[siteunseen]

I used a 12" pipe wrench and a steel wood chisel for the big screwdriver but mine was on a work bench with a vise. And I do remember the old grease was dried out inside that housing, I dug it out the best I could. Zed Head has a good idea with the mirror.

[socorob]

I used a needle fitting on the end of my grease gun on both ends and kept turning it back and forth. I ended up getting a lot of grease in there, probably almost 1/2 a tube. This was on a 78. I couldn't find any removable plugs anywhere on it.