Six months ago , I decided to re hab the car for #2 son. The first step was to dig out a U joint I had harvested and to soak it in a jar of ATF.
Friday , I put the car up on jack stands. Saturday, I threw down a rug and turned to. First, I removed the brace to gain more access. Then, due to the proximity of the starter, I disco'ed the battery. Next, I removed the pinch bolts clamping the joint to the box and the column respectively. Then I used an antique screw driver with a steel butt plate and a 16 oz hammer to wedge the splits apart. Using a drift and the hammer, I started the joint moving off the splines on the box.
There isn't enough scope in the joint to clear the shaft with the box in place. So I had to unbolt the box from the sub frame. First to get removed was the pitman arm to center link ball joint. I pounded on the knuckle with a 2 lb hammer, but I wasn't getting the swing I needed. So I used a prybar on the center link with the sub frame as the fulcrum and the end of the bar in the cup of my floor jack. to put some tension on the knuckle. I raised the jack a bit and the joint popped.
I left the hoses attached and was able to move the box forward and out of the way of the steering shaft. I gave the joint a tug and it came out of the fire wall with joint attached.Now I've done it. I thought. But no , I cleaned the old grease off the splines and popped the joint off working at my bench. I also cleaned up some nicks I had put in the bearing area with a rat tail file. I lubed the splines up with white grease. I pulled the nylon split bushing out of the grommet. to gain the movement I needed to push the shaft into the column. Replacing the bushing was a bit finicky, but using a small screwdriver to to pry the grommet over its lips did the job.
Bentley makes a big deal about lining up the the split on the joint to the mark on the box. Years of alignment and wear had this setting all messed up. I took a different approach.
Before I started, I put the wheels straight ahead and swung the steering wheel to feel for the center sweet spot. This is the spot where there is a little play in the box before the wheels turn right or left. The box was centered and the wheels were dead ahead.
Midway on the splines of the box is a groove all the way around that the pinch bolt rides in. The pinch bolt can go anywhere on that groove. WTF? Bentley. On the steering shaft there is a key way, so the joint can only go on one way.
When everything was buttoned up underneath, I checked the steering wheel. It was almost at 2 o'clock. Whoop-de-doo, I just moved it to 12 o'clock.
Stayed tuned for the next installment where a patches the LF wheel well/ front floor and jack points using computer cabinent steel and pop rivets