And voices boomed:
Arnoud
Hi,
the racks are identical. There's been a change in design in 1969 IIRC. From
then on the turning circle is smaller, but in order to fit one of these you
also need the steering arms.
Arnoud
Ian D. Ross
G'day Craig,
Before you go too far with deciding to change racks, get someone who knows
mini steering racks to check which one it is. There are two Mk 1 types and
the Mk 2. They all have slightly different damper cover plates. If it is
not the original rack and has been replaced at some time, it may be a Mk 1
rack which used a pair of dished diaphragm washers as springs instead of a
proper coil spring. These often break up and allow the rack to slop a
little giving the symptoms you describe. I have only recently had my spare
rack overhauled to replace my sloppy one, and when we had the car on the
hoist to start the changeover, the mechanic said that he would remove the
plate from the existing rack to check the spring washers first. This proved
to be the problem and a dollars worth of spring washers later, the steering
was back to normal and I now have a reconditioned rack spare!
Ian
Ian Donald
ALL (standard) Oz cars use the early Mk I style rack. If you order a rack
from OS make this clear to the supplier. That said, the later (UK MkII
onwards) rack is a HUGE improvement - tight parking is much easier with 3
feet chopped out of the turning circle.
Just remember, the matching late model steering arms (identifiable by their
little "ears") must be sourced OS as well. As a set they will bolt straight
into an Oz Mini.
Cheers, Ian
And finally, Theo had this:
