Arsenal

Well the day finally came to put the new steering rack in. Just so you know I could move my steering wheel back and forth about 2 inches with no wheel movement.
Pictures soon.
Take the wheels off.

Undo the tie rod-Do not hit the bottom of the tie rod-It is tappered so hit on the patr which attaches to the hub and it should pop out.

Undo the knuckle bolts slowly, and mark the positions, I skipped this part and now my wheel is upside down, easily solved though, then lock the steering column for when dropping the rack.

Take out the front tie bar-2 14mm bolts on each side

First thing first-You do not have to remove the Cat or the shift linkage. Yes I know the manual says so but trust me. Undo the subframe (Various Bolt Sizes) and gently lower a little bit. Then undo the gear linkage off the rack and lift out from on top. Then undo the hoses which are attached onto the rack. After this the rack should slide out.
We actually managed to get the steering rack out with out dropping the subframe, but you can't get the Civic rack in.

Second, check the tie rod ends themselves to make sure they are in good condition, I had to swap both of them out. The next part you need two people. Get 1 person to slde the rack through to you on the other side of the car, then one person needs to get in the driver floor well and guide the steering gear into the linkage. Do not tighten the nuts on the knuckle yet!, The person underneath the car needs to lossely guide one mounting nut on each mount first. Once all is lined up proceed to tighten.

I would replace the tie rod bushings at this point for good measure.
Now double check all the subframe bolts are all in , the tie bar is in and everything is tight.
Take for a quick but slow spin down the street to make sure you can steer, then take it to an alignment shop!

After all this you will be pleased to know that the steering feel is great, very sensitive and responsive, yet its so light even for a manual rack. The whole rack is very light compared to the powersteering pump, resovoir rack and lines, looks kind of empty now. If you are serious about the manual steering, I would definetly recommend this!

Thanks to
Bert-O
Mike K
Sohfast.com
And any one else I spoke to about this!

EGhatch-dueceX2

I kno this is a VERY old post, but I can't find anything that wil help.... What do u need to do to get the passenger side bracket to work? I jus got done doing the swap but the pass. Side of tue rack has movement....