I've read a bunch of threads about people looping/venting/etc. well I was switching over to a Integra rack/pinion and decided to convert it properly while I had it apart.

So here it is disassembled:

You can see from left to right: The valving/seals for the pinion, the pinion, the pinion housing, then the rack and rack housing above that.

Here's a close up on the pinion stuff:



The ridges in the pinions, along with the valving help direct the high pressure and low pressure fluid through the lines. These, depending on which way your turning (and apparently how far you turn the wheel), direct the high pressure fluid into the housing on a whichever side of the cylinder (shown below) to help the steering. I took off and left this valving off, since I won't need it once converted to manual steering. The seal on the top of the pinion housing is really the only seal you need on this housing (no more high pressure fluid running through it).

Next, here is the piston in the center of the steering rack, this is essentially the main component. It is what the fluid pushes on. Some grinding and cold chiseling allowed me to remove the thing without any scarring on the rack.



When reassembling the rack, I left the seal that came out with the rack off, again due to the fact of having no high pressure fluid anymore. I also greased the whole thing up with multi-purpose chassis/bearing grease. I would've liked to use gear oil for longevity, but the actual pinion/rack mating area is not sealed (unless you count the tie rod boots).

Anyways, put back together:


Just need some plugs (I think they're NPT) for the 6 holes where the lines used to be.

The longevity of this setup could be called into question. But this is going on my track car, and racks are cheap.

 

in for R&D testing

 

x2 for sure!

 

If it works w/o any issues, Im bookmarking this as my engine is out of the car at the moment..

 

How hard would you say it was?

I want to pull PS when i swap mine, and I might as well do it the right way.

 

Hopefully I'll be racing by mid January, I'll update then

The hardest part was removing the steering rack. I had to drop the subframe (I think you have to with ABS)

 

that doesn't sound too hard at all then. How hard would you say it to take the rack apart?
any special tools needed?

 

http://raz-veinz.com/Blog/?p=304
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/ps-steering-rack-rebuild-diy-help-2811598/
https://honda-tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes-54/ek-steering-rack-de-power-integra-pinion-2796677/

 

Pulling the piston is by far the best way to do it. All of this looped rack nonsense is half *** IMO.

 

The manual says a bunch of special tools are needed. But I just used one of my M10 suspension bolts (longest one you got) and hit the seal + rack out with a hammer/bolt. The inner seal needs special tools to be removed/replaced, so I didn't worry about that one.

 

wouldn't it be easier to just put a manual rack in there and sell the power one?

 

Manual racks have a terrible steering ratio, and the power internals won't fit in a manual casing.

 

I just did the modification on my 1999 Acura cl 5mt and it works great definitely heavy but I think that’s my smaller steering wheel creating that issue also didn’t have to drop the subframe