Sounds bad, I know, but I don't actually HAVE the parts yet.

I'm trying to figure out how you get at and change the Steering Rack Mounts. Are they something that holds the rack to the subframe? Or am I TOTALLY missing what/where they are? The Haynes manual that I inherrited with the '81 (and was greedy and didn't give to Joey with the car) does not even mention them....unless I'm looking in the wrong place. But there doesn't seem to be anything about them in the Suspension and Steering section. We're thinking about doing at least new rubber mounts on both cars while doing the GB arms, since CJ (I think) mentioned doing his since he was going to be in there. I would like urethane ones, but I'm not even sure if TEP can get them to me by Sat. And since Joey is going to help me (since I'm helping him), I figured it would be easier to do all of this stuff on both cars at once on one day. If it comes down to it I might just wait on my car if need be, since I REALLY want the urethane ones and I might not even be able to get my '83 started tom.

If all works well though, I'll roll the fenders and replace the battery (with the one from the M3) on Friday. Sat will be Joey and me working on both cars to get the new arms in, maybe new steering rack mounts in both, and possibly my TEP bar in the back so I can start relocating the battery (and then install the intake) if we have enough time. With Joey's help and drive to finish things this all might ACTUALLY happen too!

:help

I have BMP urethane steering rack bushings. PITA ass to install. They are split bushings that slip over the rack and between to pieces of pressed steel on the aft side of the front cross member.

http://www.bimmerboys.com/webpage/silverdust/M42/RackSupport.jpg

The two mounts go inbetween these two pieces, where the rachet is, and where the box end of that wrench is. Not very hard to get to, but a bitch to put back together. VERY good idea to replace though. The old ones get saturated with oil and don't do shit. More responsive steering, especially on a slalom where quick left right motions load the steering rack cyclically.

cheers

Hmm. OK, well it sucks that I can't find any thing about them (as far as procedure to get TO them) in the Haynes. Thanks Nic. Is this soemthing that having the arms off would help for?

OK, I'm at home and have access to the ETK. I can't figure out how to save a pic from it, but if you;ve got it, look at the mech steering page. The bushing kits (from BMP and TEP I'm guessing are the same), are they just the split bushing (#2), or are they 14 and 15 as well. At least I have a better idea now as to what I'm looking at between Nic's pic and this diagram...

ETK is on my other computer... not running too well these days. If you do a "print screen", a button on the keyboard, and then paste it into photo shop "edit - paste" you can save a picture from it. Just blow up the picture to 100% on the etk. You don't have to take the control arms off. You just have to undo the two bolts that mount the thing in my picture to the front cross member. Then undo 4 more bolts that hold that thing in my picture together. It will split and come apart. There are spacers and what not. Then you should see the bushings that hold the rack inbetween those two split pieces. The BMP bushings are EXACTLY the same just made out of urethane. A little tough to get the split piece (again, my picture) to fit around the new bushings becasue the bushings don't 'give' as much as the old ones.

Good luck kimo-sabe

I was trying to paste it into Word, and the file was coming out too big to be usefull online. Didn't know I could paste it into P-shop. I'll try that next time.

Joey and I looked at them today while we were under the cars. We both came to the dicision that the arms didn't need to come off to do it. BTW, we could see the edges of the bushings on my '83, but his '81 was so caked in oil underneath (old leaks), that his bushings were probably eaten away. We'll both be getting them at some point in the near future, hopefully before the autoX.