I fitted power steering to my mk1 gti a few months ago, I have a apx code 1.8T in it and a touran o2s 6 speed box,
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I found the steering very heavy from a combination of the extra weight from the engine/box conversion and from the 16 inch wheels so I decided to fit power steering
Im sure weve all heard about the TSR kits that use the bluebird rack? I located a bluebird rack and an old mk1 cabrio shell to mock up fitting the rack, i found that the rack is a few inches wider than the mk1 rack measured at the inner tie rod ends and offset to the left side when compared to the rack in the mk1 so it would always be offcentre. (Could somebody with one of these TSR kits give any info on this? do you have more lock to one side?) that was the first thing that put me off fitting it and the second thing was having to cut and weld the universal joint. now maybe I had the wrong model blue bird rack than the one TSR alegedly use but there was no way I was putting this thing near my car.
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I went to a local breakers yard with a mk1 steering rack and the owner left me walk around and compare the rack to the different cars there, I had heard about escort mk5 racks and renault clio racks being used by others but the escort mk5 had different mounting brackets and the clio rack I saw fitted over on the caddyforum needed mods to the bulkhead and mounting brackets as far as i remember.
As i walked around the breakers i looked under the bonnet of nearly ever car there, I spotted a weird jap import Toyota Paseo, i compared it to the mk1 rack and found the mounting points to be very similar and did some measurements and there was 5mm of a difference between the two racks measured at the inner tie rod ends. I bought the complete rack with track rod ends, universal joint, mounting brackets and the pressure pipe that ran to the toyota pump.
this is the toyota rack with the mk1 rack
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1 trial fitted it to the mk1 cabrio shell and it bolted straight up to the mk1 brackets but the uj would not fit, the rack needed to be twisted forward to get the uj to pass through the hole in the mk1 bulkhead so I made some temporary spacer brackets to twist the rack forward enough, i got these machined out of some solid bar at work later on.
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the toyota mounting brackets were cut and welded to allow them to fit over the rack with the spacers in place
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this is the toyota rack in place
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the toyota uj is two piece and adjustable in length. the upper section would not fit the mk1 column so i found an upper section from a toyota levin jap import (or e110 corolla) that would almost fit, now here is the dodgy part! there is a slight mismatch in the splines so i opened it slightly with a chisel and slid it on the end of the mk1 column, the different splines still grip each other quite tightly and i used the vw bolt and nut from the mk1 knuckle, there is a notch in the mk1 column for the bolt so the knuckle couldnt slip even if the bolt was loose (i dont consider this an issue at all and in fact i prefer it to a cut and welded hybrid toyota/vw joint) I had to cut about 10mm off the splined shaft where the corolla section fits in to the starlet section. i used a mk2 gaitor and made the hole in the bulkhead bigger.
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the toyota track rod ends fitted straight in the the mk1 hubs, the taper is the same profile but they are a little longer so there is a 5mm gap between the hub and dust cover, there was no need to shorten tie rods or rethread them to track it. the toyota starlet/paseo pressure hose was run under the drivers chassis leg and to my surprise the end was the same banjo fitting as the audi tt pump, i used a fiat bravo resevoir bottle and made the return line from a mk2 golf return line, i used vw green power steering fluid. the rack is quicker being about 2 3/4 turns lock to lock but i notice it does have slightly reduced turning circle but this suits me as my 195 section tyres on 7.5 inch rims are no longer tearing off my inner wheel tubs on full lock.
I find its one of the best mods ive done to the car, its been working perfectly for the past 5 months.
I found the steering very heavy from a combination of the extra weight from the engine/box conversion and from the 16 inch wheels so I decided to fit power steering
Im sure weve all heard about the TSR kits that use the bluebird rack? I located a bluebird rack and an old mk1 cabrio shell to mock up fitting the rack, i found that the rack is a few inches wider than the mk1 rack measured at the inner tie rod ends and offset to the left side when compared to the rack in the mk1 so it would always be offcentre. (Could somebody with one of these TSR kits give any info on this? do you have more lock to one side?) that was the first thing that put me off fitting it and the second thing was having to cut and weld the universal joint. now maybe I had the wrong model blue bird rack than the one TSR alegedly use but there was no way I was putting this thing near my car.
I went to a local breakers yard with a mk1 steering rack and the owner left me walk around and compare the rack to the different cars there, I had heard about escort mk5 racks and renault clio racks being used by others but the escort mk5 had different mounting brackets and the clio rack I saw fitted over on the caddyforum needed mods to the bulkhead and mounting brackets as far as i remember.
As i walked around the breakers i looked under the bonnet of nearly ever car there, I spotted a weird jap import Toyota Paseo, i compared it to the mk1 rack and found the mounting points to be very similar and did some measurements and there was 5mm of a difference between the two racks measured at the inner tie rod ends. I bought the complete rack with track rod ends, universal joint, mounting brackets and the pressure pipe that ran to the toyota pump.
this is the toyota rack with the mk1 rack
1 trial fitted it to the mk1 cabrio shell and it bolted straight up to the mk1 brackets but the uj would not fit, the rack needed to be twisted forward to get the uj to pass through the hole in the mk1 bulkhead so I made some temporary spacer brackets to twist the rack forward enough, i got these machined out of some solid bar at work later on.
the toyota mounting brackets were cut and welded to allow them to fit over the rack with the spacers in place
this is the toyota rack in place
the toyota uj is two piece and adjustable in length. the upper section would not fit the mk1 column so i found an upper section from a toyota levin jap import (or e110 corolla) that would almost fit, now here is the dodgy part! there is a slight mismatch in the splines so i opened it slightly with a chisel and slid it on the end of the mk1 column, the different splines still grip each other quite tightly and i used the vw bolt and nut from the mk1 knuckle, there is a notch in the mk1 column for the bolt so the knuckle couldnt slip even if the bolt was loose (i dont consider this an issue at all and in fact i prefer it to a cut and welded hybrid toyota/vw joint) I had to cut about 10mm off the splined shaft where the corolla section fits in to the starlet section. i used a mk2 gaitor and made the hole in the bulkhead bigger.
the toyota track rod ends fitted straight in the the mk1 hubs, the taper is the same profile but they are a little longer so there is a 5mm gap between the hub and dust cover, there was no need to shorten tie rods or rethread them to track it. the toyota starlet/paseo pressure hose was run under the drivers chassis leg and to my surprise the end was the same banjo fitting as the audi tt pump, i used a fiat bravo resevoir bottle and made the return line from a mk2 golf return line, i used vw green power steering fluid. the rack is quicker being about 2 3/4 turns lock to lock but i notice it does have slightly reduced turning circle but this suits me as my 195 section tyres on 7.5 inch rims are no longer tearing off my inner wheel tubs on full lock.
I find its one of the best mods ive done to the car, its been working perfectly for the past 5 months.
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