installing pas

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Discussion

Lotusgone

Original Poster:

1,277 posts

133 months

Friday 5th May 2017
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The missus has a 1995 MX5 which she loves dearly, but it has never had power steering. After a shoulder injury, driving it has become more of an effort. Is having PAS installed possible? Are there any specialists who can do this that PHers could recommend?

Planet Claire

3,345 posts

215 months

Friday 5th May 2017
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Whereabouts are you?

Lotusgone

Original Poster:

1,277 posts

133 months

Friday 5th May 2017
quotequote all
Norfolk.

drgoatboy

1,696 posts

213 months

Saturday 6th May 2017
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Think this has been done before. You could try Suffolk Mazda in Ipswich who are a breakers and have a workshop too. Could probably do parts and fitting.
Converting to a manual rack is quite a popular mod so parts you take off might pay for the parts you've got to put on

sparks85

333 posts

181 months

Saturday 13th May 2017
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I did this to mine, manual was just too heavy. The PAS rack also has the benefit of being slightly quick (something like 0.6 turns lock to lock less).

It's a very simple installation if you are mechanically minded, though I struggled to find any clear guides online (the best one had broken photo links).

You need to buy the power rack, pump and fluid reservoir. This cost me £85 from a breakers. The rack has a looped metal pipe to cool the power steering fluid but you can replace this with a short loop of quality fuel pipe as the cooling requirement in the UK is not required.

I would suggest buying new tie rod ends for both sides of the rack (circa £10/side). You might need a blowtorch to shift the existing tie rods, a bit of heat and liberal application of hammer/spanner will shift them quickly. Replace the rubber boots on the rack at the same time.

The swapping of racks, reservoir and pump should take a competent mechanic no more than a day. As with many jobs, once you have done it once, you could probably do it again in half the time (though how often would you do this job a second time!) I found the hardest point getting the old ball joints separated from the hub as the nuts were rusted solid. If you're going to fit it yourself then invest in a set of ball joint splitting forks and use a big mallet.

You'll need the geometry checked once the rack is fitted.

Shout if you have any queries!