Replacing the Lower Steering Bushing.

There is a common problem with ALL TR7/8s with the lower steering bushing at the firewall disintegrating and falling out. To diagnose this problem, grab your steering wheel with both hands and trying tipping it up and down. If there is movement with a loud chunking noise, then your bushing has gone south for the winter. It is a straightforward replacement; it's just a pain in the bottom to do. You will only want to replace it once per car you ever own. • Acquire a steering bush replacement. • On the lower steering column under the dash is a clamp. One side has two bolts. They will not do you any good, so leave them alone. The other side has a locking nut and a setscrew and this is the side you will work with. Back off the locking nut and then loosen the setscrew without removing it. • Turn the steering wheel so you have access to the upper bolt on the universal joint on the steering shaft right up against the firewall in the engine compartment. NOTE: You will have to align this shaft and hole exactly when reassembling the joint, as the bolt will only go in, in one position. • Loosen the nut and remove the bolt. Spray penetration oil on the shaft and the universal joint at the firewall. • Crawl back in under the steering wheel and work the bottom part of the steering shaft between the clamp and the foot-well to move it up into the upper part of the steering shaft. • When the shaft is free and pulled up into the foot-well, move it to one side allowing you to see the hole in the foot-well. • Crawl back out of the foot-well and then crawl under the car and retrieve the big flat washer that fell on the ground. • Place the new bushing in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes to soften the material. • Pull out the bushing and push it home from under the hole at the firewall. • When pushing it in fails, (it always does!) trying cutting the bushing from the outside to the inside hole. Now you can twist the bushing into a screw type coil and work it into the hole that way. • Apply grease to the inside of the hole and align the shaft on the inside of the foot well with the bushing and press it through. • Now have someone with small hands hold the washer as you push the shaft a little farther through the hole. • Have them align the universal joint with the shaft and push the shaft home. • Replace the bolt and nut in the universal joint and tighten. (When the bolt will not go in, pull the shaft back and realign it with the universal joint in the proper position!) • Set the locking screw and tighten the locking washer. Allow a day to complete this task. Have plenty of cold refreshments on hand for use after you have completed the above task and never volunteer to do it on someone else's TR7/8! Somethings are best learned on your own!