First of the Texas Twins, First Build Options

[Puebloswatcop]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif) So I finally got the first of the two Texas Twins down from Colorado down here to Texas and cant wait to get started on the build. I first obtained this 914 as a parts car back in 2010. After getting it home, I realized it was actually in better shape than the one I already owned. The first one is a 1973, 2.0. This one was a 1974 1.8 in Ravenna Green. Unfortunately I never was able to make allot of time to play with the car, so it sat in my overcrowded garage in Colorado.

Since I retired and moved to Texas, the wife said I had better find something to do and stay out from under her feet, so last week I made the treck to Colorado and brought the first of 3 914s back. (the 3rd really is a parts chassis).

The car was on a rolling frame so was easy to get onto the trailer, problem is it had to be lowered enough to fit inside a four foot cover to be added onto the trailer, so first we had to raise it high enough to get it off the rolling frame.



Then it had to be carefully lowered to where the car was sitting on 4 X 4 blocks so it would be lower than 4 feet high and secured to the trailer. It came in at around 3'8" when done.



Then the shipping crate was built over and around the car. The trip was long and went well till I got about 10 miles from home and disaster struck.



A catastrphic loss of one tire on the trailer. Thanks to a good samaritan who flagged me down, because I never heard or felt a thing. Also a testament to Top Hat Trailer Company, the trailer was slightly damaged but did not roll, in fact it rode so smooth that I never new the tire had gone away. Of course...no spare for the trailer, so I limped the last 10 miles at 15 miles per hour.



So 16 hours of driving and now one of my babies is here in Texas and the work shall begin.

[Puebloswatcop]

So, as I suspected the upper bearing is shot, feels like someone filled it with sand, the lower isn't too bad, but since I have it torn this far apart, I will just replace them both.

For those who have never torn the entire steering column apart, it really isnt a bad job to take on.

After all of the electrical components and ignition have bee removed the process is fairly simple

First remove the 6mm bolt from th under side of the housing



Then you can use a soft mallet to separate the Lower support from the black housing by tapping on the end of the shaft at the lower support end. I recommend doing this over a padded surface or have someone to hold the housing, becuase when the shaft falls through the housing end will drop like a rock...





This leaves you with the support with the bearing in it. You simply remove the circlip, then with a long punch or screwdriver gently tap the bearing out from the inside. Warning, if you plan to re-use the bearing, make sure you are tapping on the outer ring of the bearing. At the same time you will have to avoid the circlip that secures the underside of the bearing.



This should leave you with two individual components, The upper housing with the shaft in it and the lower support bracket.



To remove the shaft from the upper housing you will need to remove two circlips holding the shaft in place. the first is the ring on the shaft where the steering wheel mounts. I am sure they make a tool for this, but I don't have it so I just use needle nose pliers as positioned in the photo, give it one sharp blow and it comes right off.

Then you have to remove the circlip that holds the bearing in place. Then using the soft mallet, gently hammer the shaft out from the opposite end. Then simply pull the bearing off of the shaft. If this is done without a lot of force, you can generally re-use the crush washer that is between the bearing and the shaft.



That should leave you with a completely stripped steering column, to clean 45+ years of dirt and grime from.



The part numbers for the bearings are 91134777102 for the upper and 90005203100 for the lower. If you do need the crush sleeve that part number is 111 953 535 D

Hope this helps anyone considering this job