Ok - the rack on my 84 wagon is either in need of a rebuild, or is shot from too much mud. The Drivers side boot was torn, and I didn't realize it till the damage was done. The EA81 power steering racks are nearly impossible to find, and it looks, from my inspection like the EA82 rack will fit with a little work. I'm curious if anyone has done this and what their results were like. I'll have to bend the lines, or fabricate new ones, which with a tubing bender and flaring tool shouldn't be that hard. My biggest concern is with the pump, and the tie rods. I'm not sure of the tie rods are the right lenght or not, but the outer tie rod ends appear to be longer than the EA81 ends.... which leads me to think that possibly the rods themselves are already the right length, and I'll just need to thread on the EA81 ends?

 

Is the pump going to work? Correct pressure and volume?

 

I would just as soon put in the EA82 rack no matter what I have to do to make it work as replacments are easy to find - nearly all the EA82's I see have PS - it's actually VERY rare to see it in the EA81's....

 

GD

I have one

I might be going to the yard (very early) Sunday. I know theres a GL-10 there (hopefully still), I got the digidash from it.

*reads post above (above you Rob..), and thinks silently on how to respond to this.... finally settles on:*

 

On a usefulness scale of 1 to 10, the information you have provided doesn't actualy register. I am forced to assume from both the time/date of the post, and the judicious use of smileys, that you are probably drunk. You are, however, not forgiven.

 

Rob - GL-10 what?? EA81 or EA82.... sign in to the messenger you.....

 

GD

What Jason means is:

 

He has an EA81 parts car that he is cutting up (no title so its gotta be scrapped) Anyway it has Power Steering. It was unhooked when he had the car delivered so who knows if it works, but everything is there...

I wasn't talking to Rob. And I'll catch him in his cell here in a minute..... we both have Nextel....

 

GD

So is Jason trying to sell it? Or was he just exclaiming his happieness at having one for himself? I'm sorry - his post wasn't very descriptive....

 

GD

It Always Amazes Me how Someone With so Little Information on a person can so quickly come to a Harsh Conclusion Based on the Information given to him plainly in a Post.....?????

 

Your talking about an EA-81 PS Rack.....Any normal Person would surmize that he ( Rob ) would be telling you about a good EA-81 PS Rack Seeing how they are SOOOOooooo Rare ......????

 

Look and You'll find them......

 

John.......

 

P.S. Good Logic Flowmaster.......:):):)

Ps.s I don't drink Either , Just For Common Knowledge........

Good lord people - I WASN'T TALKING TO ROB.

 

And yeah, I can find them now and then - I know where one is right now, but both it's boots are torn and it looks like hell. I would MUCH RATHER put in an EA82 rack so I can replace it easier later. I can get EA82 racks all day, and my post was asking about information related to putting one in my car..... not where I can lay my hands on an EA81 rack.

 

GD

nah I am not drunk in fact I havn't drank a drop since lastnight after work I was just pokin some fun and it does work Mike it's just that the belt was off cause of the guy was trying to get to the alt/waterpump belt and gave up

 

and John is right about the look and you shall find cause I have found a couple floating around at yards and also one on a rig upside down in a ravene in the hills above scotts mills

 

and oh yeah also I never have had nextel and don't even have a cell phone anymore hence the internet access again cause it was cheaper

That's nice that you have one, but I don't want one anyway - I want an EA82 PS rack, and this post is about how to retro-fit it. The next time I tear a boot off-road, I want to be able to find good used ones at the yard, instead of buying them from the dealer to the tune of $64 each. It's a very simple concept really, and I don't understand why I can't seem to get this point accross despite having posted it numerous times......

 

GD

i want to know if it'll fit too. i have an xt ps rack and if it'll go into my brat, it will, when i add power steering. good luck gd.

general, I understand your question but do not know the answer. I think this would be very usefull information to know. please keep us posted.

GD, do you have any update on this swap?

It won't bolt in.

The tie-rod ends are the wrong angle, and I believe the hose fittings on the rack won't clear the frame on the EA81.

yeah I finaly looked at the one I have and it is sorta different as the crossmember goes cause some of the pipes run through the crossmember

Plumbing issues aside,..... Will the EA-82 rack physically bolt into an EA-81 vehicle? Or would one have to move the attachment points?

i think i'm going to go to napa and/or spaldings and look at a couple side by side.

that's the point unless you have the correct crossmember for the job it won't work anyways unless you want to cut a big ole notch out and stuff

that's the point unless you have the correct crossmember for the job it won't work anyways unless you want to cut a big ole notch out and stuff

Please clarify that statement for those of us that don't know all of the idiosincrasies between EA-81's and EA-82's. Just asking is all..................

well I am just talking ea-81 in general I have a PS setup from a EA-81 and its way different from the manual rack of the EA-81 and it's crossmember

ok people, lemme tell you what. Someone get me an EA81 car and an EA82 PS rack and I'll put it in. It can be done. Granted you'd have to fab/mod some things to make it fit, etc. but it can be done. I know people on this board doing a lot harder things such as Jerry's hatchbrat or SubaruBrat with his monsterous gen 2 Brat. Come on people, it can't be that hard. I put EA81 front suspension and vented rotors onto a gen 1. I had to spend a couple hours making new stabilizer bars to get them to bolt in but with some know-how and some determination, anything can be done.....Sorry about the rant, but if it don't bolt it, MAKE it:D

 

So to help you answer your question GD, NO it won't bolt in. So what are you gonna do? Get another crossmember to use to fab up your work on, get an EA82PS rack and fab it together. Since it seems no one has done it, be the first to do it. Then people will come to you asking you questions about how you did it and what it took to make it fit. I keep getting people asking me about the eletronic disty swap into my gen 1 Brat. And hey, if yer lucky, maybe one of the mods will put it in the USRM....

I just installed my rebuilt PS rack in the PKmobile, 4.5 hours, not a bad job at all. I got the rebuild from http://www.carsteering.com, and they were very good. There are three different racks available, naturally they sent the wrong one first. I have the '84 also. I got a PS rack from another '84 if you are interested, but it was not the right one for my car....may or may not be the right one for yours. I'll sell it for $50.

 

Carsteering.com charged $200 for the rebuild

 

David