Two of the rubber inserts had gone 8 days before it finally failed – the mushy bit in the steering (as the rubbers comply) had turned to pure slack, so driving it became a little interesting. I wonder if the (supposedly) old Chinese curse is become "may you drive an interesting car". I know I shouldn't have kept using it, but the TR7 Sprint's battery had gone flat, I couldn't get in to jump start it, and my charger had died. So, as it was only 7 miles to work, mostly through town, I thought I'd be okay till Sunday when I could fix it. Also, I weren't expecting this!
So if you've got one of these remanufactured ones, and the rubbers go, I suggest replacing it immediately, rather than wait. I'd also recommend the UJ couplings as incomparably better than the rubber insert type: I've been bitching for ages about how much worse than the TR7 Sprint's steering it was, but having put one of these in, it's now at least as good.
I had already got a replacement, a couple of days before it fell apart, with the intent of replacing it: one of the pressed UJ ones from Paddock's, as I couldn't find a forged one on the net at short notice. It was a little tricky to fit, being a centimetre longer. As a result, the method in the manual didn't work: the coupling won't slide far enough up the fitted intermediate shaft, with the clamping bolt out, to go on the rack's spigot. So I had to pull the intermediate shaft off the bottom of the steering column, pull the column up into the car, and put that back together last. Also the top nylock nut on this new coupling caught on the nearby panel seam, which has a cut-out, but not quite where needed. So that wanted a bit of work with a half-round file.
The splines do match the intermediate shaft and steering rack spigot and the holes do seem to be fully circular when clamped up correctly. Also, there was no need to shorten the intermediate shaft, done this way - though there's hardly any gap between the bottom of the bush in the bulkhead and the top of the intermediate shaft, even with the shaft as far into the bottom coupling as it will go (limited by the clamping bolt and the flat on the shaft). Maybe those tolerances that aren't supposed to be cumulative (but are), may mean some cars would need the shaft shortening. But I got away wi'it. Increasing the length of the flat on the shaft, at its top end, might also work. But the worry would be the bottom end of the shaft touching the UJ's cross-piece.
My biggest concern with this pressed coupling is that it's really quite slack on the intermediate shaft and the steering rack spigot before the clamping bolts are done up. So if either bolt was to give or work loose, it mightn't take much for it to slip on the splines. So I think I'll get a new set of bolts, nylock nuts, and washers - had to do the job with what I had to hand, i.e. the old nuts and bolts (only 1 washer for three bolts though - Fecking garages). Also, if anyone can post the details for a supplier of the forged UJs, I think I still might get one and put it in when I replace the upper column - the switches still really need replacing.
Anyway, at least I can go back to wearing those beige trousers again, if the wife can get the stains out.
