1984 power rack into a 1988?

[EMBPilot]

guys im eyeing up a few used steering racks, if i can score one for 50 or 60 bucks that doesnt leak id rather do that than rebuild mine.

can you guys confirm that an 84-89 power rack will fit into my 88?


also, is there any way to do this job WITHOUT having to do a subsequent alighment?

car drives straight as an arrow right now, its going to bum me up to screw that up.


thanks in advance everyone.


Kevin

[ERAU944]

probably no way to avoid screwing up the alignment. IIRC all the racks are the same, but the tie rod ends are different, i.e. the early ones are longer, so you'll either have to order new ones or use your old ones. at this point its false economy to use your old ones since you'll be removing them anyway (heck i think its false economy to use a power rack at all... i switched my '84 to manual, and i'm seriously thinking about doing the same conversion to the turbo). the only thing i can think of is that you take out the rack, and adjust them so that they're both the exact same length, that'll get you close... the other thing you can do is that 'trick' with measuring the distance between the fronts of the insides of the wheels and the backs... it's a process.

when i did the manual conversion i ended up having to get an alignment (whether you find a way to do it right yourself, or take it somewhere), it's really the only way to make sure everything is right.

[EMBPilot]

putting in a manual rack is like a 400 dollar job?... for that kinda coin i could have this rack rebuilt for just a few hundred more dollars...

[ERAU944]

yeah, i have the parts though, so all it cost me was the new tie rods/ends, and an alignment, which was toe-in only (pretty cheap at the shop i had my '84 done at in daytona).

you forget, with the conversion i get the peace of mind of NO LEAKS EVER, and don't forget it makes it much easier to change the oil filter... and cleaner in the engine bay, and no more dead bushings because of stupid ATF (which NEVER belongs in a porsche, unless you're missing a leg or something of the like).

man, now i want to go remove the power RIGHT NOW!