Over the winter I did this to my 91 Laser. It was slightly different than Miata did it yet similiar enough that I knew what to expect. I did not cut off the round ring which sits near the center of the rack shaft, but I did remove the rubber seal surrounding it in order to allow the grease to coat the inside of the rack. I think if I plug the lines on the rack then there may be some pressure as a result of the grease and me not totally removing that ring, but if I leave them uncapped then that pressure can simply escape causing no harm or difficulty steering.
I haven't drivin the car yet but up and down the road beside the house a few times but the de-powered rack works well from what I can tell so far. I mean, it is indeed a little hard to turn at slow speeds and if I turn the wheels at a stand still I feel like I may break or strip something, but at anything faster that 0 (lol) it is completly drivable.
I am looking forward to not feeling the wheels fight for traction so much when accelerating intensly toward the speed limit.
Removing the rack with 2 jack stands in the rain was the most difficult part of this mod.
The rusted exaust bolts that refused to come off were a pain in the neck until i just took a crowbar and pry'd the exaust over and down enough to slide that rack out (with the tie rods still attached btw).
Getting it back in with the tie rods removed was MUCH easier.
Anyways, job done and I like the results so far. 110 down the road almost in a straght line felt fine, and circles in the parking lot beside the house went better than expected.
Palming is perfectly doable, but I think atleast until I get used to it that I will have atleast 1 full hand on the wheel.
All this came as a cheap solution to rusted leaking main lines on the power steering rack itself. I am sure that the rack can be refit with new seals and lines if I were to choose to revive it in the future, but I think this will turn out well in the end.
Ill try to update after some hours of driving with the de-powered rack.
Thanks to everyone who has posted or replied to threads about de-powering racks cause I am sure I read them all and they all helped.
Special thanks to Flyin Miata for trying this out in the first place to get the ball rolling.
On a side not, I read a post about the steering ratios on a rx7 forum. His description of the process was exactly like I had encountered and I was wondering what the steering ratio in my 91 laser was, if anyone knows off-hand (which seems like a funny thing to say here).
Yeah Chris, I HAD to remove that swaybar aswell. It was not that hard after I removed the 2 triangle supports that were in the way.
Everything came out fine, no strips or breaks, but I deffinatly had to rest my arms 3 or 4 times before getting them all out (yes no air tools here)
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Thanks again for everyone input, even if they didn't know they were giving it again.
