The steering u-joint on the Spitfire is held to the rack and the column with
a "pinch bolt" at each end, and is internally splined. You've got to remove
the bolt completely (the column and rack end have a groove cut to clear the
bolt, and as long as the bolt is in place the joint can't slide off either
end. You can reach the bolts by turning the steering wheel until either
the bolt head or the nyloc nut is accessible.
The joint has 8 little rubber "donuts" that eventually wear out, causing the slop.
The Roadster Factory used to list the rubber pieces (at something like $2 per!), don't
know if they still do. My friend here in the Dallas area takes faucet washers
and punches out the center hole and uses those as replacement pieces. Figure
something like $.05 per washer.
Jim Gambony
jim.gambony@eds.com
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