I got 2 steering boxes sitting here at home. Bought both as spares. 1 complete from ignition switch to box from 80,000 mile 83 rx7. It was tight in the car. I was stripping the car. Took it too.

I have the one that came out of my 83 project gold turd (has a complete sub frame 13b swap).

I'll sell either or both. If you'd rather go that route. Tired of them sitting around here. Make offer.

 

I finally got around to replacing the steering gearbox/column assembly I bought from Mazdatrix, and have to say that the results are fantastic. Maybe not quite as tight and responsive as the best rack & pinion units from some of the other high end manufacturers, but very good overall. No play at all around the center portion of the wheel movement, and crisp response to wheel inputs. Worth the effort.

It sure was a lot of work, a lot of stuff has to be moved/removed in both the interior and engine compartment. I did not remove the A/C compressor, just unbolted it & had a buddy hold it out of the way during box/column removal and again during install. Hood has to be removed to pull the steering unit up & out the front. Mark the wiring gang plugs, some are interchangeable & you'll blow fuses if not plugged into the right connector. Steering wheel is easily pulled with a normal metric threaded wheel removal tool.

Based on my experience and advice from the guys at Mazdatrix, when you get a lot of steering wheel center free play the sector shaft is badly worn and no adjustment will help this problem. If you adjust to remove center play, then it's too tight everywhere else. If you could still get replacements for the wear items in the box (mostly the sector shaft), then the box could be rebuilt, as Mazdatrix said they used to do years ago. At this point the complete unit only is available from Mazda.

Anyway, don't settle for sloppy steering in 1st gens., man up & replace the box & get back to enjoying the vehicle steering as it was meant to be.

Bruce

 

Good thing I just read this tread. I hate my sloppy steering it gets on my nerves. I am going to find a new steering box and replace it.

 

Has anyone tried one of the reman boxes that are available? Rock auto lists a reman service for a relatively-cheap $175, provided you ship them a core box to rebuild.

 

Nice! $228.00 for an 80. Good to know this exists.

 

On the SA boxes, one wear point is the spherical top of the hardened, specially-made adjuster screw. The sector shaft pivots on this, and over time the top of the ball wears down. A couple thousandths and you've got slop that can't be dialled out because of the design of the adjuster.

But a carefully cut shim between the adjuster carrier plate and the sector shaft yoke should make this go away. The shim would have to be hardened steel as pressures in that area are high. Maybe a thousandth thickness is all that would be needed.

Worked it out last time I had my box apart, but never actually tried it. If I can find a replacement input shaft seal (as mine has started a very slow leak - about one drip per week) I may be tempted to give it a go next time the box is apart.

 

I have a steering box that I took out of my race car. I noticed no problems with it.

If someone wants to buy it, drop me a line.

Thanks!