1988 convertible bushes are history, probably OEM ones and they do not last forever.
I have all 3 bolts out of the bushes, rack tower pinch bolt out and the 2 pipes at the tower disconnected.
That sounds simple, but this is a Jaguar and that effort was all of 3 hours even up on a hoist.
I have done this job before on the coupe, never easy of course and that was without a hoist.
The rack has a couple of screwdrivers through the bolt holes just in case it wants to drop ( as if ! ).
This rack will not drop in any hurry, and here is part of the reason.


Not a pleasant sight

The PO must have gone to some trouble to make that dint in such a strong bit of metalwork. It is a wonder it did not put a crack in the rack mounting lugs.
I had no idea when I bought the car 18 years ago, it still steered like it should. At least being a RHD car it only affects one bolt hole.
Right now I cannot easily budge that rack, it is very, very tight on the locating ears. There is no easy place to get any leverage to force it down.
Suggestions are welcome.
I can try putting a bolt and nut between the ears in such a way as to try and spread them. Not sure that will help because there is not much of the ears available to work on.
Once the rack is out that will work to spread the ears to make refitting easier.
Because of moving up to Queensland and retiring I do not have all the useful gear back in my old Melbourne factory: The lathe, milling M/C, welders, lots of hand tools. Not to mention all the electrical and electronic gear.
I still have a pallet down there with a spare rebuilt 5.3L and another pallet ready to load all my Jag spares and lots of useful bric-a-brac soon as I find time to fly down and organise the transport.

 

Can you get a long prybar in there, fulcrum against the subframe?

 

I am going to make guess that someone replaced the bushings, and their steel inner sleeve, in the past.

if the steel inner sleeve is too long, they probably had to pound the rack into place,and then they tightened the bolts, which compressed the mounting ears into the inner sleeves.

When i replaced my rack bushings earlier this year (motor out of car, and rack rebuild), i used my lathe to shorten the replacement inner sleeves so they slip fit between the ears,as they would have had to have been pounded into place, otherwise.

Doug

 

I have tried a small pry bar which did nothing, my big one is still in Melbourne. I can buy a big one here, not so expensive.
The headache is the only way the pry bar has leverage is to force the rack horizontally backwards maybe 20 - 25mm into the oil pan.
I need it to come vertically downwards. However if I can move it horizontally it will hopefully release some of the clamping force holding it.

 

Thanks Doug, I do not think the PO took great care with this car and he/she were not DIY folks. I doubt they replaced bushes.
You can bet when I refit the rack it will be such that if the bushes ever need replacing again it will be easier.

 

I believe the fluid in/out lines will interfere with trying to get the rack out by pulling straight down. The lines will hit the top mount on the cross member. At least they will in a LHD car

The rack needs to rotate back, and then come down if your has a similar setup..

When i had the motor out, i used a grinder on the top of the top frame mount to give more clearance

Doug.

 

This isn't the best pic because of everything in the way, and, someone bypassed the damaged heat exchanger, and installed the 'U" loop, so i have have no idea how your hoses are routed.

Doug

 

Two hours of work with a big pry bar eventually dropped the rack.
The rack was fitted with poly bushes, and a couple were in bad shape.
This rack was not OEM, it had a sticker on it to show it was a rebuild. That would have been fitted while the car was with the PO, and I bought the car when 19 years old and had done 118,000km.
Maybe the rack seals were shot and it needed an overhaul, or maybe the OEM unit was damaged when the PO drove over a big rock which put the big ding in the front cross member.

It is over 25 years since I last refitted a rack with OEM style bushes. Memory tends to fade on the details. I look at my parts book and it shows a stiffener ( Item 1 ), but there is none on this car.
Should there be one ? A few other things show this rack was fitted carelessly by somebody in a big hurry.
I think not long ago there was a post showing a more comprehensive illustration of the rack assembly mounting hardware. I cannot find it in the search section. Anybody know about that post ?

 

I believe that stiffener is (are) the mounting brackets welded to the cross member. Nothing with double ends exists like that on my '88 car. I don't see how a removable piece that looks like that could even be installed.

BTW, my bushings don't look like that, they are split down the middle with molded flanges on each side, the center steel tube is one piece, though, thats what i shortened on the lathe to make installation easier.

Doug

 

Not all cars had that stiffener. Mine does not; forget about it, say I. If the bracket seems weak or cracked after that hit, you can weld in an L shaped bit on the outside side to strengthen it.

 

I measured up the old poly bushes that were in the rack.
I measured the gap in the mounting ears at typically 43.8 but I am not sure if that is normal or after being deformed.
The poly bushes had a 44mm steel sleeve so that pretty much matches the ear gap.
I also measured up the OEM bush and thrust washers I bought from SNG Barret.



I am not sure if we have been down this path before.
If you assemble the bush and thrust washer as on the left, there is a gap of 3.5mm between the bonded rubber surface and the steel outer sleeve of the bush.
It looks kind of correct for the recess to be there for a purpose. So why the bonded rubber, what does it do ?
If assembled as on the right the rubber will cushion any thrust in one direction. The overall width is 46 and that will be a tight fit in the mounting ears.
The mudguard washer is a hardware item, not the Jag part. I have only a couple here, with a box of about 100 back in my Melbourne factory. Should be able to buy them anywhere, but on presently measured dimensions not sure if I need use any.
What has everybody else done to fit the OEM bush setup ?

 

My bushings look like your poly bush drawing.

I don't really see the need for the complexity of the factory bushings, unless it is to allow some side to side rack positioning adjustment, by adding and subtracting spacers from one side to the other. But, Jaguar engineers never missed an opportunity to take something that could be made from two parts, and come up with something that does the same thing, using ten parts.

Doug

 

The rack is back in and steering is fine.
There is always something new to learn.

1) Poly bushes are easiest to fit, just 2 halves that push fit in the rack lugs and do not fall out as you lift the rack.

2) Maybe not so easy. The mounting ears on the cross member can be distorted and tight depending on who did the last job on it.
I was putting OEM style bushes back in the rack instead of poly and those ears were not factory fresh.
If those ears are tight fitting the rack can be a nightmare. I bought the shortest M20 bolt ( set screw actually ) available and cut it to just fit inside the ears.
With a nut on the bolt I could spread the ears by up to 5mm, although 3mm is probably good enough.


M20 bolt spreading ears.

3) I did not do this, and it cost me a lot of extra time.
Check the mounting holes in the ears. They are very likely a bit damaged and really tight to get the mounting bolts through.
A good idea to use a file where you can and open them a bit so the bolts fit EASILY.
Do not forget, getting the bolt into the first hole is not always easy, but then you have another hole to get the bolt through on the other side of the rack lug.

4) The use of the thrust washer is a puzzle. I bought some M16 washers and fitted them as shown in the updated jpg file.
Look at the bottom middle of the file. I put them on 2 of the OEM bushes, one on the left and one on the right.
In theory if the bush rubber allows the rack lugs to move more then 0.7mm in the ears they will hit the bonded rubber face of the thrust washers.
Not sure if that would happen but it might if the rubber ages badly or the car front wheels hit a really big pothole.
You need hold the washers in place as the rack is raised, they easily fall out. I have a tub of Castrol red rubber grease I often use where rubber is lubricated.
It is nice and sticky and ideal to hold the washers in place, with the bonus of stopping the washers from rusting.


Updated rack bush dimensions


Thrust washer on the left side of lug.


As I needed to order bushes and thrust washers for the convertible from the SNG Barrett, and pay freight, I also ordered bushes for the convertible in case I ever needed them.
At the same time I bought the fitting/removal tool to go with them. Not needed to take the old poly bushes out, but I was not sure they were poly before starting the job.
Very handy to put the new bushes into the lugs. No doubt I have previously used a socket to do this, but I might not have one just right for it this time.


Tool use to install bushes.