Steering rack question

Hi guys, just dropped the subframe and removed the steering rack as part of a restoration.. And I've got a couple of questions.

1. How do you get the steering rack bolts out of the subframe? I want to take them out to have it blasted but I can't shift them!

2. Is it worth having the PAS rack rebuilt or am I wasting time and money? The power steering was a bit juddery before I took it off the road , which I put down to probably a slippy belt. But I really don't want to put it all back together to go through the PITA of taking the rack out again. Is there a way to test if it's good? I'll still be replacing the pipes and tie rods regardless.

Cheers!

 

Hammer is the only way, they're designed to stay in the subframe. They will come out with a few hard blows.

A judder is more likely to be a pump issue?

 

I agree on both those points,my pump in the corrado wasn't noisy so I knew the pump was ok but didn't feel right,as I was doing engine swap I removed the tank and it was full of muck,don't think the fluid had been changed in 32yrs,it wasn't a very good colour kinda a muddy red,yuk.
Once back together and bleed a test drive proved it was much improved from before,smooth and well weighted @ the wheel.
Don't think there is much you can recon with the rack,if suspect fit a good used unit if you have leaks into the boots,read a bit that the aftermarket replacements aren't very good but have no direct experience with that,seems the manual ones seem to crap out as I have replaced 2 of them but never had an issue with powersteer ones and I have worked on a lot of Mk2's and have owned a fair amount myself,cheers.

 

Thanks for the tips, I'll just clean it off and reuse it then. I've already got a pump replacement lined up

 

Ive had judder on my power steering a couple of times in the past and it was a stretched belt both times luckily.

 

I hit mine reasonably hard and they didnt shift. Shall I really just hit them very hard? What should I replace them with once they are out?

 

New ones? Available from vw heritage.

 

Piccie I took for something else, but shows the serrated portion at the base that you have to overcome.

Took quite a whack to get them out of the old subframe and an equally heavy whack to get them back into the new.

 

Yeah, once over the fear of giving them a massive wacking, they came out of mine nice. Now all cleaned up and back on, all looking fresh.... If only I'd not put the ARB on upside down!

 

If you can put a socket underneath the studs it will give you something solid to hammer on.

 

Thanks all. Sometimes you need reassurance before hitting things that hard!