Rack but not ruin
HERE IN EAST BERKSHIRE it’s difficult to find a classic car business that specialises in classic BMWs – so I was overjoyed to discover that a brand new company had set up just a couple of miles away. Classic Revival Ltd (tel: +44 (0)7925 755137) is owned by Steve Oakley, who started the business a couple of years ago, and, on my first visit to his garage, I discovered two 2002s, an E9 CSi, an E46 M3 and an absolutely mint Peugeot 106 Rallye in for work. It is great to see another enthusiastic young engineer coming into our market and putting his all into helping us keep our classics on the road.
Aside from having Steve replace my Baur’s lowered Eibach springs and Bilstein sport dampers with original-spec parts (the handling was brilliant, but my buttocks were not happy with the hard ride), I also wanted him to check out a couple of things. The power steering was behaving erratically: sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn’t, for no apparent reason! And the engine was still idling high. I asked him to carry out a full inspection, too, and shortly after I had dropped off the car with him I received a video of it up on the ramp while he evaluated some of the things that he had spotted.
First, he pointed out that there was fluid in the rubber boots on the steering rack, and the fluid within the PAS reservoir was metallic-looking instead of a clear red. He also spotted various oil leaks at the back of the engine, at the back of the gearbox and from the left and right driveshaft seals. He was concerned at the state of the floorpan, too, which showed signs of corrosion, especially around the jacking points. That’s a job for next winter.
As for the steering rack, Steve’s advice was that I needed to replace it. The seals had gone and the metallic-looking fluid was a sign that the rack was too worn to be repairable. So I asked Ian Thomson at Linwar Motors (linwar.com) if he happened to have one. Power steering on the E21 was an additional extra which cost an extra £300 at the time (about £1200 in today’s money), so it was not a very common upgrade and now, 40 years later, power steering racks for righthand-drive cars are like hen’s teeth. Yet Ian had not one but two refurbished units available. He was asking £650 each but, considering there are some on eBay for sale at over £1000, I didn’t think this was a bad price.
Next, Steve tackled the oil leaks and bought seals from BMW, which were all available at a cost of £105. He used a Smoke Pro to identify any vacuum leaks from the Bosch K-Jetronic ignition system and found smoke bellowing out of the main body like a chimney! The plan is to buy a rebuild kit, which is easily sourced, although the units are very time-consuming to take apart and repair. It will be worth it, because the Baur has always been a joy to drive and it will soon be even better.