XJ6R – Steering Rack

Steering rack

I decided to rebuild the steering rack whilst I had easy access to it with the engine out. The bushes were “cream crackered” as can be seen by the photos. I had some replacement Poly based bushes that came with a car I purchased years ago. The bushes are in fine condition so I used those. The old bushes were pushed out using a couple of sockets and a threaded bar to get it moving and eventually gently tapped out. The new ones were pushed back in and I am just awaiting delivery of the rack rebuild kit.

The first challenge was to identify the rack type. There are a few variations on steering racks over the years and it was not straight forward to identify the one straight away. I did a little searching on the internet and through the parts/service manuals and got the impression I had the Adwest manufactured part. A close look at the steering rack once it was cleaned up and on the bench revealed a few words and numbers cast into the rack. You can see these in the photos below:

I found the following identifiable words/numbers POW-A-RAK and three numbers HBE12251, HBE 12241 and HBE 12211. A little more searching on these and I found this page which lists the casting numbers as ADWEST CAST NO HBD12241- HBE12251- HB12211.

Also this site listed the parts as Adwest too.

JAGUAR

1973-79

XJ6/12 80 cm Short Pinion Series 2 & 3 Adwest HBD 12211, 12241, HBE 12251 & HBE 16400

P2318

NAK8076

Compare the pictures with those in the parts manual and the repair kit part number is AAU1503. I have ordered a repair kit and new bellows to finish off the job. As it happens I also have a spare steering rack from an older S2 XJ6 which is the Alder type so I should be able to rebuilt at least one of then regardless 🙂