RE:

[Tony Lupton <Tony.Lupton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ben,

> Any tips on the easiest way to remove the steering rack 
> from a Milano?

Easiest (but not quickest)
-------
1. Remove engine
2. It's reasonably obvious what needs to happen after this, 
   plus you have the added advantage of being able to do must 
   things with while sitting on the seat that AR thoughtfully 
   provided (aka front lower cross member).

Easier (and probably quicker than not removing them)
------
1. Remove the exhaust manifolds, then follow the procedure 
   below. 

Removing the exhaust manifolds is not mandatory, but it does mean you can
get at things from the engine bay with two hands, and (with a u-joint or 2),
you can get a socket on the rack mounting bolts.

(Not) Easy
----------
1. Undo the rear engine mount from mounting plates, and 
   remove mounting plates from brackets on side of 
   transmission tunnel
2. Loosen off the front engine mounts
3. Remove front wheels
4. Remove tie-rod ends
5. clamp supply and return lines to minimise fluid leakage
6. Jack up back of engine as far as you dare.
7. Undo flared fitting from pump supply line (2x17mm OE 
   spanners). You may need to undo the 10mm nut that locates 
   the hard line, depending on how much space you've got 
   around the 17mm flare nuts.
8. Undo banjo bolt on reservoire return line (19m socket)
9. Remove split pin from bolt holding u-joint onto rack input 
   shaft
10. Remove bolt holding u-joint onto rack input shaft
11. Pry off u-joint (steering column telescopes upwards), 
    taking care not to damage splines.
11. Undo four bolts that hold rack unto cross member
12. Pull rack through tie-rod access hole on driver's side. 
    You will need to twist and turn quite a bit.


Installation is generally the reverse of assembly:
- when you put it back in, don't snug down the four fixing 
  bolts until the input shaft is connected to the U-joint - 
  you need to wriggle the rack about to get it in.
- use new crush washers on the reservoire return line
- use a new split pin on the u-joint to rack input shaft bolt
- don't worry too much about centring of the rack - it's 
  approximately 400mm from the centre-line of the driver's-
  side mounting bolts to the end of the tie-rods (with the 
  tie-rod- ends removed). The critical dimension is 26mm from 
  the outwards face of the tie-rod-end lock-nut to the end of 
  the tie-rod. You will still need to get a front wheel 
  alignment, and then you can pull the steering wheel and 
  recentre it. My rack came back from the rebuilders with a 
  different alignment on the input shaft than when I sent it, 
  so pre-centring the steering wheel prior to removing the 
  rack wouldn't have helped.
- use longer bolts on the fixing bolts that protude through 
  the subframe, and put a nut and lockwasher on the bottom of 
  these as added protection against the bolts loosening up 
  (which they have a habit of doing)

See also:
- The shop manual, which describes the procedure (but doesn't 
  talk about jacking up the engine, nor removing the 
  manifolds.
- http://denovich.org/alfa/sikand_mti/clone/steerack.htm

Have fun,

Tony
--
Tony Lupton                    *     ReTech Global Pty Ltd
Release Manager             *    *   23 Hi-Tech Court
tlupton@domain.elided       *     8 Mile Plains Qld 4113
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