Steering Top Bearing Removal

[warrenperkinson]

I have a late series IIa.

Today I decided to do a small job that I had been planning for a while - replace my steering top bearing. This is the one at the top of the steering column just below the steering wheel. The was a lot of play in the old one.

Naturally this has turned out to be a bigger job that I expected...

I can't for the life of me get the old one out!

So before I take the plunge and remove the entire steering box in order to tap the bugger out from the bottom, does anyone have any suggestions for removing the old bearing?

Alternatively, does anyone have and advice for removing the steering box?

Cheers...

[SafeAirOne]

There are differences between the SIIA and the SIII, but I suspect the overall idea is the same.

From the SIII WSM:

[warrenperkinson]

An update for those who find themselves in a similar situation...

The series IIa is different to the series III - sadly, it does not have the pinch bolt that is described above to release the steering column tube from the steering box.

But the solution was similar. The steering outer tube needed to be unbolted from the steering box and pushed back up through the dashboard. It couldn't come out all the way because the flange at the end (that bolts onto the steering box) was too big to fit through the hole in the firewall, but it could be pushed through enough to get access to the remains of the upper bearing.

I can't claim that I did this though... in frustration, I took it to my local uber-mechanic, who sorted it in about an hour (whereas it would have taken me a lot longer than that!).