I have an '82 wagon with some damage to the front end. A large rock pushed Some of the steering back and bent the tie-rods. So, I was just going to yank some parts from a junkyard. Now my question is, what years can i pull from. And also do i have to pull from a 200 or can i pull from a 700 too? I don't know if the front ends are the same or not...i'm guessing not. But i knew someone on brickboard could tell me. Also, with the 200's, do i have to get the parts from an '82 model or can i use other years? thanks for your help.

I did the same thing with my '81 245 a few years ago. 'Tried to straddle a basketball sized boulder on a mountain road. It sent the car and four passengers airborne! Besides the rack, my car needed the front crossmember. You might look for one of these in the boneyard.

700 parts won't fit.

Get a good rack WITH tie rods and all mounting hardware and it will replace your damaged rack. The individual parts from the Cam and ZF racks are NOT interchangeable, but the entire assemblies, including tie rods and mounting brackets, ARE interchangeable.

The racks did not change from year to year, so you don't worry about finding an '82 rack.

Look for a low mileage donor car.

Look for a rack that still has intact rubber boots -- otherwise the road grunge may have caused unseen damage in the donor rack.

Wiggle the front wheels or push-pull on the tie rods to be sure that the inner tie rod ends (under the boots) are not worn. While they should pivot, they also should have NO in-out play.

If you happen to find the same type rack that your car now has, you can keep certain parts as spares. For example, a good tie rod, good boots, and even the u-joint on the rack's input shaft would be great to have as spare parts. Someday, you'll need 'em all.

When you try to remove the steering column (which attaches to the lower u-joint on the input shaft) be aware that you must first remove a small lock bolt. The nuts on the two lock bolts (each end of the u-joint) have tiny cotter pins securing them. These cotter pins are usually buried under a thick layer of greasy grunge -- so when you try to remove the nut, you shear the cotter pin. (How do I know this?)

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Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

I'm not sure about 700 parts...i'm sure someone else will tell you. For 200 parts, there are 2 different kinds of steering racks they used- ZF and CAM. It doesn't really matter which one it is, just that all the parts are for that kind of rack. Either will fit in your car, I believe from every year of the 240 run. However, you have to have either all ZF or all CAM. You can tell easiest what kind it is by looking at the dust boots for the rack (inner tie rods). If the outer end of the boot goes down snug against the tie rod, it's a CAM style, if there's a plastic "doughnut" that the boot fits onto(on the tie rod) then its ZF. hope this helps.
nate gundy

thank you so very much nate. going to the junkyard now.