One of these is not like the other…
Murphy’s law dictates that the bent one must be the NLA tie rod while the dead straight one is readily available. Guess which one is which.
I beat it with a hammer, torched it, pulled and pushed it with long bars until it cried out but it didn’t budge a millimetre. Also crying out must have been my annoyed neighbours as it was well past bedtime.
Behind me a 20 ton press stood quietly, snickering at my madness. Why it didn’t speak out earlier I’ve no idea. I blame my tired brain for not thinking of using it in the first place. A few pumps of the handle later the tie rod was straight and my neighbours could go back to sleep.
In other news, I’ve stripped the steering rack and it all looks serviceable apart from a seal and the oil reservoir, which is also NLA unfortunately.