1995 Toyota Tercel, universal joint (sliding, splined yoke) between steering
column and rack/pinion gearbox.

Want to upgrade to power steering on this car. Removed existing (manual)
rack/pinion assembly and am trying to install the power steering
rack/pinion. On the power steering unit the male splined shaft is a larger
diameter than the splined shaft on the manual steering unit.

Existing splined shaft approximately (its metric) 1/2 " diameter while the
new splined shaft is approximately 9/16" diameter. Attached are two photos
of the yoke. Dealer wants $128 for the correct yoke and tells me that I
will also have to buy the steering column (slightly shorter) for a mere $
237. Donor car is already crushed and gone. The three auto dismantlers
that I visited have the wrong part (after assuring me it was for the power
steering version).

Tired of all the driving and need METAL advice.

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/i...vanveg/002.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/i...vanveg/003.jpg

Note in photo 2 that the splined yoke has a clamp bolt. The bolt passes by
a reduced portion of the shaft obviating it from dropping off.

Any clever ways to attach this yoke to a slightly larger splined shaft?
My only thoughts a 1) drill out (enlarge) the yoke and pin it to the
larger shaft. 2) Remove the shaft from the gear box, turn it down on the
lathe and try to cut metric splines. 3) Weld the stuff together 4) Give
up

There must be better ideas. Is there such a thing as a "spline repair kit"
similar to thread repair inserts?

All ideas appreciated.

Ivan Vegvary