I sae that back in january somone posted a question about a bad rack. My 87 was doing the same thing, dead spots on start up and a wheel that would move a few inches before the tires moved. I also had the noise comming from the rack and I had a shimmy in the steering wheel while driving. I thought it was the rack and after seeing the postes on this site I was convinced that I had a bad rack, so thanks to all that posted on this site.

I went ahead and changed the rack myself. not a real bad job. I guess you could change one with the car on stands but it would be a bit harder. I have a rack so its a bit easier. Most of it is easy, the sway bar, fan and power steering cooler need to come out and that was easy. The tie rods are easy to remove and and change. The lines are kinda hard to get on but not tha bad. The 3 bolts thar hold the rack in position are kinda hard. The bolts that you can see are easy but the nuts on the back side are hard to reach, but it can be done. Once the rack is free it was hard to remove it. Took some prying and moving it just right to get it out of the car. That was the hardest part. of course the new rack slid right back in with no problem. once the new one was in place it took nothing to put it all back together.

If anyone needs more deatils let me know and I will help the best I can.

so anyway all the problems I had are now gone and the vette steers great, no shimmy either. I cant believe how tight the steering is and how tight it turns, it is a Z51.
Dave

serious job! I did this in the wifes 87... and another friends 93. What a PITA with the engine in!

As a side note, if you are ever having a steering problem, check the serp belt... if coolant is dripping on the belt, all bets are off. Obviously, this is not the problem here, but something to keep in mind.