Renault 6 Steering rack query

[Geoff in the Gully]

I'm restoring an R6, which is a rare beast down here in Australia, with my brother and our niece (it's her car!)
We've run into a confusion with the steering rack - the anti-knock bush repair kit doesn't fit as the inner and out diameters don't match the rack and rack rod.
And there's a brass bush fitted at that end of the rack.

My first question is: were there changes in the diameter of the rack rod over time?
Secondly, is replacing the clip-in plastic bush with a pressed or tapped in brass bush a done thing?
If I had been smarter I would have grabbed a picture when I was at the workshop to show what I'm on about - I'll try to remember to do that.

A bit of context. The project car came to us as a started restoration and was largely dismantled.
The steering rack was out of the car.
The previous owner had a couple of other vehicles for restoration so there is a possibility that we're not looking at an R6/R4 rack at all!
The car is, we believe, a 1973 or 1974 model but it's not original - it has a 1289cc Cleon engine in it, which I believe is non-standard for an R6. I suspect there's an R5 donor in it's past.
Given that, one wonders what other changes have been done.

Thanks, Geoff

 

[angel]

R4/R5/R6 steering racks have a rod diameter of 20mm, and outer bush diameter of 30mm. Renault 12 and 16 steering racks have an identical looking bush that is 2mm larger in diameter, both inside and outside. We had discussed it here earlier, it seems that large diameter steering rack bush kits had been incorrectly labelled at manufacture as R4 ones and distibuted to retail suppliers as such. I had faced this in the past both on ebay sellers and large R4 parts suppliers (Franzose, Melun) and don't know if it has been corrected.
There is also another scenario. Some reproduction racks of the '80s (Italian made) had a rod diameter of 21mm and a different looking bush. No repair kit is available for this rack, but you may be able to fit a Fiat 127 / Cinquecento etc bush - if you can find them in your country!
If I had to fabricate a bush, I would make it from wear resistant plastic (Delrin, Acetal etc). With a brass bush, the slightest amount of wear will translate as a knock when driving the car..

 

[Geoff in the Gully]

Angel,
Thanks so much for that - very helpful information. Seems we got the wrong size. Should have checked the forum first, even though it's an R6!