sorry got preoccupied with repacking my exhaust. bonus is that its now well under 99db. there was naff all wadding in the blooming thing.
ok back on subject...
this is how it was before. the inspector didnt like the fact that the bearing and joint were so close together. he felt that if i had an accident then the fire wall would have to collapse before the steering rack behind it collapsed
the solution he suggested was to put the bearing behind the firewall as this would demonstrate a degree of collapsibility
here is the picture.
as you can see the bearing is now held in place by a piece of 15mm plate made nicely to shape and welded to the chassis tube all the way round (was tricky i admit)