I just took a look at my steering gasket this afternoon out of curiosity. It was completely rotted away, too. Didn't want to run to the dealer fer a new gasket so I unbolted the gasket and cleaned up the remaining bits of rubber leftover and rebolted it back in place.

I found some scrap 1/2" soft foam pipe wrap with the self adhesive (about $5 fer a new 8' section). Cut off about 3" and put it around the shaft. Stuck the sticky stuff together, slid/tugged it through the old gasket, and it fit perfect! Put the insulating floor cover over it and now I can hear all the other noises that I didn't hear before...just without the engine masking them! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Not bad fer a cheap/kinda free fix... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />