Developed a leak at the drivers side rack boot, it has now become much worse, with a continuous drip. Also, the pump has become noisy.
Instead of replacing the seals in the rack, I'm considering buy a BBB remanufactured rack from Rock Auto. They're only $250, and would save me the bother of disassembling the old unit, which I could rebuild at a later date.
Has anyone bought a BBB rack? if so, how's their quality. Regrettably, Rock Auto does not have customer reviews.
I'm also thinking about removing the power assist completely. I grew up with cars without power steering, so this might be a reasonable option, after all, once the car is moving, turning resistance is greatly reduced. Has anyone done this to their q45?
With the pump also going bad, which will also be replaced, I suspect some bad contamination in the system, so a thorough flush will be needed.
Thanks.

I put a new BBB pump on my 1997 1 year and 10,000 miles ago. No complaints.
You want to check all of your lines for leaks if you're opening the system. High pressure hose was blown on. mine, replaced with a new Gates piece.
Parking in a big car like this with no power steering? Forget it.

Old school , ie. american cars had solid - straight through steering columns = NO U-joints ( IF so they were HUGE ) . IF that Q has one or more tiny u-joint in the end of shaft by / near the rack ( some have 2 u-joints ) this could be a very bad " weak-link " with the greatly increased torque that will be very frequently applied due to NO ASSIST !

Imagine a disconnected steering wheel ( car is 28 + years old too ! )