Toyota Repair: problem fixing steering rack mis-installation, alignment rack, independent mechanic

Question
I had the steering rack on my 1992 camry (dlx MT 5-spd 280,000 miles)replaced a few years and 45,000 miles ago  at an independent mechanic.

Last week, a toyota mechanic who was doing a timing belt notified me that the car turned more to the left than the right, said the rack had been misinstalled, and estimated ~1-1.5 hrs labor plus a realignment to fix it.  He advised me to first take it back to the shop who did the work.  He said something about two ways to fix it, one involving the rack coupling, and another involving steering wheel removal.  

I brought the car back to the independent(now a different owner), who verified the problem (17.5 degrees more turn to the left than right), insisted that I bring it in in the morning, when he would then fix it at no charge, and have it back to me by noon.  Of course, by noon, he said he needed another hour and a half.  I fly across country tomorrow for a week, and sort of didn't want the problem hanging up in the air but now I have no choice.

At 4pm, no call, so I stop by the shop and do not see my car on the lifts.  The owner states the car is on an alignment rack out back, and that when he attempts to make an adjustment (I'm not sure of what, I think a coupling between the steering column and the rack) of "a few teeth", the result is that the car turns much more to the right than left.  He says it shouldn't react like this and needs the car another day to try to figure it out.  He lamented to me a little about thinking it would take an hour labor, and not this much time.

Do you have any idea what might be going on here, and how to best approach correcting it?  This particular independent specializes in tires, alignments, and that sort of thing.

Answer
The mechanic that did the timing belt is correct, I have also seen this problem after a steering rack replacement, the problem is that the rack was not centered when it was installed, this can be rectified by removing the steering coupling, then adjusting the tie rods until the wheels point straight ahead and then centering the steering wheel and reattaching the coupling followed by a realignment of the wheels, removing and reinstalling the steering wheel only will not take care of the problem if the rack is not centered. At least this guy is trying to make it right so give him a chance to do so.