Morris Minor Owners Club

After reading this article it is now quite clear as to how the dampers work and why they fail, The reason for the leaking shaft would more than likley be due to the damper arm wearing the machined bearing hole they are in "egg shaped". This is due to the degree of movement of the damper arm.
More than likley all the companys who refurbish the dampers do is to bush the machined bearing hole and posibly replace the piston seal if required and then replace the front seals.

From experience I would say It could be possible to repair a damper and to machine a seal cap, then if you have a press, make a dolly to press the replacement seal back in, quite a time consuming project but obviously you would need all the required machine tools. (Lathe, Milling Machine and a Press.)

Now we'll have a look at the front damper. This is a bit more difficult and certainly not a DIY home repair. Without the hydraulic press there's no hope especially when it comes to removing the arm which in our case was broken off anyway as some previous owner of the damper butchered it. Mark the position of the every part prior to removal to ensure it all goes back together as it was.
1) Damper viewed from rear



2) Milling the cap



3) Removing cap



4) Seal arrangement


5) Centre punching position



6) Presss out the shaft



7) Shaft removed


8 Front seal arrangement


9) Details on the inside



10) Oil lubrication grooves/keyway




11) Arm removed-it took more than 5 tons+heat to remove!


12) Valve details




Summary
It's very difficult to see if the bearing surface is machined or if in fact it is an insert. If this area is worn it would not be economical to try and repair although it can be done. If it is a case of just replacing oil seals then it is relatively easy as the arm does not have to be removed.
We hope you have as much enjoyment reading this as we had compiling it.

Regards
Declan +
Hans Dieter Gollus

While discussing rear dampers recently with my colleague Hans Dieter Gollus, we decided to try and repair an old leaky rear damper that I had lying in my spares box. Looking at the price of the exchange dampers it is not really worth doing. But perhaps a day will come when no spares are available so we thought it would be good to know how to do it. It did cost us a damper in the learning process, but now we know the correct procedure. It's not really that difficult but access to a hydraulic press is a help. I'm sure that a simple bottle jack could also be manipulated. I sent the damper to Hans Dieter and this is the result:
First clean the damper thoroughly, drain it and remove the top six screws and cap. On the rear of the damper there is a plug. This plug is approx 1.7mm thick.and is firmly pressed in and must be sacrificed to gain access to the shaft. There is a 20mm seal behind the plug. It looks a bit butchered on the photo but could actually be removed cleanly using a milling bit in a pillar drill and subsequently levering the remains out with a screwdriver.
Mark the position of the damper arm relative to the damper body so that it goes back together on right splines. Use the press to drift out the shaft. The pistons can now be removed from the top of the damper. There is very little inside and no bearings to be replaced. The seal on the shaft measures 28x17x 6mm. Similar seals are used on electrical cable glands. This is a very primitive seal and we are trying to source a better one and are looking at lip seals.
Hans Dieter made a new plug 20.5 mm from aluminium and 20mm seals are readily available. The photos show the procedure how to take it apart and re-assemble. If we can get our hands on an old front damper we will do the same but I'm pretty sure the procedure is exactly the same.

Declan Burns
Hans Dieter Gollus[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]