Traveller '68 - Left Hand drive conversion

[Nickol]

over a year ago I mentioned hier on the Forum my intention to convert Morris ( an original name if ever there was one) to LHD. The imminent start of the project then, has been postponed until now.
Now if there is a 50% chance of doing anything the wrong way, then I have a talent for it so I am hoping over the coming days to be able to describe what I have done, post a few pictures perhaps and ask advice here and there.

Today I had the gearbox off. Having scoured the forum , was grateful for the tip of removing the upper two clutch housing bolts before dropping the engine. Your can hardly reach them afterwards. The rear gearbox cross member did foul on the brake piping on the LHS and only by slackening the rubber mounting bolts could it be waggled free.

Two points I have noticed
1. Oil has been leaking from the box rear end connection to the propshaft spline which in turn has splashed it all over the place. Is there a seal or something to prevent this I can install?
2. The internal clutch housing is , how can I describe it? It is smeared in dirty thick oily stuff. Not masses of it but enough. I expected a squeaky clean area here - unless something is amiss of course. Are my expectations valid?
3. I shall be replacing the complete clutch assembly with an original AP but the one on the car now , after a quick glance seemed to have a piece of wood jammed in one of the openings! More on this once I remove the creature in the next few days.

The whole gearbox exterior I intend to jet wash to clean it up. Good idea?

[mike.perry]

The accelerator cable stays in its original place, the pedal rod has a horizontal rod extention to reach the cable.
A Midget steering rack turned upside down is the same as a LHD rack

[Nickol]

Yes I have all the bits....(.famous last words ) - at least the major components. Tomorrow is off with the existing clutch assembly and if all goes well, with the existing steering rack and steering wheel assembly.

We shall see.

[bmcecosse]

The gearbox tailshaft probably needs a new bush fitted and reamed - and a new seal. The clutch end may simply be oil from the engine - and some leakage from the front of the gearbox.

[Nickol]

That would seem logical - the exploded view of the tailshaft as you call it, shows an oil seal. This would seem to me to be a likely suspect all of its own?

The clutch housing "mess" is as you say probably just the collection of the (1)47.000 miles dirt . I see no visible signs of anything else untoward so will simply clean it off and hope for the best.

[bmcecosse]

There is a 'bronze' bush in there too -if it's worn the felt seal doesn't stand a chance of keeping the oil in.

[Nickol]

That must be the part listed in the exploded view as "sliding joint bush".

The felt seal you refer to does not seem to be pictured. The "oil seal" looks like a stepped bush - presumably there is felt inside it?

[bmcecosse]

Indeed.

[Nickol]

Onward.

Today I had some time to spare and decided to clean out the clutch bellhousing and remove the front cover. The replacement for the LHD was then fixed in position with the paper gasket ( will this really be effective- paper??) in between. Job done I thought.

Then the shaft was impossible to turn....................

A quick search in this forum gave the answer. The replacement front cover with its oil seal is made such that the large nut holding the main shaft fouls the inside of the cover. In the thread I followed, the chap sent it back to the supplier and refitted his old one but I do not have this luxury.

So, off to the workshop to have it "ausgerieben" reamed out; whose necessity seems a bit strange.

[Nickol]

Having failed to locate a local eng firm to ream it out ( they are all closed for Betriebsurlaub - works holidays), I decided to ream it out, or rather mill it out myself on my small Lathe/ milling maschine.

The "circular" mill is not quite that but there is enough clearance now and the cover no longer fouls the lock nut on the gearbox shaft. The pic shows both new and old covers together ( the latter with its gasket still attached) withthe arrow indicating what I milled out.[frame][/frame]

[Nickol]

Progress and planning thoughts so far.

Gearbox removed, cleaned off with pressure washer and with cover plate fixed after milling. One stud will not let itself be tightened up. There must be something wrong with the thread for it will not tighten up no matter which hole I try. However, the thread looks ok. What to do? Try and get a replacement or re-thread it?

Steering wheel and column removed - for refitting on the LHS , will need to extend the wiring for the indicators. Getting the correct colours may be awkward. Will investigate whether there is maybe enough play.
Similarly, it occurs to me - the floor dip switch will need to be moved to the LHS - was that foreseen in the design? The wheel arch is in the way.

Floor plates removed, the small one and the main one - now have access to the brake master cylinder - it is covered in dirt and perhaps the feed has a leak for there are droplets on the intake side. Considering replacing complete as pipe system will need replacing/re-routing anyway. Me thinks this will be the most difficult task to get right. Certainly the big hole in the floor allows good access - the gearbox will be the last thing to be replaced before the floor goes back.

Steering rack removed but one track rod end wont come off. This, despite some good hammering. Have soaked it in WD40 and will try again in a few days.

[bmcecosse]

Do you have a LHD rack ? Why not just treat it to new track rod ends while it's all in bits?

[Nickol]

I do of course have a LH rack.

Re-use the track rod ends without taking them off? ; good point. I was always assuming that you had to remove the trackrods and thread onto the rack. But provided that the lock nut can be loosened, then yes I do see.

Go for that then.

[bmcecosse]

Does the LH rack not come with track rods ??

[Nickol]

No, they must be ordered extra.

I wanted to wait and see what condition they were in before ordering new ones.

[bmcecosse]

The track rods are often extremely difficult to release from the rack -without damaging the rack....

[Nickol]

I borrowed an extractor this morning and it took less than 5 minutes to break the joint which no amount of hammer banging would shift. Then I had to cut the bolt off as it turned the whole threaded part when attempting to unscrew it. So steering assembly is now free but......need to take a front wheel off to slide it out and away from the car and since the car is supported on the front wheels over two ramps, have to be a bit careful. I will leave it as it is for the time being. New track rods are being delivered later this week and I want to screw these onto the new rack, using the old as a reference before refitting the whole unit such that the vehicle will not be standing on the jack for more than 10 minutes or so while the vehicle the front wheel is off.

Anyone need an old steering rack?

[Nickol]

Whilst waiting for the delivery , can make a start on dismantling the brake system. Having removed the floor which came up surprisingly easily, the master cylinder is exposed. It looks pretty dirty.
The first job is to take the securing bolts out and to this I am grateful for the Forum once again in recommending (or perhaps better described, saying it is possible) to lever at the torsion bars whilst gently hammering the bolts out - it works![frame][/frame]

[Nickol]

I find it interesting that the Brake union can only be undone with a 11mm spanner - presumably BMC sort of went SI towards the end of its life.[frame][/frame]

[Nickol]

Having removed the clutch pedal, brake pedal and master cylinder - here they are all together on the bench looking pretty sorry.[frame][/frame]