engine and gearbox steady

[robandsophie]

This is probably a daft question but can you over tighten the engine and gearbox steadies?

[les]

The gearbox steady should be tightened until there is no slack in the cable and just about to pull the gearbox but not actually moving it. The head steady should be adjusted so the engine is steadied but not pulled or pushed in either direction. So yes you can overtighten.

[robandsophie]

Thanks Les

[Fingolfin]

This is a real danger. An amateur at the time (and still!), I overtightened the gearbox steady cable when reinstalling the drivetrain after my Minor's body restoration. The pull backward ended up tearing apart one of the front engine mounts (rubber pulling away from metal), and distorting the other one and the gearbox mounts.

[philthehill]

Whilst you may have overtightened the gearbox steady cable in all probability the engine and gearbox mountings were already on their way out.
One or more of the three 1/4" UNF bolts that hold the steady cable to the gearbox would have pulled out before the mountings gave way.
The steady cable was an after thought by BMC and when they incorporated the mod they should have increased the bolt size to 5/16" UNC to give a better grip into the back of the gearbox. If there is any sign of the 1/4" UNF bolts giving way or has given way I always recommend that the size of the bolt is increased to 5/16" UNC which is an easy mod to do.

[les]

------and to add to this being the weakest link, if I recall correctly the 3 screws are unf, rather than a courser thread you'd expect in aluminium.

[philthehill]

Les
As the steady cable was an after thought by BMC they just used what was there i.e. the three 1/4" UNF bolts into the rear of the gearbox.
Strangely enough as you are no doubt well aware the Austin A30, A35, A40, Midget & Sprite did not require engine steady rods or wires and yet the front engine mount rubbers are the same and the rear rubber mounts are similar to the Minor with the addition of the additional central lower mounting/steady rubber Pt No: 2A5420.
Phil

[greendefender123]

What's the reason they fitted the gearbox steady cable then?

[les]

Well I've heard stories of the need to stop the engine moving forward when breaking hard but my experience of this cable is to stop juddering when reversing; the tension afforded seems to eliminate it. It says something about it in the manual but this may just be about retro fitting of the cable, I'm not sure.

[philthehill]

The engine was found to be moving forward under very heavy braking and which allowed the water pump/fan to make contact with the radiator with disastrous results.
The fitment of the cable may help when reversing the car and there are retro fitting instructions in the early workshop manuals but I have always found that the engine steady bar bushes/mounting being in good condition and fitted correctly usually takes care of the engine judder when starting off in reverse.

[greendefender123]

Thanks good to know. Glad I refitted it.

[philthehill]

In Minor wksp man Section AA36 it states that the cable was fitted for 'longitudinal anchorage of the engine and gearbox'.
There are details relating to the retro fitting of the cable and brackets in illustration No: AA28.

[Fingolfin]

When I had disassembled the car, I discovered the steady bracket was hanging on by only a single 1/4" bolt - the others having stripped out. Upon reassembly, I tapped all three holes up to 5/16". Perhaps that ended up making the difference. But you're probably right about the mounts already being near death, Phil.