JAD337 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 25, 2025 7:18 am
Again, many thanks for your help! John
You're welcome. The use of sealants anywhere on a Morris is controversial and many would say that sealants are not necessary. However, BMC added the o-ring because the early hubs had a tendency to leak. Usually, the only risk of leaking is when brake drums are removed and the clamping force of the drum and wheel is removed. Some people use Wellseal on the hub gasket. This is applied very thinly with a brush. It is based on Shellac.
Stephen
1969 1098cc Convertible “Xavier” which I have owned since 1989.
JAD337 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 25, 2025 7:18 am
Again, many thanks for your help! John
You're welcome. The use of sealants anywhere on a Morris is controversial and many would say that sealants are not necessary. However, BMC added the o-ring because the early hubs had a tendency to leak. Usually, the only risk of leaking is when brake drums are removed and the clamping force of the drum and wheel is removed. Some people use Wellseal on the hub gasket. This is applied very thinly with a brush. It is based on Shellac.
Stephen
The seal can become disturbed if the drum is hard to remove (to do work on the brakes, for example) and people have resorted to hitting the rim of the drum robustly in order to get it off.....
Oh dear, the 3rd problem on this project has arisen and I have a feeling it might be a showstopper. I reassembled the hub with the new oil seal and new bearing fitted, plus the gasket. The bearing was not in far enough, so I tried putting the old nut on and tightening it to try and push the bearing further in. It required too much force, so I removed it and tapped the bearing in further with a hammer. When I went to put the new hub nut on, it would not pick up the thread. I tried the old nut that I'd just removed and that wouldn't go on either.
I can only think I caught the thread slightly with the hammer and damaged it. I've tried running a nail file through the early bits of the thread, but no success.
Am I now looking at a second hand axle, or is there some way of repairing the thread?
I'm sorry to hear this happened. First don't panic!
Carefully inspect the thread with a bright light all the way around and see of you can spot obvious damage. Clean the thread with a rag soaked in carburettor cleaner, meths or similar and then apply a bit of WD40. If you are lucky it's just dirt stopping the nut threading. Try seating the nut and turning it the opposite way until it clicks onto the start of the thread and then turn the nut in the tightening direction.
For future reference, if you do not have a bearing press (I don't have one), use a socket of the right size or the old bearing outer ring over the new bearing and then use your (small, brass or copper) hammer to tap the bearing in taking care to tap a little at a time all the way around the circumference. If the bearing starts going in too far on one side, tap the opposite side until it is straight again. The bearing must go in evenly. When the bearing is fully home the metallic note makes a distinct change. Obviously, the bearing is not to be fitted with the hub in situ on the axle.
Stephen
1969 1098cc Convertible “Xavier” which I have owned since 1989.
Have you got the right nut?
The old nut fitted but the new nut will not?
Before you do anything check that you have got the right nut.
If you can start the old nut again put a couple of hacksaw cuts across the internal thread of the old nut (to just below full thread depth) and gently screw the nut onto the threads. Because the hub nuts are good quality steel the hacksaw cuts will clean up the threads and with luck reform any damaged threads. Make sure that the cut hub nut goes in the scrap bin so as to make sure that it is not used for the finished job.
Ease the bearing seat on the axle stub with a fine strip of emery cloth. Make sure that you clean everything after doing so.
Good luck.
Phil
Thanks for the replies.
The problem was the thread was damaged and neither nut was able to pick up the thread. The damage was quite obvious, but none of my attempts to repair or improve it were successful.
So, today I want to an old established garage near our town centre. They do a certain amount of work on classic cars. I explained the problem and they said I needed a thread repair tool. They used a thread file for similar problems. The examined the new nut and chose a file that matched the thread spacing. They realised I couldn't bring the car to them, so they lent me the tool this afternoon. I set to work and after a short time the thread looked a lot better. I kept going round the thread then trying the 2 nuts. Eventually the old one went on about half way using my fingers only. I decided it didn't look cross threaded so tightened it with the hub spanner. I then tried the new nut, but even after more thread filing I could not get that on as far with my fingers as the old one. I decided to quit while I was winning and re-use the old nut, tidied up a bit. So hopefully.......problem solved. The garage wouldn't take any payment for their assistance.
Right, I'll finish the offside tomorrow then move on to the nearside!
