Morris Minor Owners Club

love that sepia tone Jagnut, but maybe we are in danger of exagerating the age of our sixties cars here, my family pictures of myself as a kid with my sisters are all in this Kodacolour, with a sixties colour tone that really dates pictures now. Even the black and whites looked different, less vivid but move contrasty than a modern, digital take on black and white. Ahhh, Nostalgia.....

You are right, the sixties was more 'black and white' with a little early 'colour' thrown in, where the difference lies is that the images were less sharp, slightly fuzzy even by todays standards, emphasised by the fading of these photos caused by time. Something that can't be easily reproduced by modern computer wizardry.
As you say, nostalgia, that longing for something lost in the mists of time..............

Ah nostalgia, it's not what it used to be! ----the old ones are the best!!

Well it's MOT time, my that first year went by so fast. Fail, a number of issues. Firstly The nearside steering Gaiter is split, must admit I hadn't noticed that, nasty surprise when I looked myself, it's the far end of it, great big hole in it. First things first, getting this track rod end off. breaking the taper is quite hard, trying to strike it sharply without damaging anything...[frame][/frame]

Wind the nut on the end of the thread! It saves the threads becoming damaged (or did you do this - not obvious from the photos?).

too late Ches, Ive rushed to the phone to add a new one to my growing order of parts with ESM. I had to wollop this for ever to break the taper, The one's ESM do have the nipple, rather than this pre packed type.[frame][/frame]

the split Gaiter, new one should arrive tommorow... I had to cut the outer metal clip off with a disc cutter it had rusted solid, it was an original bit that I hadn't changed. Ive ordered plastic ties as ESM says the workshop use them. Now for the inner clip..
[frame][/frame]

Ah, at least an excuse to fit 'proper' ones with the nipple on there ;)
Good luck for the retest!

The track rod with the gaiter removed, the inner clip is back there in the darkness.I twisted off the track rod end by 12 turns, must write that down somewhere...[frame][/frame]

All I can do till the parts arrive tommorow, which they are sure to do from ESM. Do I pack the new gaiter with grease?
I'm also renewing the front drivers side wheel bearing, as the MOT examiner said it's rough when rotated, there is some play on trunnions pin bushes, I'm hoping I can tighten them up without replacing the rubber bushes that are only a year old. I should have re- tightened them up after a few miles last year. You learn a lot from a failed MOT. There is also an advisory that the rear leaf spring offside shackle bush has wear but not resulting in movement, may have to check that out later on after the retest.[frame][/frame]

There is a ball joint breaker tool made, to avoid damaging the thread.

I use gravity to break that joint. Put the nut nut back on and place a jack under it and jack up on the tie rod bolt. Then a couple smart blows to the steering arm and it all goes pop.

David
It's easier to put grease around the moving parts with the gaiter off.Clean the moving metal work with a Meths soaked rag first to get rid of any dust/dirt /grit blown around the garage.
Put the gaiter over the arm , with the cable tie or " inner " jubilee clip loosely around the rubber.Check for position, so that the bellows aren't strained, once it's all back together and tighten the inboard end.

Fill the gaiter with some more grease, if you think it necessary, insert the grease gun nipple through the open end.
There are no prizes for using up the entire tin of grease and if you overfill the gaiter, so that it is bugling ,the gaiter will split prematurely.A decent layer of grease with room for it " to move around inside the gaiter " when the steering goes from lock to lock.The bellows will squeeze and push grease on full lock, if overfilled.
Fit the outside jubilee clip / cable tie , then check you have full movement / rotation with no binding.From what I can see in the pictures it all looks good, i.e no rust/ burrs, etc.so I'm not anticipating that you will find anything untoward.
Fit the lock nut first and then the track rod end.
Wind on your twelve turns and tighten the lock nut, whilst holding the track rod end still, with a rag and pipe pliers / big stillson.
Wipe a finger of grease over the lock nut joint.
Repeat on t'other side and then get the garage to check the tracking for you.
Bob

I'm not sure you are going to be able to tighten the top trunnion any more than it is already - assuming that it was cinched up tight to start with of course? Most tend to use the poly bushes now and these do seem to give a longer lasting life than the old rubber top hat bushes. The only possible downside is that the ride may be a tad harsher than before but well worth doing for the longevity. ESM and others do a complete poly bush kit (trunnions/eyebolts/tiebars) which I have fitted to my car and hopefully these will last for a good while now.

You can also get rear spring shackle plates from all good suppliers. The rear springs are also best fitted with the poly bushes. Any wear of the holes in the shackle plates, where the bushes and threaded shackle pins go through should be changed asap really. It's quite a cheap and simple job to do and a quick too. Might be worth showing the MOT chap that you have sorted the issue before he can fail the car again

Unfortunately, modern rubber bushes do not last any time at all, not as long as the originals and certainly not as long as poly.
Besides - it's a rough n' ready commercial vehicle - harsh rides are a must ;)
Poly gets my vote.

thanks Guys, the gaiter fitted as per Bobs proceedure above. Straight forward enough.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Bruce mentioned about being unable to reduce the play in the upper trunnion if they were done up tight already, I think maybe they weren't tight enough. Ive done them up to 60 lbs on the torque wrench, and secured a new tab washer, any advice on how to test Ive taken out any movement, or do I need to take it aqll appart and start again with brand new poly bushes instead of the 1 year old rubber one's Ive got here.[frame][/frame]

Taking a coffee break from installing my fuel line If you have managed to significantly tighten the nut David, you may well have eliminated the slack/movment deteced by the MOT tester. You will probably only know when he has another look. The good thing is that if he isn't happy with it, it isn't too long a job to take it apart and fit poly bushes. For safety - if you do fit them, make sure you do both sides at the same time though.

Difficult to see from the picture but have you also fitted the big washer which fits against the bush before the locktab and nut go on? If not, this could also explain why there was plenty of 'play'

Looks like the thick washer is missing. From memory this assembly tightens up to a shoulder, therefore tighten to it, bend lockwasher and that's that.

To check
Jack van up by chassis rail or similar so as to leave the front suspension hanging and the tyre about 3 inch off the floor. Get an assistant (grandson or similar person) to put a pry bar under the tyre on the floor and lift so as to try and lift the wheel back up into the ride position, while you observe any axial movement in the trunnion pins/bolts/bushes.

Agree with Les.. the thick washer is missing

Taupe