Morris Minor Owners Club

I'll get the Ebay one then. Saw it earlier when I was browsing too. Is it an easy enough thing to do? I take it the litre will be sufficient for them both?

A litre will do all 4, the front ones are easiest and have the most noticeable effect.
If not much comes out try a bicycle pump on the filler hole, this is said to help get the nasty old stuff out.

Managed to drain the dampers today with the help of my trusty bicycle pump (thanks for that tip ) and filled them with the oil that Roy recommended.

I've sprayed around all the nuts and bolts involved in the front bushes with plusgas about three different times over the course of today and left to soak in overnight. I'll try and do the bushes tomorrow. Just a couple of things to make sure I'm doing the right thing. How tight do I tighten the nuts/bolts once I've repaced the bushes?

Also, can I just double check that these are the right things I'm replacing?

(104) tie bar bushes (73) eyebolt bushes and (23) top trunnion bushes based on the 2 pics below? Just double checking that I'm about to hit the right thing cheers

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Spot on Paul! I caution though that two poly bushes may be too tight on the tiebar, and almost impossible to get the nut on...... - I fit one rubber bush on the inside - and a poly bush on the outside - this firms up the suspension nicely when braking (pulling on the poly bush) - but leaves some flexibility in the vertical movement. Keep cool tomorrow! It's going to be HOT!

Thanks Roy. Yer some man. I'll let you know how it goes.

The nuts and bolts need to be tight, best to use spanners to do them as the length of the spanner dictates the amout of leverage you can exert.
Poly bushed need to be lubricated with something or they are likely to squeak.
White grease and copper slip have both been suggested.

Don't tighten everything up with the suspension hanging down, the weight of the car needs to be on it or the bushes will start under tension.

Theres an awful lot of info there, To save confusion on spanners perhaps, fit a socket/ring key/ that is a tight fit on the respective bolt/nut.
If there is excess play then rounding of the corners will result.
You will feel when its right and snug.
As BMC suggested there is some interchangeability, so sometimes a socket that wouldnt normally be expected to, fits like a glove.
In my experience anyway.
When re-fitting I have applied antilock on the threads, in a sometimes vain effort to keep it slick for next time.

Well I managed to do one side today in the blazing heat. I'm exhausted but happy with how it went. I decided to start the other side and jacked it up to discover that the split pin through the nut on the end of the tie rod had snapped at each end leaving about a milimeter sticking out. I tried to grip it with pliars but couldn't. I tried hammering a wee nail through it to push the pin out but that didn't happen either. I thought if the pin was so rotten as to be broken at each end it might just break up when I turned the nut. That would be the mistake. I used the same spanner that I'd used on the other side. It was a very snug fit but when I pulled on it I got the horrible metal shriek which resulted in a rounded nut. That was the point where I decided to call it a day. Do I have any options or will I have to cut the rod off and replace it?

Fun day though. Think I'm a little burnt.

Well done - just try another spanner/socket whatever. You will be unlikely to shear the pin if protruding at both ends - so keep trying to get it out -and more Plus Gas meantime !

If possible, use a punch to get the split pin out, punch it of course from the narrow end not the eye end..http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=pin+punch+set

Or a small screw driver in the eye of the pin to lift it out.
If the nut is truly rounded, you may, (if you can get them in) need to use stillsons, assuming a spanner no longer works.
But that pin needs to come out before the nut comes off.

Unlikely to get stillsons in that tight space. Ring key is the best hope.

Getting a ring spanner on it can be difficult too.
You can normally get the other end out of the fork and move it towards the middle of the car to give more clearance.
Then clamp the flat onto the arm to stop it turning.

Yup! Exactly how it's done..

Got another chance to look at the car at the weekend. In the end I had to give up on getting the tie rod off. The nut was mangled and the bits of split pin weren't budging. Rather than try and buy different tools to try with it I found a second hand tie rod on Ebay for £11 (which would probably be cheaper than buying new tools to try and remove the old one). I ended up cutting the old rod off.

The new (second hand) rod arrived today. it's got a thread on the end but no hole for a split pin. I imagine I'd be able to tighten it up but I suspect that it's maybe been chopped at the pin hole.Is that likely or is it possibly been made without it? Also, is it safe enough to tighten it up without being able to secure it with the pin or should I ask for a refund?

Cheers again. It never ends

Compare it's length with your old one.........if the new one has been cut off short then it's no use. Most now just use a nyloc nut , so no need for a split pin. If the length is ok - and you want to use a castellated nut + split pin - just drill the hole !

It's very slightly smaller than the original but there's plenty of thread to get a nut over it so should be ok. I'll just get a 3/8 bsf nyloc nut then? Take it that'll be ok.
Thanks.

no probs with nylocks and makes it easier next time

Thanks for that. I'll buy a couple of Nylocs then.

I've put it back together today and, when dropping the jack, the car's going right the the ground i.e. so low I can't get the jack back out. Can anyone tell me where I've gone wrong? I had to remove the lower arm from the torsion bar to get the bushes in. Was there something I've done wrong when putting that back together? Pardon my ignorance, it's all first time ever for me. It was fine after I'd done the nearside but this has happened since completing the offside.

Cheers. (((a very frustrated))) Paul.

You must have moved the arm round a couple (or three) splines.......try try again... Test the height with everything just loosly assembled - don't drive it like that! - until it sits nicely - then tighten everything up - with the weight of the car on the suspension.

I take it I need to move the arm down?