Morris Minor Owners Club

Sounds as though it may be part of the bearing - left behind. Unless someone in the past has taken up wear by fitting a shim. The bearing should protrude by only 2 to 3 thou - so the paper gasket (and on later cars as yours) the rubber O ring forms a good seal. The rear seal definitely comes out from the back. You can punch it back from the front- but take care not to damage the hub.

bizarre - i really can't understand what's going on with this oil seal as the silver ring didn't look like it could or should budge. I've bought a second hand hub unit from ESM (£15) to have a look at what a standard unit looks like. a bit excessive, but desperate times.

will update when it arrives tomorrow - all good fun though!

Looking at the picture of the hub - the seal is still in there - it is a metal cased seal with what appears to be a leather lip seal (but could be neoprene) -the outer face of the seal is the silver you can see.
The outer edge of the metal cased seal is just below the bearing seat.
Remove/knock out the old seal and you will be able to fit the new seal.
New hub seals are usually rubber cased these days but steel cased hub seals are still used. I have them fitted to the hubs of my Landrover.
Here is a metal cased rear hub seal for a Minor:-
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-MINOR- ... SwiLdV8-12
Make sure that the seal is fitted the right way round - see drawing below:-
Also the reference to the location of the hub drain hole:-


Phil[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

thanks Phil,

will take it apart again at the weekend with the knowledge that the silver ring shouldnt be there and pull the whole lot out. didn't want to force anything first time round - but now have the safety of a second hand hub in case it goes wrong / won't budge.

thanks also for diagram of where the breather hole is - it's such a mess all around the wheel it's great to know exactly where it is.

Just dig the seal out and all will be revealed.

£15 (and no doubt as much again for postage and vat...) for a spare hub from ESM ? I've been trying to give away an axle casing with two perfectly good hubs/bearings/seals attached......and no evidence of leaking at either side....

Is the old seal in back to front perhaps?

The new seal should be pressed in with something like a big socket that goes right out to the metal edge.

I did this job at the weekend on a convertible, put your new bearing in the freezer for a while before fitting and it makes it a bit easier to put in, line in up with a block of wood in the vice that goes past the studs and some gentle pressure as you wind the vice in and it will got in easily.

After you have done up the big nut again and knocked over the tab washer, dont forget to put the rubber O ring in place as I did on one side, the a smear of instant gasket on the hub and fit the paper gasket, taking care to line up the screw holes, another smear on the halfshaft and slide it into place and do up the screw.

Sounds dead easy doent it

There should be no need at all for the liquid gasket! BMC didn't use it - why use it now?

Thats your opinion Roy, but I use it so as not to ruin another set of shoes with oil in a few hundred miles.

Everyone to their own but I have never had to put liquid gasket on any Minor rear hub to half-shaft joint.
Before fitting the gasket I always give it a light smear of general purpose grease. This keeps the gasket supple and results in it being more efficient at keeping the oil in. The bonus is that if you have too you can re-use the gasket.
I use the same process of smearing general purpose grease on all paper gaskets when re-building engines.
The only time I ever use liquid gasket is on modern engines were gaskets are not provided and liquid gasket is a manufactures requirement.
Phil

The oil can't leak there as long as the wheel nuts are tight!

evening again all!

so i've removed the old oil seal, but getting the new one in is a real problem! it looks like it should fit perfectly, but when trying to push it in it seems just too thick - when one end goes in the other pops out. i bought the seals from ESM so assume they are correct size. (ive also checked that the outer ring of the old seal isn't in there)

any hints - i've tried putting the seal in freezer, but no dice there. might try some grease, but feel that won't help. don't have a vice or mandrel either...

It's always a snug fit - but it will go! Just need to keep it square. I suppose you could warm the hub slightly, no more than hand-hot water! Although I doubt it will make much difference.

got them in after heating up quite a bit and tapping in with a very blunted screwdriver.

now final questions

i take it it's correct that there's a fair bit of gap between the seal and the bearings (shown in photos below)

also - the FAG bearings that i've received don't appear to have much grease on them - is it advisable to grease them up or leave them as is?[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

I would certainly grease it up for some initial lubrication.

rightyho - will put a little all purpose grease on it and fit tonight / tomorrow am!

Perhaps a good time to change the oil in the final drive too.....

well all seemed to go to plan - refitted everything, although i still couldn't find the blooming oil drain hole. which leads me on to (you've guessed it) my next problem.

couldn't for the life of me get the brake shoes off - the spring at the back was super tight and couldn't remove - the return spring came off easily but nothing was budging. then had the problem of getting the return spring on and had to put at the front (although it wasn't catching anything). do you just have to be forceful with them, or is there a knack?

i also assume the drain hole is behind the bit where the brake shoes are (after removing bolts??)

The drain hole can be found at the bottom of the axle casing to brake back plate mounting flange when looking at the back of the brake back plate from the direction of the axle mount bracket.
There is no need to remove any bolts.
The catcher ring - part of the brake back plate is bolted (4 bolts) to the brake back plate/rear axle flange and oil caught by the catcher ring drains out of the drain hole and if visible to the eye indicates that the hub seal is in need of replacement.
It is there - just keep looking.
Phil

As above - just clean it thoroughly and poke with a bit of welding wire to find the hole. You MUST get it cleared. The shoes - I assume you are fitting nice new ones... just have be worked into place with a good long screwdriver as a lever. Mind the fingers! The small spring will be 'loose' until you put the adjuster cam in place. Check the diagrams in the Manual to make sure you have the shoes right way round - although it's pretty much impossible to get them wrong - since only one shoe has a notch for the adjuster.... Be sure to clean and degrease the drum before refitting.