Morris Minor Owners Club

No no - but I know they are a bu99er to fit a new one !

I'm a bit worried about bending a con rod or lifting the head by blocking the piston with rope - whats the verdict folks? Do you think its more straining than the ignition cycle? or am I just worrying too much?

I'd like to do the front oil seal but couldn't get the drive dog off. Roger sold me a nice big ring spanner - so I will be having another go in the winter.

I'd jam the flywheel ring gear personally with a large screwdriver or whatever, but that does involve taking the starter motor out.

DO NOT try to jam rope into anything ! Inertia WORKS!
But you need to be brave - really heavy blows with a hammer are what's required - to be honest I use an 18" Stillson wrench on the starter dog , and whack it as hard as I can - no wee 'Ladies' taps - big hefty blows with a 'wee heavy' hammer. The dog unscrews - maybe not at the first blow - but it DOES come off!

Well, Roger. Why not try BMC's method of just whacking it without stopping it rotating and see if that works for you. If not then you can jam something in the flywheel ring gear to stop the rotation. OR use the starter motor method for undoing.

Thing is though, you can't tighten it up enough to 70 foot pounds using no jamming as it will just turn the engine round and round...

I put large ring spanner on the starter dog and hit it with either a six foot fencing post or a sledge hammer. I find it much better to hit it moderately hard with a very heavy object than to hit it very hard with a normal hammer.

Exactly - heavier the better. Watch out for the spanner jumping off and flying through the air!

I know this only applies if the engine is still in the car, but, Icouldn't shift the crankshaft starter nut either. It had been fitted without a locking washer, using loctite (I think).

I have the right 3/4" Whitworth combination spanner, about 1' 6" long, but I couldn't shift it using "normal" methods like hitting it with a 4 lb lump hammer or a 7 lb weight. Remember this is still in the car, so access for a good swing is not easy.

I Finally got it off as follows:

1) Plugs out
2) Place 7 lb weight on near-side front chassis leg, neatly bridging the brake pipe that runs just where the spanner is going to hit, to form an "anvil".
3) Place ring end of spanner on crankshaft nut with open end just at the top of the near-side radiator mounting.
4) Gear in neutral.
5) Try to start engine.

The spanner spins down onto the anvil with enough force to break the loctite seal and the nut spins undone (at the sixth attempt, in my case).

This technique was given to me by the local Morris Minor clinic, who reckon it is the method they always use. If that doesn't work, they resort to the oxy-acetylene to heat the nut up red hot then repeat as above.

Not for the faint-hearted.

Now, this leads me to the question about the locking washer.

How does it lock? The Haynes manual shows it bent down into a recess in the pulley on one side, and up against the nut flat at the other side, but my pulley doesn't have any recesss for the washer to lock into.

Any suggestions? Is the lock washer really necessary, since mine had been assembled without, and obviously wasn't spinning itself off in any great hurry.

Your method is the 'starter' method - well tried and tested when the engine is in the car. It does risk damaging the Bendix drive on the starter though! The lock tab is a joke really - i always put it in, but always use some loctite too - and then whack it up as tight as I can manage.