Morris Minor Owners Club

Conspiracy...

You haven't got a sidevalve do you? This needs different oil in the box

Is it ep-90 for the sidevalve 'box?

Yes.

Hi, 1098 and box.
Thanks for the info, guess what I'll be doing on Saturday.

I might have found the cause of the noise.
When I went to renew the diff oil I couldn't help but notice the ragged hole in the back casing. It's like a bullet hole, coming from the inside.
I'm guessing a bit of diff came out of there, very quickly. So if you live in Cumbria and you have a spare back axle, let me know.

Geeeeeesss ! This is a common enough happening on Minis - but I have never heard of it on a Minor - and it still keeps driving ??!! The axle will be ok - just get it welded up - but obviously you do need a new diff.

I have a later axle casing, and a 4.22 Diff (used and working but I only did 15 miles with it so I'm not sure if it whines or not)
Both available for a little donation, but I'm a good 3 hrs from Cumbria.

I managed to find a replacement diff locally, and fitted it yesterday. I was easier than I thought, using the description from the MMOC site.
When I looked at the old diff it was missing a planet gear, if thats the smallest. I found this in pieces in the bottom of the axle casting.
Much better now, still noisy but not in the same league, I can hear the gearbox noises now.

Thanks for all the help.

Well done - I assume you welded up the bullet hole ?

I used a proprietary 2 part epoxy putty as I was worried about welding next to the fuel tank. I'll keep an eye on it and if it leaks I'll take it off and weld it.

Hmmm - if it falls out the first you will know is when the diff seizes through lack of oil. It's not as scary as welding a rear chassis leg right beside a half-full tank of petrol !

I once had a Mini petrol tank go porous on the bottom section. I used one of
the small fibre-glass kits(some matting and the resin), and it never gave a
moments trouble afterwards.

Now THAT'S Scarey !! When a Mini tank leaks the petrol runs into the boot well - right beside the battery. I have a mate who was very badly burned (face and hands) in his racing Mini when petrol leaked and ran through the car, AND the battery which was bolted to the passenger floor well broke free. The car was a fireball - and he was inside doing near 100 mph.

bmcecosse wrote:It's not as scary as welding a rear chassis leg right beside a half-full tank of petrol !

I've done that quite a few times. Actually, electrically it's quite safe due to there being no PD developed across the tank. The heat is also not a problem and neither are sparks if the tank does not leak. I still would recommend (as I do now) to remove the tank then welding the rear of the car though.

BMC, yes,it could have been nasty but I was lucky. The car was only three
years old too but the tank bottom was as rotten as a pear!

Dear oh dear - good old Mini Quality showing there.
Cam - my welding was Oxy-Acetylene - and my main worry was fumes escaping from the filler pipe. I wrapped this with wet rags and also stuffed some down inside - but it was scarey and I definitely do not suggest for a minute that anyone should do this.

Roy, yes if I was using Oxy-Acetylene then the tank would be taken out! You can't be too careful with half a tank-full of petrol. I'd drain it into cans (via the pump if I could not undo the drain nut) and remove it. Actually, last time I did some welding in this area I actually put the tank inside the shed to avoid stray sparks leaping across!