Morris Minor Owners Club

thanks - will jack up again tomorrow and will have another look - will crawl under from the other side of the car to have a good look. (axle stands on of course!!)

for removing the brake shoes - how do you do this? i couldn't seem to get the spring thats fully coiled out for the life of me - is it a case of a bit of force there?

once again, many thanks for all the help - feel like I'm almost there

Long screwdriver as a lever - lift the top shoe up and over the bracket.

success!! brake shoes changed (was much easier getting them off than on bizarrely), backplate and cylinder all cleaned up. bit concerned about the cylinder however as the bottom of it fell out (the gold bit that makes contact with the adjusting pin) when i removed the shoes. no leakage of brake fluid however, so put it all back together again.

it's now possible to make it impossible to turn the drum by hand when adjusting the breaks, which wasn't possible with the old greasy shoes.

however, the handbrake still doesn't hold firm enough to make it impossible for two people two push the car when stationary. does this mean that the cylinders are gone, or do i need to adjust the handbrake nuts?


edit: i did make sure when pulling the handbrake cable by hand that it pushes the piston out to engage the brakes, but maybe it's just not pulling enough? i also greased the handbrake cable.

Bed the brakes in slightly - then it should lock the rear wheels when pulled on at 20 mph on a dry road. Maybe the brake on the other side is not doing anything? Best really to change shoes on both sides.

As Roy says both rear brakes need sorting first.
It's only after the individual brakes have been overhauled and adjusted correctly that you can adjust the handbrake.

Put the handbrake " on " 3/4 clicks on the ratchet ( hand brake ).In this position , IF all was correct ,the cables should be
" taut " holding the car firmly.
If you can't pull the handbrake on ( 3/4 clicks ) the cables need slackening.
If you have be able to pull the handbrake on , you need to take out the " slack " by tightening the cables at the adjusters.
With correctly adjusted brakes in the first place ,the aim is to have 50 / 50 split , in the pull required , to lock the brakes when the hand brake is applied. Unequal strain will result in premature cable failure on one of the cables in extreme cases.
Bob

thanks all,

I did adjust the wheels on the other side of the car, but didn't replace the shoes as there was no oil leak and I only had a new set put in when I had the car serviced in September, so should really be as good as the new ones. so it does look like i need to tighten the brake cables in that case!

now to get under the glued down carpet! I take it both nuts are clockwise to tighten on the cable adjusters?

Yes - and they must be above the carpet. But the cables should be slackened - THEN the rear brakes adjusted up - and only then the cables adjusted to where you like the handle - ie 3 or 4 or even 5 clicks....

thanks Roy - interesting that they should be kept above the carpet - almost 100% sure mine are below right now, so could be a cause of a (slight) issue with the operation.

will check out and report back

The carpet is cut to allow them (and the handle) to stick through - otherwise there would be a nasty 'hump' !

no fix as of yet (havent had any time to work on the car), but when using it today noticed that the handbrake easily goes to 5 clicks on the ratchet with little to no resistance, so hoping the adjusting the nuts will solve this particular issue

But only after the rear adjusters have been tightened up so they are 'just' rubbing.....

little bit of an update..

so tightened the handbrake cables - until it couldn't be pulled any more after the 4th click on the ratchet. took for a test run and pulling the handbrake on still didn't lock the rear wheels, but did slow the car down, albeit in 20m or so from 20mph.

took to local garage who had a look and said that there was nothing more that could be done as i've replaced the shoes, cylinders seem fine and there's no oil. he said they should pull more once they've bedded down, but i'm not convinced. any ideas?


on a slightly different topic, he mentioned that i have a leak from the front crank pulley and need a new gasket. anyone know the part numbers to pick up for this?

Well I suspect the brakes will need to be better than that to pass the MOT. Did you use quality linings? You sure the leak is not from the crank pulley wheel seal ? It's unlikely to be the gasket... unless the fixing screws are loose or stripped. Clean the area carefully and inspect where the leak is really coming from. Also make sure the crankcase breathers are all clear.

yup - used mintex shoes all over. i asked whether he thought the cylinders were part seized and he said they were all fine. very strange all round. might try one last tighten up, but can hear the shoes just rubbing when spinning wheel with handbrakes off.

on the crank - have no idea, he just said i'd need to buy new seals and he'd fix em. how do i go about checking the crankcase breathers?

Remove the rocker cover and the cam follower chest cover -and poke the breathers clear. Also check the pipe from rocker cover to air filter is clear, and indeed the entry into the air cleaner can. Ahh - seals - not gasket then. There is just that one seal in the timing case - early cars just had a felt ring which was not very efficient. Later cases a proper lip seal.

sorry for link, but is this the seal i should be going for?

http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pro ... 30cbc10aab

worth getting one of these too?

http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pro ... 30cbc10aab

Provided that you have the later type timing chain cover with the neoprene lip seal that is the right seal.
You will also need the timing chain gasket as per the link plus the crankshaft nut/dog locking washer Pt No: 1G1319.
Phil

Indeed if you are going to change the seal (but it's unusual for them to leak) - you will probably need a gasket. What size is the engine ?

engine is gold seal 1098 on a 66 traveller, so hoping that I do have the neoprene version! i take it i should only buy the oil seal in that case?

had a look at charles ware site with the exploded diagrams and can't see the diagram for this seal

Always use the MOSS website - and although it's often possible to reuse the gasket (unless someone has plastered it with bodger goo) it really would be false economy to not use a new gasket. http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/external-e ... 0f3d3.html http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/catalogsea ... +case+seal and http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/gasket-tim ... a956b.html