Morris Minor Owners Club

thanks Bob, the master cylinder came out the way you advised, I'll be using plenty of gastight blue when I put it all back, and here you can see the reason for the mess, I failed to fit a copper washer between the brass union and the rear of the master cylinder, hense, brake fluid all over the interior of my chassis.[frame][/frame]

the old master cylinder had fluid leaks fore and aft, the fluid poured out when I took off the front boot.[frame][/frame]

the new master cylinder doesn't come with any rubber grease that you mentioned Bob.[frame][/frame]

would ordinary grease do the job?[frame][/frame]

ordinary grease would soften and swell the rubbers eventually so it has to be rubber grease im afraid

Vaseline maybe?

ok Vaseline, thanks, thats good for getting the grommets in to. The master cylinder was made too wide to fit into the chassis space, so I had to skim a couple of milimetres off the ends of the bolt holes with a grinding disc to let it in.[frame][/frame]

David
k33f is right ordinary grease is a no-no, vaseline...les...a maybe,f you can't get the real thing.
Brake grease / red rubber grease ( Castrol ) you should be able to get from a decent car parts place
or a motor bike repair shop.You only need a little tube/ sachet to do the job.
Got a Kwik Fit place nearby, or any other exhaust,brake and tyre, old school garage for that matter ?

How's your impression of " I'm a desperate man, please take pity on me, it's for a very old classic car,I've search everywhere
routine, all I need is a little sachet or a few blobs ( I've even got a small clean jam jar, if you have some to spare, please Mister ).

You will still have a leak at the back of the master cylinder if you only put one washer back on...it should have TWO !!
Part no's H550 and 233220A ( Moss Europe ) slightly larger than the other, 3H550 is bolt side of the Banjo and 233220A is the
master cylinder side of the Banjo.

The odd water leak in a classic car is to be expected but a leak in the braking system is not a good thing.I bet your wife is checking the Life Policy as we speak.
Bob

with a little help from my son Harry underneath pushing the bolts in through the chassis while I held the master cylinder lined up with the bolt holes, we managed to get them home. Then the nightmare I wasn't looking forward to, the return spring, but with long tweezers and a length of wire I got it to pop on, phew!![frame][/frame]

there was a two inch long bubble of paint under the chassis direcly below the master cylinder, so after scraping and re painting I could take a break.[frame][/frame]

sorry Bob just seen your post, yes I decided on a copper washer either side of the banjo, so I hope that will hold it. The rubber boot at the front of the master cylinder is easily accessable so I'll scrape out the vaseline and replace the real stuff.
The battery bar was the last easy job of the day, now for a pint of bitter in a straight glass, cheers everyone ahhhhh.

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I seem to have two types of top fulcrum pin on the front suspension, the drivers side is drilled for a split/cotter pin, no problem securing that side.[frame][/frame]

the passenger side is a different story, there is no hole in the threaded front end of the fulcrum pin for a split pin, so I ordered a plain nut and tab washer, bull motif sent me this but it's clearly the wrong washer, its centre hole is way too small for the fulcrum pin to go through. So I tried an old washer that was big enough, but oh dear the trouble Ive had bending it as a tab, I'm worried this could be a sticking point with Mr M.O.T man

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That washer is too thick to bend properly, regarding the mot, you may get pulled on not enough thread poking out of the nut, depends how close he looks and if he knows the general rule of at least one thread longer than the nut!

simply folding the side of a washer up to stop the nut turning won't work.

without anything to stop the washer turning, the nut will turn, and so will the washer.

i can't see why anyone would have made that pin without the hole for the spilt pin, unless it missed an opperation in production.

I'm guessing there is a hole but full of old split pin

Dave, just bite the bullet and drill a new hole, if you start with a small sharp drill bit it wont take more than a few minutes and at least you will have the piece of mind that nothing is going to drop off as you drive along.

Look at the shape of the hole in the washer, if it's fitted on something the same shape, it ain't going to turn!
I have my doubts about the lack of threads showing, it doesn't look quite right.

I'm beginning to think, David, it's not the wrong washer -- it's the wrong pin. That washer is correct for the pin I'm familiar with. The pin is supposed to have indentations cut out of it, to match the shape of the washer hole, and the thread on the pin is on the rounded parts and not the flat parts. As far as I can see, the pin you've got in there is completely round, is it not?

Have a look here: Top L/H Trunnion Kit with Upper Pivot Pin. On the left is the upper pivot pin. The bottom end of the pin would face forward when mounted on the car. See how it's got a flat portion, and threads flanking the flat? (Bit hard to tell, I know.) That's the pin that's supposed to be there.

Not at all trying to be a gloomy gus, or to be mean -- I'm just trying to help resolve the issue. After all, we ARE looking at a plausible safety problem.

the pin is all-round at one end, and flat sided at the other. the all round half has the taper, and that's into the damper arm. the flat sided bit is the half that the trunnion fits on. the lock washer with the flat sided hole is for the trunnion side of the pin. the only way to lock the nut on the all round half it to fit a split pin, or weld the nut on!