Morris Minor Owners Club

Would it not be possible to drill a hole in the wheels so that the brakes can be adjusted without taking the wheels off?
IIRC the wheels are pressed steel so there should be little risk of a crack developing if the drilling is done correctly. Or perhaps the brake hole is in an awkward place?

Just a thought.

My MM has them!

Early Minors (not just MM) and A35 had exactly this.
I used to adjust up my brakes during night rallies by rolling the car along until the hole lined up with adjuster. Could usually manage one adjuster at each control until my navigator had worked out the next bit of the route!

My MM has them!

yes, but not much use for Peetee - aren't the MM's on 4.5" PCD?

A great idea, as noted the early cars had them anyway. It's quite possible to drill wheels - like where the studs go through! Make sure you use a grommet to keep the muck out when you're not adjusting.

like where the studs go through!

I didn't think they were drilled. The whole wheel is stamped into shape isn't it?

Doesn't the hubcap cover the hole? I know there SHOULD be a grommet, but I haven't got any.

And the MM is indeed 4,5" PCD

Hang on. You'd have to keep the wheels at the same end of the car on 1098's because of the different diameter brakes

D'oh!

that is probably why they changed it

Hang on. You'd have to keep the wheels at the same end of the car on 1098's because of the different diameter brakes

You could probably manage to get them to fit both - mainly it will depend on matching them up with the drum access holes.

Or drill two holes - one for each drum size - of course those lucky enough to have Wolseley drums may need to make 3 holes ! But then - the W brakes never really seem to need adjusting anyway!

Ha ha. Those of us with Riley front brakes dont need to drill any holes at all, as they adjust from back with nice big adjusting nut.
Ian.

Disc brakes are even better as they adjust themselves!

bmcecosse wrote:Early Minors (not just MM) and A35 had exactly this.

The MM was the only one with the adjuster 'holes'. They were deleted upon the introduction of the Series II and the wheel design changed altogether in December 1953 with the introduction of the later A-type axle (as opposed to the split type). The alterations were: Smaller PCD (4" instead of 4.5"), pressings holding the hubcaps on instead of studs and wheel nuts instead of bolts.

I used to adjust up my brakes during night rallies by rolling the car along until the hole lined up with adjuster. Could usually manage one adjuster at each control until my navigator had worked out the next bit of the route!

Well, you either had an early split-casing axle (MM & early SII) and were using MM wheels, or had a later axle and the wheels drilled.

I thought the studs on the wheels were deleted when the 1000 was introduced?
Well, that is what Original Morris Minor has. no adjuster hole though.
Although I can see a rubber grommet on the picture!

(page 52 of Ray Newell's Original Morris Minor)

Hey - shouldn't you be on your way to the airport?

Well, bus departs at 9.47am, 20 minutes from now. I am all packed up and waiting, so I might as well have a wander round the board

Onne wrote:I thought the studs on the wheels were deleted when the 1000 was introduced?
Well, that is what Original Morris Minor has. no adjuster hole though.
Although I can see a rubber grommet on the picture!

(page 52 of Ray Newell's Original Morris Minor)

Onne, on page 52, it shows a Series II wheel (and it's in the Series II section of the book) and the hole is deleted.

Next to the picture, it says: "The three-pin fixing for locating the hub cap continued in use from the Series MM, but the hole in the wheel for brake adjustment was deleted."

Which sort of confirms what I said previously.

Also it says at the top of page 53: "... a stronger wheel was eventually produced for Series II models. These later wheels were distunguished by their integral moulded pressings which serve to locate the hub caps..."

So the early Series II models had the pin fixings and the later ones the press fixings (gimps).

Cam, you say disc brakes are self adjusting. True but have you ever had a car with self adjusting rear brakes. Huh! Trouble is you forget all about them,"Oh,they're self adjusting, its all right" Then when you need to do something to them ie change shoes, the bl**dy things are siezed solid.
If brakes need adjusting every so often,you keep an eye on them.

Not knocking discs at all, have ventilated discs on Clio, bl**dy marvellous.
Ian.

Ian, I have a car with self-adjusting rear brakes and they do work, but as with everything else, if maintenance is neglected things go wrong!

True but have you ever had a car with self adjusting rear brakes. Huh!

They seem to work fine for 10 years / 100,000 miles.
The sad thing is that my Euroboxes tend to be beyond that
On some cars you can manually adjust the self adjusters without even removing the wheel and on others you need to be a flippin magician!