Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello Everyone.

I bought a Blue 1970 2DR Moggy 1000 about six weeks ago and I have the following problems that I hope someone out there can help me with?.

(1) The Radio.
I can not get any reception on my radio, the tape works fine and there dose not seem to be any lose wires, someone has said that I need to put a wire link in somwhere?.

(2) When I apply the brakes
and the car is travelling between 40-30 MPH the whole of the car & the steering shakes, what could it be?.

This is the first time I have had A moggy Minor, my late Grandad had one so I know that if there is a problem it can eastly be sorted out.

Hello & welcome. Sorry, I don't know didly squat about radios (unless you mean a wire to the ariel)? The vibrating wheels only under braking could be down to one or both of the front drums being oval - or worn down / uneven brake shoes. I take it the car brakes without pulling to one side?

Take the front wheels off and adjust the brakes using a screwdriver. When set to one click less than fully locked on, revolve the hub by hand - if it sticks twice per revolution then the hub has gone oval. Replacement is easy but the cost is about £30 per drum. When I had this problem there was a drumming noise at high speed.

If not, remove the drum and look at the brake shoes. If they are badly cracked or worn unevenly, or almost down to the metal backing plate then this is likely to be the problem.

Lo, re the radio, if it is ok on tape but no joy on radio it would
suggest that your aerial is not connected or is faulty? There is
also an 'aerial trimmer' on a lot of sets (a small hole in the casing
through which you can see a screw head). If there,you tune in to
a weak station and then adjust the screw for maximum volume.
With regard to the judder it is also worth checking the Tie Rods.
These are the round rods which connect the bottom suspension
arms to the chassis members at the front of the car. Their purpose
is to prevent movement of the front suspension,fore and aft, under
braking. They are rubber bushed at the fronts and there may be
free movement there.

Hi Paul,

I have found that some radios establish the ground or Earth through the antenna. This may be your problem. The antenna may have to ground to the body to complete the electrical circuit. I had a truck once that would give radio reception intermittintly, I noticed sparks coming from the fender where the antenna attached as it wobbled and wiggled. I tightened the antenna base, all was well.



Jerry, Mary, and Millicent

Is the aerial on the wing? If so is the wing fibreglass? The aerial often needs a good earth as mentioned already.

Vibration from the brakes: Has the car been off the road for a while? How many miles have you done?
If it's been laid up for a while, the drums can rust by the shoes in patches which causes uneven gripping. I bought one in January which had been laid up for 3 months and the brake judder was terrible, but it was gone after 80 miles.
The other folk's comments are spot on
1, cracked / uneven drum
2, loose tie bars, or worn/loose tie bar rubbers

A small amount of brake judder is commonly caused by worn tie bar rubbers and is fixed just by replacing them.

To everyone who replyed.

I Got the radio to work, put my hand underneath and found a hole in the back of the radio, felt around and found that the aerial was not pluged in (DOH!!)

however now I get interferance from the engine, there is only a single cable from the back of the raido to the steel wing.

Me & my dad found what the juddering was, it was because the front brake shoes were worn.

Thanks again everone for your feedback.

Paul,

You can buy a radio interference capacitor / inductor combo from most good radio suppliers, they are not much and should help with the noise.

Alternatively, wind some insulated copper wire around a ferrite rod (found in old radios) and put this in-line with the power feed to the radio. Also put a 0.1 microfarad (or close) capacitor across the power terminals as close to the radio as you can, which should also help.

I've got capacitors, supressors and all sorts all over the wiring for the radio, and still I get some interference - like a ticking when the plugs ignite.

Parents have just had a nice shiny Rover 75, 1.8 K-Series electric everything &c. There's a little interference on the radio, almost in time with the sparks! If the Rover can do it, I don't mind the Morris having a go!