Morris Minor Owners Club

i'm due to pick up the 53 split sunday.

been speaking to the chap and he said the rear axle is faulty.
its got a 1275 engine and its damaged the axle somehow.

he said someone said its chewed up!!!!!
but it still moves freely. let the handbrake off and it rolls down the drive no problem.

i'll be putting a 1098 in it when i get it and i've got time any ideas as to what to do to the axle i have actually got a spare dif sitting in the garden

there's also a dent in the passenger wing quite bad so are the wings inter changeable between the later ones because i have actually got a later wing in the garage somewhere

is there much difference between running / braking etc etc between the later and older cars (sorry never had a split screen before so don't know a lot about them)

Most likely is a broken halfshaft. Just pull out both halfshafts and see what you get. Chances are there'll be a missing inch of splines off the end of one which will be stuck in the diff, and you'll have to get the diff out to tap this out with a drift. If both halfshafts are ok, it'll be the diff, but they tend not to roll quietly if anythings broken there. Worst case scenario, you'll need to fit your spare one.

If it s '53 with the cheese grater grill, the wings are a little different around the grill. You'll need to weld up the indicator hole, fit the wing, and mark where the grill comes to on the wing. Then take the wing off and trim about half inch in from the mark to give an overlap to bolt the hockeystick through.
You take off about 2" at the bottom, tapering away to nothing where it turns the corner at the top. Or you could just leave all the excess metal behind the grill panel and only you will know!

The original brakes on these cars were terrible - but presume if it's had a 1275 engine that's all sorted out now anyway!

so is it necessary to upgrade the rear axle if u put a 1275 engine in?

or can u just replace the half shafts

Personally I would swap the axle Steve, but you may get away with a good condition standard unit. The downside of standard is longevity and the poor quality of the rear brakes. An Ital or MK11 Escort axle will be more than adequate in strength and braking capacity plus they increase your track, good for handling, and offer a wide range of diffs inc Lsd's should you decide to press on a bit. Uprating the standard axle just means that the next item in the case which has not been uprated ,will suffer and give up the ghost, plus if you are an enthusiastic driver the bearings are pretty tiny compaired with both the Ital or Ford units.

it looks like its got original moggie wheels on so i'm presuming he's put disc brakes with a 1275 engine.

i will have to have a look sunday when i pick it up and see where to go for axle

is there any of them which fits the standard minor wheels

jonathon wrote:An Ital or MK11 Escort axle will be more than adequate in strength and braking capacity plus they increase your track, good for handling, and offer a wide range of diffs inc Lsd's should you decide to press on a bit.

Changing the axle sounds like a good idea, but it's a whole other world of cost and hassle. Axle needs spring mounts changing, need new prop, wheels, etc.

Let's see:
£150ish for a complete RS axle from somebody like Escort-Tec.
£unknown for getting the axle fittings changed.
£3-400 for a new set of wheels.
£more for new propshaft to suit.
-£150ish proceeds from selling my current wheels.

If I didn't have to get new wheels it would be a bit more cost-effective. Can the Escort axle be re-drilled for 4" PCD?

would this one do the job ????????

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ford-Escort-Capri ... dZViewItem

The benefit of an axle swap will cost . However no one said it would be cheap, and Steve has already opted for a 1275 motor swap, in itself not a cheap upgrade. To modify the standard axle will incure considerable expense too.
I'd not re drill to Minor PCD as the Ford axle comes with much improved wheel studs more suitable for wider tyres and performance oriented driving. Depends on your budget really but there is in my mind no alternative than to do the job properly.

jonathon wrote:Steve has already opted for a 1275 motor swap, in itself not a cheap upgrade.

AIUI Steve's new car already has a 1275 but the axle has failed.

Dohh, getting old and inattentive yet again !!!

Are later axles tougher then?
I know of loads of 1000's running 1275 lumps with their standard axle and shafts.

The A-series diff's OK for up to 80BHP. You can get uprated halfshafts for the Minor, but 8cwt van halfshafts should be up to the job. I managed alright with standard 1098 slaoon axle, but the van halfshafts would be a good insurance policy.
The lower the diff ratio, the more of a pasting the halfshafts will get.......
Just don't swap the halfshafts from side to side, if you buy a pair, make sire they're marked 'left' & 'right'.

I have an mgb rear end in mine (52 split), its nearly perfect width and the considerably large drums are definetly worth the conversion. The fact that guys are using small block chevys and high revving twin cam motors with the stock axle in MGB's says loads about its strength. Simple conversion if you have the means- pinion angle, u-bolt pads, shock mounts, and e-brake mounts need to be changed but my no means a lot of work at all. I think it took me only 2 or three days and that was when i was first learning (i was like 15 or something-few weeks after i bought the car). And it cost me nothing as the rear end was given to me and the stock mog wheels are used.

Probably the cheapest axle conversion in my opinion but i could be biased

Probably the cheapest axle conversion in my opinion but i could be biased

I assume that yours must be a series MM as the MGB has a 4.5" pcd and the Minor is 4" pcd but the early cars did have a 4.5" pcd and were bolted on but the wheels themselves are quite weak to quote from one of the books

The design of the road wheels on the Series MM differs from that of the later Morris Minor 1000s - they are not interchangeable. The early type wheels in comparison are much more fragile and the bolt type fittings can be troublesome. The wheels can become loose on the retaining bolts even when they are fully tight. This is caused by excessive wear on the countersink in the wheel into which the bolts fits.

So are the wheel nuts that you used of the correct angle to match the wheel countersink, and what did you do about the propshaft.

Just noticed your other posting asking about

Does anyone know if there is a wheel adaptor kit available to convert 4 inch pcd into 4.5 inch or maybe into a 5 lug bolt pattern?

This makes the fitting of the MGB axle even more confusing ?

[qoute]I assume that yours must be a series MM as the MGB has a 4.5" pcd and the Minor is 4" pcd but the early cars did have a 4.5" pcd and were bolted on but the wheels themselves are quite weak to quote from one of the books [/quote]

yep, as stated above its a 52 split. I actuallty had no idea the bolt pattern was changed with the minor 1000, lucky me i guess-opens up a lot more options for wheels

The lug nuts are of the correct angle and definetly strong enough in my opinion-no signs of wear or cracks as of yet. As for a driveshaft, a stock minor 1000 one can be used.

As for my previous post on wheel adaptors, i thought that mgb were 4 inch pcd until you enlightened me . I acually updated the front brakes to mgb disc brakes as well which is why i am able to use the stock series mm rims (there actually not stock as i am using mgb outer rims and morris minor centers)

The PCD changed with the Series II, not the 1000