Morris Minor Owners Club

I will be pulling the engine in my MM this weekend and I have a couple questions to ask. I will be taking the complete power unit out and noticed that when I was going to take the four bolts that are attached to the crossmember they just seemed to keep turning. I know that they are held in by captive nuts and since I'm having to replace both chassis rails that I'm just going to grind the bolt heads off. Is this an acceptable way to remove this?

The other question is, do I take the four bolts off the top of the transmission in order to remove the shift assembly to be able to remove the power unit?
Thanks all in advance.

Steve

Just to make sure that we are discussing the same thing I assume that you are refering to the gearbox crossmember. The gearbox cover is normally held down by brass set screws with Phillips heads. The four screws holding the cover to the floor and then to the top of the crossmember are longer than the others. I have replaced all my set screws with 7/16 AF bolts which are easier to remove. The captive nuts on the top of the crossmember are easy get at.
Alternatively are you refering to the four bolts underneath that hold the bottom of the crossmember to the chassis legs? If you are replacing the chassis rails then there is no problem with cutting the old bolts off.
With regards to removing the engine and/or gearbox I find that it is easier to split the two and lift the engine vertically with a hoist and the gearbox out through the car. The only part of the gearbox that needs removing is the gearknob. This saves disturbing the grill panel and reduces the weight of the assembly. The gearbox on the MM is heavy. If you do decide to remove the engine and box in one unit then you will have to remove the gear lever by removing the cover plate which is held on by four nuts. beware, under the raised boss at the back of the cover are three selector springs. You do not want to have to recover them from the bottom of the box.
Any other problems just ask.

Mike,

Thanks for the clarification on the removal of the power unit. I will probably go the route of splitting the two only because the part of taking the trans cover plate off the top of the trans and loosing springs inside the box doesn't sound fun to recover.

It's Morris guys like yourself and others on this site that makes life happy, thanks again!

We are here to help. What are you doing to the engine, a rebuild? Any problems just ask. I have my engine out at the moment ready for stripping down and rebuilding with a bit of tuning.

Mike,

I'm just removing the engine in order to start in on the rusty bodywork. Remember, I have that very rusty 51 MM 4 door that needs the entire underside restored. The first thing I would like to do is media blast the underside in order to see what is left and then hopefully when all the cold snowy weather is gone I can start in on it. If I can keep my small shop warm this winter I might tear the engine down to see what needs to be repaired and go from there. This winter, the weather people say that it may get down to around the -7c range for a time, burrrrr!
I will keep you informed.

Steve

Good Luck Steve with your repairs.

Just by the way here in Australia, Brisbane
we are heading into Summer and our troubles
are the exact opposite to yours when it comes to the weather.

Our Spring was very hot with temps min of about 25 Deg
up to over 40 deg in some areas, and we are now just into the Summer.
I heard reports of 38 Deg OVERNIGHT min temps in some places.
So who knows what it will get to!

Oliver,

Seems that your part of the world has been change in recent years weather wise. I'm sure it gets tiring over time being very hot, but your country sure is beautiful at different times of the year. I've always wanted to visit there one day, maybe when I retire.
Thanks for the encouraging words and stay cool my friend!

Steve