Morris Minor Owners Club

Evening all. Hope you're having a better night than I.

I took to disassembling my Mog's wiper motor, which is the "middle era" Lucas DR2 with 100-degree gear, so I could clean it completely of the fifty-year-old grease. The parts came off with relative ease, but I was really stumped by the gear wheel and contact, which seemed attached at the top by a slot-head screw. You can imagine what happened; now one of the two half-moon studs on the very top of the gear is completely broken off, and the other is bent.

So, forgetting for a moment how idiotic of me it was to not come to the club before disassembly, what exactly can I do? Surely that gear is unusable now? I had a look around eBay (both American and British versions) and only found a 100-degree gear for the Lucas 6WA; would this fit in the 'knackered' gear's place?

I did end up getting the gear to come out, by the way, and the contact and the other parts off, without breaking anything else.

Don't have answers, just lots of sympathy.

I once spent ages measuring, precision drilling, filing, polishing, bending and aligning bits to convert a two speed Mini motor to drive the Minor mech. Lots of fiddling, then moment of truth. Attached first wire, then the second - and instantly knew I'd screwed up. Before I could unclip, the motor, running in reverse, had turned my perfectly cleaned, polished and aligned contacts into irredeemable brass origami. Everything else is probably perfect, but that motor is still lurking in pieces in the bowels of my workshop somewhere cos I just couldn't bear to deal with it again.

Life's like that...

Seems like you forgot the golden rule: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Is your wiper motor in the engine bay or in the cab (series 2)? With the motor I have (engine bay), I had to remove the motor and THEN remove the circlip underneath, so as to extract the cogged wheel.
My Mogg has 'clap-hand' wipers and needs the 100deg wheel too. Unfortunitly, my car was fitted with a 152deg (I think) and wipers were always wandering off the windscreen!
I couldn't get the correct wiper unit. Mine had obviously been fitted with the wrong unit at some point.
You could try the club spares. I never thought to do that!
Instead I removed wheel, carefully removed the actuating pin and drilled another hole (further in toward the center) and welded it back in place.
Total guess but after 2 years it still works fine.
This info. may not be of any use to you, but don't be too hard on yourself, we have all made mistakes. I most certainly have and still do.

Very clever 'fix' - well done!

Seems like you forgot the golden rule: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Isn't it true that the motor works much better with new grease? I wanted to clean it, that's all. I never intended to replace any parts, just disassemble it and then reassemble it. I was afraid it might someday become broke without servicing...

Yeah, it is mounted in the engine bay.

...I removed wheel, carefully removed the actuating pin and drilled another hole (further in toward the center) and welded it back in place.
Total guess but after 2 years it still works fine.
This info. may not be of any use to you, but don't be too hard on yourself, we have all made mistakes. I most certainly have and still do.

It's an interesting idea! I have a spare 110-degree wheel. I could cut off the broken 'tower' and replace that with the one from the 110 wheel! Difficult, but not beyond my capacity. Of course it would involve mutilating the 110-degree wheel, but I have little use for that.

Can I access Club Spares if I'm not a paying member? I'm only a member of the messageboard.

Brute force isn't always the answer, that sinking feeling you get when threads strip, or metal cracks is best avoided.
Been there and done that, now when I find something that seems way too tight I take a step back and have a big think about why.

While I'm on this hobby horse, not everything needs to be done up as tight as is humanly possibly, it's no bother to give a bolt another eight of a turn to stop it rattling or leaking. To replace a stripped thread or broken part is a major pain in the bottom.

Well...I normally do that, I swear, but I got confused by the similarity of the two half-moon studs to a slot-head screw, and upon turning I felt a slight give (which must have been the studs bending). Until one of the studs broke off, it was a perfectly logical deduction. But I shall certainly not be fooling with things I can't see very well anymore! And I daresay I don't have the strength to turn a bolt tight enough to strip it.

Anyway, the problem has been basically solved. A Minory friend of mine in Tennessee has discovered in his vast stock of spares a 100-degree wheel! I've been busy thanking him, the heavens, and the Earth. But I do appreciate everyone's help, and if you want to continue the discussion on being clumsy or careful, please go on -- I'll join in -- I feel thoroughly humbled by the whole experience!

Don't feel bad, we all make mistrakes, oops, I mean mistakes.