Morris Minor Owners Club

Anyone know how to cure the diff leaking through thr drain plug??
Was fine till I changed the oil & cleaned all the crud off.... perhaps I should have left it alone!!

Talking of Oil, anyone know an easy way of checking & or refilling the rear dampers??
One of ours is leaking (from around the arm so I guess it's shot...) & the other one is completely dry & oil free on the outside so I'm guessing it's either perfect or all the oil has leaked out....

if it was free of oil, you can use a sealer around the plug but as you'll never get it oil free then you could try bodging it with PTFE tape around the plug threads

anyone know an easy way of checking & or refilling the rear dampers??

Have you tried the bounce test, just push up and down on the rear wing a few times to get some motion and let go in an ideal world it will only do it once, I recently changed mine as they were a bit worse than this and also when bouncing the wing the resisitance did not feel that much, and when removed they did not have a great deal of damping resistance but were not leaking either.

Anyone got a drain hole bung in good condition?
Perhaps that the problem, this one could have been used as a jacking point one too many times...
(will also save me loosing all the oil as I can tape the new one up first....)

Also after some bolts/screws that hold on the black bit of plastic that hides the indicator mechanism... how easy is it to get the wheel off??

how easy is it to get the wheel off??

Very easy if you have the correct socket (I can lend you one if you want).
Just prise out the horn button then remove the circlip and slide out the central plastic sleeve and spring. Undo the big nut and then 'persuade' the wheel to come off its splines.

Depending on model, the horn button assembly may be secured with one chromed slotted screw, check around the steering wheel boss.
Leave the big nut on the column about 2 turns in case the wheel releases suddenly and smacks you in the face!!

I've just checked the level of my rear dampers but had the road wheels off during 3000 mile service. I removed the filler plugs insitu after making sure the surrounding area was cleaned. Poked a clean 2mm drill in the hole about 5mm if there's oil showing it should be o.k. otherwise top up to about that level.
Manuals however recommend removal of the rear dampers to check oil. More for cleanliness I would think.

Undo the big nut and then 'persuade' the wheel to come off its splines

Leaving the nut on a few threads, so the wheel doesn't make a break for freedom straight in to your face.......

Matt covered the last steering wheel bit! Posted at same time.

the horn button assembly may be secured with one chromed slotted screw

Dan's car is a 1098 so I'm pretty sure the horn button assy should just prise out.
Which ones have the screw to secure the button?

then 'persuade' the wheel to come off its splines.

This will normally require a mallett.

rayofleamington wrote:

the horn button assembly may be secured with one chromed slotted screw

Which ones have the screw to secure the button?

Both of mine





1957 and 1962 (early) originally 948cc. He didn't state which model/year.

Don't always need a (soft) mallet Kevin. I've always managed to release the taper by GENTLE rocking side to side and up down while grasping the wheel rim and pulling towards you. Hence the watch your face warning!

Tapered drain/filling plugs can exert quite a radial force and care must be taken not to overtighten and avoid risk of cracking or worse the casing into which they are being fitted - more so for aluminium.

Here's the Traveller's


I always try and put the steering in a straight ahead position befor removal it can help when refitting as long as nothings been moved. It's so easy to be a spline or two out. The pinchbolt at the lower end of the column can be a good indicator as well. Bottom and horizontal when straight ahead.

Yep, that pic shows the wheel on ours... It's not a standard one as I believe it should be a 2 spoke on ours fro the year...

Removal is pretty much as I assumed then... good, good - another one to add to the list of jobs!

There's a coiled spring loaded contact behind the button "M" so when slackening and removing the screw hold the button assembly down with other hand then slowly release. Do the same when refitting, the screw goes in easier and with less strain on the fixing.
Disconnect the battery when slackening the steering wheel nut otherwise you'll be fed up with the horn sounding and/or causing a short and blowing fuses!!

Disconnect the battery when slackening the steering wheel nut

Time to move over to negative earth then... pretty sure it's been converted before & then converted back by the old guy I bought it from as Willie & I worked out that the heater is probably running in reverse... No time to check yet though....

Any offers on the bung & bolts for the cover? Brixton? Surely you must have some??

The screws on the plastic surround are just short chunky self-tappers, about 1/2" No.6 ish from memory. Am off out to the car in a bit, so will have a look if I remember. Should be available from any good DIY store / ironmongers, we have a great one who still sells individual bolts etc for a few pence each.

Tthe heater motor (late type anyway) always runs the right way, regardless of connection polarity - as does the starter motor thankfully! I'm not sure the same is true of the wiper motor though.

Tthe heater motor (late type anyway) always runs the right way, regardless of connection polarity

Not true if you dont swap the heater motor connections around when changing the polarity it runs in reverse and does not give the same amount of air output, this has been mentioned on more than one occasion.

I'm not sure the same is true of the wiper motor though.

This also runs backwards but has has no known side effects, its mentioned in the technical tips.

Kevin's right, it doesn't do any harm to the wiper motor. It would be different if the brushes contacted the commutator at an angle though. The rotary motion of the motor is converted to a reciprocating action via the gearbox which in turn exerts a linear motion to the wiper cable (rack).