Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All,

Unfortunately, I have not had the best week-end.!

Apart from missing Gaydon, SORRY!

I stripped down the back of the Pick-Up ready for fitting new springs and found that there was very little axle casing left under the o/s u-bolts!!!
(3 wheels on my wagon ). This also holds the hand-brake cable!

In fact I was able to make a large hole in the casing with a screw-driver which then of course let oil out all over the floor .

I have another axle from the convertible ready to fit so not too bad.

I would suggest that everyone;-
Check this area every service and waxoyl as necessary.

Cheers

Martin

HAVE CHECKED MINE LAST WEEK WHEN REPLACING THE HAND BRAKE CABLES AND WILL DO THE SPRINGS LATER.

WHAT ELSE CAN GO WRONG WILL GO WRONG

The casing around this point is about 3mm thick, just shows what corrosion can do.

so its not that thick then, no wonder they corrode out.
will double check mine

Well I thought that was pretty thick for something that looks like pressed steel!

The area around the u-bolts and bump stops can be a mudtrap.
In the winter this keeps the area damp and salty. 3mm steel would last a while but unless the area is cleaned properly it won't last forever.

If anyone needs a spare axle casing - try Cam (he has 5 he would like to clear out)

If anyone needs a spare axle casing - try Cam (he has 5 he would like to clear out)

That's true!

This seems to be occuring quite often, as Ray says they need to be kept clean maybe this should be considered as part of the annual underside cleaning shedule to be kept clean (must remember myself) as this is becoming quite a common problem with the passing of time.

I was thinking that (my plan being) when I strip the suspension down to put poly-bushes in I'd take the opportunity to clean and paint the rear axle casing, since it seems to be, well, rather less than well protected, except by the oil spray in the middle....

i am sure owen burton sells new mountings that you can weld on.. Know i fitted them to a marina axle a few years ago.. no reason why you could nto replace the corroded one with a new one

Kate should you not have made a start on the one side when you replaced one of your springs recently ?

HAVE CHECKED MINE LAST WEEK WHEN REPLACING THE HAND BRAKE CABLES AND WILL DO THE SPRINGS LATER.

WHAT ELSE CAN GO WRONG WILL GO WRONG

No need to shout!

Kate should you not have made a start on the one side when you replaced one of your springs recently ?

Perhaps, were it not for the fact that the change was performed rather in a hurry (it being my own car) - and the only reason I'm thinking of poly-bushes is that having done it once I'm not scared to do it again....

Otherwise I'd not do it at all....

Hi,

It's a pity I can't post a pic of the rust damage because it is quite impressive!!!

The metal has rusted away virtually ALL the way around the casing and the saddle just disintegrated when the u-bolts were removed - SCARY really.
Even the metal bump-stop bases had disintegated!

I don't think the axle or springs had been touched for many years, if ever!

The n/s fared slightly better, for some reason?, but isn't in good condition either.

Cheers

Martin

The n/s fared slightly better, for some reason?, but isn't in good condition either.

I've looked at quite a lot of rusty r/h drive, UK Minors and I find that corrosion of the sills, spring hangers and crossmember is usually worse on the o/s - it's hard to say why this is the case? ** However the reverse seems to be true of the chassis legs and inner front wings- perhaps the radiator overflow on the n/s has a bearing?

** on reflection, maybe it's because the o/s receives a spray of salty water in the winter from vehicles travelling the other way?

That's the trouble with our old cars, most of the time we have no
idea what sort of earlier life they led. Your car could have spent
years on a muddy farm or lived by the sea. This is why it is not
uncommon to find that a car which has been worked on is often
in far better condition that the ' one owner from new-completely
original' vehicle.

i will second that willie

chris i came up with the idea that the left chassis leg rusted away due to the radiators beeing drained so many times by pulling the bottom hose off. water finds it way into the chassis on the left and not the right side

Chris and Mark both those reasons sound valid for the n/s chassis leg suffering from more corrosion than the o/s its something I had not thought about before.

Perhaps the nearside rots more quickly because the camber on
our roads drains the water that way i.e. it is usually wetter on the
nearside than the off side??