Morris Minor Owners Club

Forgive me, but I am new to cars and learning through the manuals. But i have removed the pushrods without noting their order (cardinaal sin I know) realised the error of my ways immediately but it was to late, wondered if there was anything i can do to salvage this situation? its a 948cc engine 1959, oops

Re fit them and adjust the tappet clearances as normal

The theory is that they go back in the original place, but as Mike says, just put them back and all will be fine after correct adjustment. I doubt that the reconditioning people worry about that sort of thing, they would just clean and check all parts, replacing any which are worn.

I think the logic is that they wear as a pair with the cam followers. Putting them in wrong won't cause too much of a headache, but they may take time to 'bed in' to their new counterpart. So keep an eye on the valve clearances to start with, as they're more likely to open up as they settle in.

They may not open up at all, but it's good to be mindful that if it seems to start sounding tappety/clicky don't discount the valve clearances 'because you only just did them'.

Just make sure you haven't pulled out any of the cam followers......

I was good! I kept all my pushrods etc in the correct order in a metal tray.
All fine until I stumbled and put my foot on the corner of said tray.
Engine was rebuilt and runs fine, no problems. Phew!

Don't forget to retorque after the first heat cycle - and reset the valve gaps.. 15 thou exhausts and 12 thou inlets.

The tolerances on this engine are too great for pushrod order to be of any worry, as other members have said. Only thing that MUST be kept in order are pistons, con-rods and big-end caps. Also valves after they have been lapped-in.

Thanks everyone, have put my mind at rest. Shall now rebuild with confidence

Until the next disaster Don't go breaking any piston rings

Well, I have had my fair share of disasters so far, but no more on the engine (bar a broken oil pressure gauge, but don't count that as a real disaster) thank the heavens!

Not forgetting the carburetter disaster!

When I rebuilt my engine I carefully pushed the rods through a piece of cardboard in their right order, but neglected to number them, so when I came to reassemble 3 months later I had no idea which was number one and which was number 8 I just stuck them back in anyway and they were fine