Morris Minor Owners Club

hello again, now the car is off the road with brake issues just at the moment but have another question if that is okay? i have read that the standard diff on a 1000 is a 4:22, but what does 4:22 actually mean? also i have been told that morris 1000s can zoom about happily at 60 - 65 all day, but little Bell gets very noisy at 55 (well thats what the speedo says anyhow!). so was wondering maybe it had a van diff on it?? how could I tell?

that was chating with two questions!

4.22 is the number of turns the engine must do (in top gear) to turn the road wheels once....... Yes of course it is noisy! But a good 1098 will run at 70 mph without any great problem - probably not able to hold that up long M'way hills, but otherwise ok. It's a fair enough ratio for a standard engine. Best bet will be to check the speedo against a GPS or a Sat Nav. Usually they read 5 to 10 % fast -so your 60 mph is very possibly only 55 mph........

top gear is fourth gear?

but can you tell what diff it is without taking it out?

Yes - you need to jack up a rear wheel off the ground. Then turn the prop shaft 4.22 turns.......however - because it's working through the differential - the rear wheel will turn 2 turns !

ah, with the car out of gear turn it by hand 4.22 and the road wheel should turn twice. got it.

May be easier to take all the spark plugs out - and turn the engine over 4.22 (so 4 1/4 turns) in top gear with the starting handle....

Which IS top gear? Fourth or First?

Fourth -- the lowest gear is the lowest number, the highest (topmost) is the highest number! Seconded with the starting handle, but I would suggest having a friend to either do the counting or the turning.

Chalk mark on the tyre - and take up all the 'slack' before you start counting......

Alternatively you could look for external markings on the differential itself. You should find '9/38' stamped somewhere on there if it's a 4.22 diff. If there's a filler plug on the diff itself, it's probably a 4.55 diff.

In your original post you say that ' i have read that the standard diff on a 1000 is a 4:22'. This is only true for a 1098 '1000', around 1963 onwards. A 948 '1000' (1956 - 1963ish) would have a 4.55 diff.

hi everybody i have turned the wheels and it seems like a 4:22 happy now that i KNOW what it is. thanks