Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,

my first Gear of the 1098ccm Morris (1967) makes some strange noise, if i want pull him out (e.g. to switch in the second Gear). sounds like cracking or if you want to try change gears without clutch... all other gears works fine and without any noise.. What could it be?

Thanks and greetings from Germany

First gear is always noisy - and is easily damaged by trying to engage it while moving. As long as it doesn't 'jump out' - just keep using the box, but minimise the use of 1st gear. And start looking for a spare gearbox !!

First gear on all the Morris Minor gearboxes from the Series II onwards sounds like a bag of spanners. There is no synchromesh on 1st or reverse, so unless you are experienced at double declutching, do not select 1st on the move

Thanks for the answers. I don´t mean the noise from neutral ("stand") to first gear. There are noises when I switch from the first to second gear during the ride. My father have the same Morris and Gearbox and a gear change, specially 1st to 2nd, works like a charm (without any noise). So i guess, something must be worn at my box..

my english is a little bit rusty now, so sorry for that ;)

Thanks and I wish you happy Holidays @all

PS: Is ESM a good address to get a good rebuilded gearbox?

hi Tux where are you based?

Hi Alex,

i live in hanover (Lower Saxony,Germany) and will spent my next holidays (june 2013 14th - 28th) in England/Scoltand/Ireland.

So - there is a 'crunch' as you move from 1st to 2nd gear?? You need to check the clutch is clearing properly. There should be ~ 1" free play at the pedal. Also the syncro mesh in 2nd gear will be worn - it's the first to go since it gets the most use. As long as it's not jumping out o gear - most would just take extra time when making the change. I wouldn't buy a box from ESM....

Tux,
I have a spare 1098 gearbox in my garage here in Düsseldorf. It is a bit notchy but does not jump out of gear (sometimes reverse) and will last many thousand miles. If you are interested let me know. I was going to re-build it but may be willing to pass it on. John Evans in Hayling Island is the man to contact for gearbox re-building. He also does the gearboxes for some of the main suppliers and certainly for the one mentioned on your post. A very nice person to deal with. I paid 82€ to send a gearbox from Germany via UPS to John.
Regards
Declan

bmcecosse wrote:So - there is a 'crunch' as you move from 1st to 2nd gear??

That´s right and exactly the "problem". All other gears are fine (2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th or reverse) and actually no jumping gears. Clutch freeplay was adjusted few months ago by a MINI-Mechanic.

Thank´s for the offer Declan, you got a mail.

As long as there IS that 1" (25mm) of free play (the mechanism is nothing like a Mini... and certainly not like a MINI )- then the problem is wear in the box. Just take your time when changing gear!!

Thanks for the reply. Sorry, my fault with "MINI". It was a "british classic car" (i.e. for Rover,Rolls Royce, Austin, Jaguar) engineer ;) A Morris Minor expert is very hard to find at my location ;)

Indeed, take your time changing, don't rush it or on the other hand dilly-dally. Snap smartly out of gear, pause for a fraction of a second in neutral and ease it into the next gear.

There is an art to changing gears in these old 'boxes and you just have to be sympathetic to the old crock.

Hello Tux,

it is a good idea to talk to Declan in Düsseldorf. Here in Essen there is Volker Hermann (www.getriebe-overdrive.de) who is able to rebuild your gearbox. It might be sensible to give him a phone call too.
Grüße aus Essen

Achim