Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi Chaps,

I'm not sure if this is the right area to post this topic, but here goes.

During the refurbishment of the drivers side suspension about 2 years ago, I replaced all of the rubber dust seals and caps with new items. I have just looked at them and have found that all are now perished and in some cases disintegrated completely. In a similar vein, I have noticed that the new breather pipe fitted to my '69 4 door less than 8 months ago is in a similar condition.

What do other members do/use to prevent the perishing of the various rubbers?

Cheers

John

Buy decent parts in the first place..........

It has long been professed here that suspension poly bushes are far better than the old rubber type, I would take that as gospel, although I have yet to take that action myself and am quoting the mechanics on site.
http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/ind ... 2bb1484922
As per above link, the poly bushes cost a little more.
On the subject of rubber generally, Better quality rad hoses tend in my mind to be silicone,(which I have fitted) not least as it has a much higher working temperature, typically 120c as opposed to around 80-90c.

This however is about dust seals and covers - not bushes... Change supplier!

They were bought from ESM, so I guess they will be much of a muchness from someone else

bmcecosse wrote:This however is about dust seals and covers - not bushes... Change supplier!

You mean they dont make poly dust covers and seals?
Now theres an opening for someone.
Having now looked at some that retail for about a £1.00, I suppose value for money is not too realistic a premise.
The breather pipe could be replaced with black silicone.
I wonder if higher quality grease on seals would help?

Rubber component quality in general has gone downhill over time---in fact in keeping with the rest of the parts supply!

Had the same trouble with the lower trunnion dust seals. They came from a good supplier, fitted them to truck, truck then sat in the garage for some months. After fitting the motor I went to adjust the suspension height and the brand new dust seals literally fell off. They were quite crumbly.
This was a problem as the truck was booked in for an inspection and it had to be on the road. I ended up replacing the dust seals with 2 o-rings(per seal). This got me on the road. I have now sourced some secondhand seals in perfect condition.
It might be an idea for anyone who has recently replaced these seals with new to check them.

Try MOSS for the rubber seals/cover - they may have a different supplier.

Shoot me down in flames, but would a positively earthed car have a different effect on rubber than a negatively earthed car?
I found the following,

Each rubber particle carries a negative charge. If a
current is passed through latex, the rubber migrates toward
the anode, or positive electrode, and is deposited upon it.
This property is made use of commercially to coat metal
objects. The surfaces of the rubber particles contain
adsorbed proteins present in the serum, which act to
prevent the latex particles from coming together and
coagulating the rubber. By changing the material adsorbed
on the surface of the hydrocarbon particle in rubber
latexes, the charge can be reversed and the rubber
particles are then deposited on the cathode.

Now, wheres the flamin aspirin?

Have had the same problem in the past with Minor trunion and swivel seals. I have found that by using Morris Marina trunion pin seals the seals have a much better service life than the Minor ones. They are the same internal dia but a little thicker and they appear to be made of a better quality material than the current Minor ones. It is best to go for New Old Stock (NOS). I have just bought some NOS Marina swivel/trunion repair kits(Power Train Products PSSK702L) (mainly for the trunion pins) and the trunion seals are perfect. Of course the Marina swivel seals are different so cannot be used with the minor swivel. The Marina trunion pins though can be used in the Minor trunion.

Shoot me down in flames

I think economics play a much bigger part in the problem that physics or chemistry.
Latex costs more than carbon black so changing the recipe a bit = more profit.

hi, can anyone recommend a source for 'good' replacement trunnion rubbers/oil seals?

thank you

John

Good quality swivel and trunnion seals can be obtained from Declan Burns.

Just send him a PM.