Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello all,

I have now been driving my Moggy for three years and approx. 7,300 miles since a full restoration by Charles Ware. Since the beginning of this year I have a rattle which I locate to the steering column. It started at first as an occasional short rattle at the moment I went across an uneven part of the road or if I was unable to avoid a pothole. Over the last few months it has become more frequent, and now it is almost permanent on roads with cobblestone pavement (yes, we still have such things over here!) or on roads with very bad surface.

As far as I know the steering column runs in a tube and has at least two bearings. The rattle sounds as if the steering rack has some play or if the bearings are loose. It is funny, but I had exactly the same rattle on a VW Beetle I drove in the 1970s. In those days I didn't bother and carried on driving until I sold the car two years later. The rattle was never mentioned by the garage that serviced the Beetle, nor did the MOT station complain.

Therefore I assume that it is not a dangerous fault on my Moggy. Nevertheless I would be happy if you would let me know your ideas about it and give me some advice what to do. At the moment we are building a rather big garage for our cars, and when finished there will be a set of jacks to properly lift a car. So I would be happy if a repair could wait until next spring when we have the facilities to take a look ourselves.

Thank you for all your answers.

Cheers
Hubert

Hmmmm " full restoration by Charles Ware "........ The thread is about the rack, but you say the column is rattling.......so which is it?? Personally - I would put the steering on full right lock - and pump 10 strokes of molygrease in to the steering rack through the grease nipple (under a rubber bung) on the passenger floor. Steering column - some oil run into the felt bushes should help!

Mine too has a ratlle under exactly the same circumstances and I have traced it to wear in Part no 93 here,
http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewP ... exID=17090
I found it by holding the tie rod and pulling and pushing on it, you can then feel the movement, also tried greasing it but no change. No problems with the other side. While the part to repair it is availble I wondered if it had worn the housing too.
I have decided that it is easier just to buy a refurbed rack.

It won't be the ball seat...... The track rod joint is adjustable to take up clearance - by removing a thin shim. No expense required - but the joint can be quite tight to unscrew....

At first thanks to both of you for your answers. I know how to carry on tracing the rattle. The link to the diagram of the components is very helpful.

However, there is one thing I would like to mention:

bmcecosse wrote:Hmmmm " full restoration by Charles Ware "........

There have frequently been negative comments about the work of the Morris Minor Centre in Bristol. I understand that some people may have made bad experience with them, but I am rather satisfied with what I have got. You have to consider that I, living over 400 miles away from Britain, didn't have the time to drive up and down Britain to find a decent Morris Minor from a private seller. Also I am able to maintain a vintage car, but I don't have the knowledge, nor the workshop nor the time to restore a car or undertake big repairs. And I tend to compare the job I got for my money with what I would have got if I had the car restored in Germany.

There are only very few Moggies on offer in Germany, so it was no option to look for the car of my dreams over here. Buying a car in Britain and having it restored in Germany would have cost me at least 3,000 pounds more. When I had the car valued for my insurance, the value exceeded the price I paid by 300 pounds, so you can tell I didn't lose.

Having had some very rusty vehicles as daily drivers in the 1970s and 1980s, a good job on the bodywork had a high priority. And here Charles Ware have delivered to a very high standard, that could be seen on the pictures they mailed me and was also confirmed by the valuer. I have to accept that used parts were fitted in some places, and some of them have failed subsequently, but those, except for the slave brake cylinders, were all parts I was able to replace myself (e.g. coil, fuel pump), so nothing serious. And the parts I needed for the brake repair arrived at my garage within three working days, no German dealer could have matched that.

What I also found sympathetic was the support I was given when I was still "learning" the car after I had taken her home. Whichever question I had, it was quickly answered by e-mail or on the phone.

So please accept, that there are also customers of Charles Ware's Morris Minor Centre, who are satisfied with the jobs done by them. And anyway, would they still exist today if they were that bad?

Cheers
Hubert

Hubert - It's NEVER the coil ! Glad to hear you are happy with your CW car.