Morris Minor Owners Club

The driver's side door on my 1967 traveller sometimes pops open when the car goes over a bump. I'm trying to find out what to do to fix it, but I don't have the experience or vocabulary to be able to describe things properly.

If you look at the pics, I think the bits labelled 1 & 2 have had washers put behind them so they stick out a little more. That helped, but hasn't solved the problem.

http://imgur.com/AXQRmUy&iF6tpUK&OjHeO7a&ZKgQXnS

http://imgur.com/AXQRmUy&iF6tpUK&OjHeO7a&ZKgQXnS#1

I mentioned it to a mechanic and he reckoned it might be a worn tongue (but he hasn't seen the car). The tongue that goes into the bit marked 1, right?

Can I just buy that bracket and see if that will fix it, or is it best to get a tongue too? I believe getting a new tongue requires a whole new lock, correct?. I assume I can ring up someone like ESM and order one.

There doesn't seem to be any vertical play in the hinges, though I have noticed there's a screw sticking out of the bottom one.

http://imgur.com/AXQRmUy&iF6tpUK&OjHeO7a&ZKgQXnS#2

Ideas and advice appreciated.

the catch in picture one looks broken...
it should have a catch with a small spring
mounted behind it

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morris-Minor- ... 566930ceb1

Learn something new every day. Thanks for that. Hopefully it'll fix things.

The catch with the small spring is missing but thats the secondary safety catch,so the door is jumping off the primary catch first. A new door catch may cure it but with mine(Same problem) i also used a file to remake the edge of the catch on the door itself,they get rounded off after a lot on years use,saved buying a new door latch as well as the frame one.

I noticed my doors slightly came out of alignment when i put my car onto ramps and couldnt work out why... but i think its right that they are old and just a bit of movement in the body is all thats needed to stop them working. we seem to forget that our cars old. nine 44 years, the same age as me...

Alan

kennatt

How did you file it down? Just.. Rub the inside of the catch?

Yes its realatively soft metal,I just ran the file over the flat side to take off the rounded tip, , just make it flat again,you could also use a small grinder on slow speed,which would probably be fine and a lot easier.But be careful that it dosent take too much off.

kennatt wrote:The catch with the small spring is missing but thats the secondary safety catch,so the door is jumping off the primary catch first. A new door catch may cure it but with mine(Same problem) i also used a file to remake the edge of the catch on the door itself,they get rounded off after a lot on years use,saved buying a new door latch as well as the frame one.

I'm a bit confused - are you saying that the door plunger locates on another part of the latch plate other than behind the spring loaded wedge?

I had this with mine, a decent bump, and there's plenty of them on our roads and the door would pop onto the safety, which you don't have. Scary as the doors flying open then !.

I had to fit a new plunger to the handle / lock assy. What i did was a buy a good handle assy from ebay, fit a new plunger to it and fully refurbish it. Take the old one from the car, swap the lock barrel and its all good.

Not sure if any one sells the pin that holds the plunger in, its riveted over and had to be drilled out, it also serves to attach the rod from the inside door release handle. I turned mine up myself.

Certainly sorted it out though, the old one was well worn on the end into a very odd shape, probably the original and deserved to be over 48 years.