Morris Minor Owners Club

I’ve just rebuilt my 1098 gearbox and decided it would be a good idea to fit a new tailshaft bearing and a new seal. I made a tool for drawing the old one out and the new one pressed was pressed in. ‘The bearing may need reaming to suit the prop shaft’ it says. Reaming usually means taking out no more than 0.015” to get a clean finish except I’m having to take out nearly 0.040” leaving not much of the bush left. I’ve had to pull the bush out again and turn a sleeve to replicate the housing, fit the bush into this and then turn in a lathe before fitting back.

The prop-shaft measures 1.1875”dia. Could this be from another type of car?

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Shaft measures 1.1875"[/frame][frame][/frame]
Not a lot of bush wall thickness left.

It's the right shaft - looks like plenty of 'meat' there to me if that's it after the machining !

I just wrote a lengthy reply to this, and got timed out ( bloody computer) so as not to get caught again, just to say I've had the same issues.

Compare it to the old bush that came out? But there's not a lot that can go wrong - double check your sizes - and test the shaft in the bush as you machine until it fits.

It does end up quite thin, I did mine and there was not much left, but more than enough.

I used an adjustable reamer, lots of oil and did it a fraction at a time, took ages but got a good result.

If attempting to ream with an adjustable reamer, you must take tiny cuts - or the bore may be damaged. It is reamed to final size in situ because it may change slightly if machined and then fitted.

RAB