Morris Minor Owners Club

I may well be just plain daft (it's an age thing) but when I jack up the engine under the sump using a plank of wood to spread the load the car lifts as well. I have released the engine steady bar, emptied the rad and removed the hoses, removed the three bolts on each old rubber mount just the tower bolts to do.
What have I missed please?

You have to remove a tower I think.

Have a look to see if the engine is touching the body anywhere, maybe a the back of it, after checking the towers.

Maybe a daft suggestion but ....is your plank of wood larger than the sump pan ? Could it possibly be bigger / over lapping the sump , with one side lifting the bodywork in sync with the engine ?
It may be silly but please don't ask me how I know the answer. I spent a lot of time " head scratching " before the penny dropped !
Bob ( stupid boy at times )
P.S the towers are handed , so make sure you keep them on the correct side once you've replaced the mounts. Don't leave off the earth cable either ( a good clean of that , back to bare metal is a good move ).

Good thought, and easily done!

I must say that I did check the plank (actually it did cross my mind) but it's not touching anything it shouldn't. When I start to jack up the engine then the car lifts immediately. There is no slack at all and I did expect some give. This is after I have removed the bolts on each engine mounting.

Maybe it's the suspension rising as the weight is reduced, if you keep jacking until the suspension has no weight on it, engine/body should then separate. All guesswork unless there!

This is my own solution to the problem, after following the workshop manual. Someone more experienced may have an easier way to do it....

Because of the angle the mounts sit and their protruding studs, the rubber mounts need to move inwards to remove from the towers. This can't happen because the engine is in the middle of them!

Remove one tower from the engine bay floor, sometimes easier said then done depending on which way round the bolts are. I had to remove a steering rod from beneath to access one. I think the workshop manual suggests an order in which to proceed. You can then shuffle the engine up and over slightly to remove the other mount. I did this with a crane, so no risk of the engine slipping off the jack. Be careful!

Edd

You cannot jack endlessly as the gearbox bell housing will hit the rack/cross member!
One of the engine mount towers should be removed when replacing the engine mounts.
The engine can then moved upwards & sideways just enough to disengage the other engine mounting and then the engine mounts can be replaced.

Well I accept that Phil! Hopefully some form of separation would be apparent before that.

Thanks for the helpful advice. I'll have an attempt tomorrow and report back.

Well thanks to your advice the rubber engine mounts have been replaced.
I removed the offside tower and it was necessary to remove the tie bar to get to the bolt which because of its condition I had to replace in any event. When I had removed the tower then I was able to move the engine.
Haven't had a chance to try out the car yet but with these softer rubbers I do hope that this reduces the vibration which I have been experiencing.
The amount of support and knowledge on this website is exceptional and of great help to us novices.

Well done.

Just a thought. Should I have changed the rubber mounts on the gearbox at the same time?

If the gearbox ones are ok id leave them alone.