Morris Minor Owners Club

I have seen a Morris Minor for sale but it has advisories -----

Nearside Rear Leaf spring has a slightly deteriorated shackle pin rubber bush not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.B.2)
Offside Rear Leaf spring has a slightly deteriorated shackle pin rubber bush not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.B.2)
Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement inner bush (2.4.G.2)
Offside Front Lower Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement inner bush (2.4.G.2)
Nearside Front Upper Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement to shock absorber (2.4.G.2)
Offside Front Upper Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement to shock absorber (2.4.G.2)

Is this an easy fix or should I give the car a miss. If im reading it right it just looks like rubber that has deteriorated?

Or is it other bushes?
Thanks for any advice.

I personally wouldn't be too concerned about these advisories as long as the purchase price of the car takes the cost of repair into account, and that you undertake the repairs reasonably quickly. If its being sold by a dealer, maybe you could negotiate over the bushes being changed before you take delivery of the car, unless of course you're happy to do the work yourself.

My own Minor had advisories for the rear shackle bushes this year. It had a clean MOT last year. I had noticed no difference/deterioration in them.

It would probably be a good opportunity to change the bushes to polyurethane where appropriate. There are plenty of threads on here concerning this.

As above, adding that the lower front suspension bushes are the more difficult ones to replace due to the suspension arrangement on the Minor, not too offputting though. Just don't get anyone to do the work, make sure they are competent. Having said that, most stuff on the car is of a diy nature, in fact that's the attraction to many.

If those are all the advisories then from that alone I'd say it's in good nick!

A member of a branch local to you may be willing to take a look too, if you need a second pair of potentially knowledgable eyes.

Various posts recently have highlighted the short lives of modern rubber components, especially coolant hoses. Perhaps we should regard them as items for periodic replacement and not a deal breaker for buying a car. At least in the case of suspension bushes there is the option of using poly bushes.

Even way back the genuine BMC rubber bushes needed regular replacement.
Smothering the bush in rubber grease went some way to helping the BMC bushes survive.
Poly bushes are the way to go.
There are different harnesses of bush available dependent upon manufacturer.
When fitting poly bushes smear them with red or white grease which helps with their longevity.
Provided the bolts/nuts can be freed a capable home mechanic should be able to replace all the bushes required over two weekends and still run the car between those weekends.
Soak all the nuts and bolts with penetrating oil before attempting the job and have all the bushes to hand before dismantling.
I would have two front suspension eye bolts available as well unless you are absolutely sure that they are not worn.
It may be worth while having 3 or 4 of spare shackle pins available as well.

Phil: " I would have two front suspension eye bolts available as well unless you are absolutely sure that they are not worn."

Can you tell how worn the eye bolts may be before starting to dismantle the suspension?

Thanks for replies I will try and look at car this weekend. If I got the car I would get ESM to do the bushes.

If you look at the eye bolt and especially around the rim of the eye any wear should be apparent.
Also if the eye bolt pin is not central in the eye there is a good chance that the pin has worn through the rubber bush and has been wearing against the eye.
Better to have the two spare eye bolts even if good S/H just in case especially if the job requires no hold ups.
The eye bolt pin and the shackle pin are one and the same item even though they have been allocated different part numbers.
The pins with UNF threads are better finished with a proper shoulder on which the eye bolt cup or shackle plate can pull up against.

Thank you Phil for your good advice............

The eye bolt pins, when the bushes have collapsed, tend to wear the eye bolt at one point, (from memory it's at the bottom) if you've caught it in time, and the wear is minimal, turning the bolt through 180 degrees will give a new lease of life.

Had a look at the car today and decided to buy it, hope to pick it up next week sometime. Hope i'm doing the right thing as need her for my daily drive to work. I had a good look under the car the best I could but I'm no expert and it look solid enough. It's not concours as it has a few bubbles in the paint but its a good runner. I paid £3,400 for her.
When I pick her up I will try and post pictures.

Cheers Will

Well done. I'm sure we'd all like to see some photos . I think that price is about right in today's market for a reasonable car which is in good running order and structurally sound but not perfect cosmetically. Prices and condition vary greatly and nobody has the time to look at too many cars, so you just have to find something which you feel is suitable. Good luck with it!

Being new to Morris Minor ownership in the last year I have replaced or repaired the os sill area welded up the rear inner wings and replaced the os cross member end including stripping the torsion bar.

These cars are so easy to work on every job is a pleasure compared to a modern car a few worn bushes would not put me off the car but check thoroughly for rust.