Morris Minor Owners Club

I bought my Minor just before lock down las February and didn't use it until August when I found the clutch didn't work. After doing a couple of jobs on it my back seized up so I thought it would be better to take it somewhere and looked for somewhere. All of the garages said they couldn't touch the car with one saying "what's a dynamo". After asking on this forum for a garage that could do it and having no replies I found somewhere at Beeston in Nottingham who came this to collect it this morning. They're going to ring me after doing a service to tell me what it needs. I've already said the exhaust is blowing and the clutch is not working so we'll see what they come up with.

I'll let everyone know.

Did you ask for advice from your local MMOC branch? Most club members will know of a local garage who will happily service and repair a Morris Minor. As far as cars go, they are about as simple as it gets.
Remember that only a tiny minority of club members visit this forum, so contacting your local branch is often the best way of gaining local knowledge

Clutch plate possibly ‘ stuck on ‘. Had a similar problem on a Westfield . Lucky to have a long downward sloping drive so started the car in gear( jumpy start ) at the top of the drive with the clutch depressed and ‘ drove down the drive —- came off with a large ‘ bang ‘. Hope all turns out OK.

ManyMinors wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 12:53 pm Did you ask for advice from your local MMOC branch? Most club members will know of a local garage who will happily service and repair a Morris Minor. As far as cars go, they are about as simple as it gets.
Remember that only a tiny minority of club members visit this forum, so contacting your local branch is often the best way of gaining local knowledge

As far as I'm aware Nottingham doesn't have a branch, if I'm wrong please tell me. Anyway the car is in now so we'll see how it goes.

Shropshiremoggie wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 1:05 pm Clutch plate possibly ‘ stuck on ‘. Had a similar problem on a Westfield . Lucky to have a long downward sloping drive so started the car in gear( jumpy start ) at the top of the drive with the clutch depressed and ‘ drove down the drive —- came off with a large ‘ bang ‘. Hope all turns out OK.

The thought is the slave cylinder is not good, but we'll see

"All of the garages said they couldn't touch the car with one saying "what's a dynamo"?"
Seems a proper mechanic is wanted in these places! Do they even call themselves 'mechanics' anymore? As 'ManyMinors' says, these are pretty simple cars to work on.

If it is standard then there is no slave cylinder, it is a mechanical linkage.

Des911 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 1:26 pm

As far as I'm aware Nottingham doesn't have a branch, if I'm wrong please tell me. Anyway the car is in now so we'll see how it goes.

East Midlands branch used to meet 3rd Monday, 7.30pm The Nurseryman, 177 Derby Road, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 3AE
Contact Keith Smart.
His details don't show up on the website listing, but the 2020 Directory Booklet gives his details.
I'll PM you - check your messages

Des911 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 1:27 pm

The thought is the slave cylinder is not good, but we'll see

It'll be interesting to learn how they fix the clutch slave cylinder on a Morris Minor

My money is still on a ‘ stuck ‘ clutch plate what else could it be

Broken link rod, clevis pin dropped out, relay shaft fallen out of badly worn bush, fork broken, fork assembled incorrectly and release bearing dropped out. Agreed that stuck on is most likely, but plenty of other possibilities with the rod quite high up on the list.

From the OP

Des911 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 12:13 pm I bought my Minor just before lock down las February and didn't use it until August when I found the clutch didn't work.

it doesn't say if it was actually driven in Feb, so we don't know if the problem was already there.
If it was driven, and is only not working after 6 months layup, I'd plumb for the clutch stuck. If it was an unknown then, well then simmitec's list is reasonable.

Anecdote time....
In Dec 1978, while in the RAF, I went away for a 2 month detachment, leaving my 1 year old Vauxhall Viva parked up in the open, subject to the North German winter snows.
That clutch was stuck when I got back.
I got a hell of a surprise when I tried to start the car and it attempted to leap forward (car had been left in gear). As I recall, it took me a couple of blips of the starter with feet on clutch and brake to free it.

Suspect the clutch has rusted to flywheel. It's happened on mine quite a lot over the years.

I always do the same thing.


Run it up to temperature out of gear.
Turn it off
Select 2nd or reverse dependending on clearance in front or behind the car
Press clutch down
Start car

Usually it pops straight off. Occasionally you need to go forwards and reverse a couple of times.

It only seems to happen when it's under thr car port. It does not rust up in the garage.

Like all things mechanical, they benefit trim regular use.

From... blooming predictive rubbish

Any news on your service - be interested to know if the clutch issue has been resolved

No not yet, I'm keeping a low profile while it's locked in a nice garage. I will let you know as soon as I hear