Morris Minor Owners Club

Well today was the big day, car all shiny and running a treat. Ok I knew that the car had previous welding for MOT and from what I saw it looked pretty ok and a current years mot.

Failed and had to be towed home!!!!

1. Cut out and replace o/s and n/s rear chassis members where corrosion has holed around spring hanger.

2. Replace worn spring bushes

3. Cut out and replace corroded pannel around the front of the n/s rear suspension spring.
4. Repair oil leak from diff
5. Replace rear flexible break hose, contaminated and perished.
6. Clean off all underseal so that all patches can be inspected.

The thing is really solid. They just laughed when I said it had a MOT.

Well some upside down welding great

Btw the diff is leaking from where it meets the propshaft, is this seal easy to do?

Thanks

Oh dear - well, at least 2,5 and 6 are pretty straightforward. I've not done 4, but it doesn't look to be to much of a problem, though the workshop manual reckons you'll need a special tool to prevent the flange turning when you undo the nut holding the seal - I'm sure it's improvisable. As for 1 and 3, yup, looks like burns on the chest time

Yep having just replaced rear hangers on both sides of mine can safely say my chest hairs have never been so crispy and my tee shirts are more tea bag like now. Front hanger for springs are fun too.

Might be time to invest in or borrow one of those roll cages.

Paulk

Well I have the roll over jig that came with the traveller. trouble is that the jig is connected to the hubs and the hubs are connected to the leaf springs and the leaf springs are connected to the bit that needs to be cut out and ............

I was thinking about loads of mad ways to get the back high off the ground, even welding T shape bars to some old wheels so that it will all pivot higher and then lifting the back up high with the JCB forks,
Then there was the plan to dig a pit, and the plan to hang the back end over a low wall.

Funny what goes through your mind when you cant sleep.

Well I have the roll over jig that came with the traveller. trouble is that the jig is connected to the hubs and the hubs are connected to the leaf springs and the leaf springs are connected to the bit that needs to be cut out and ............

for the rear spring, the springs are only under sideways load when the car is rolled, so if you roll the car and then find somewhere to get a couple of jacks to the bodywork near the ground you can release all the load off the spring. Then just fix one end of the spring at a time and there'll be a lot less to worry about compared to doing it from under the car.

Or work on the side that is in the air and not conected to the roller...

When you need to weld the other side, just swap the roller over.

Or work on the side that is in the air and not conected to the roller...

The rear axle is connected to both sides and therefore applies a side load to both springs

Of course, but it's less of an issue for the top one as undoing the top will cause less location problems (axle trying to come away from the body) than undoing the bottom one, although supporting the body is a REALLY good idea anyway.

I prefer the other type of body roller (spit type) but the roll-over types seem to work...

I just am not totally convinced that rolling over a nice shiny car with rhe engine in for my first attempt with the jigs.<BR><BR>Thanks for all the thoughts though,<BR><BR>Burned chest I think

I just am not totally convinced that rolling over a nice shiny car with rhe engine in for my first attempt with the jigs.<

Neither was I, but as I got a Grumpy's roller I knew it had been done by loads and loads of folks already without any bad reports, so I just followed the simple instructions and it was all very painless

Do you have to drain the engine oil, petrol etc before you roll a car? (Just out of interest)

Cam wrote:
I prefer the other type of body roller (spit type) but the roll-over types seem to work...

I agree, the Morris Minor was designed to be rolled on a spit! (except the traveller).

I;m still thinking of building a pit in my garage- will still be under the car, but only my head will be close to the welding and that is protected by the welding helmet.

TerryG wrote:Do you have to drain the engine oil, petrol etc before you roll a car? (Just out of interest)

Oh yes! and take the battery out and drain a few other things too (ask Ray for the full list as he's just done it!).

I,m curious.We have friends in Guernsey and they once told me that cars didnt need an MOT there, is it different on Jersey.

No mot, just a very strict test on registration with much merely based on the opinion of the tester. So even though I have a full uk mot, in his opinion the welding is not good enough.

Well I wasn't hoping to put theory into practise ( but had an unexpected need to replace a rear chassis extension, quarter of the boot floor, piece of the rear valence, and big chunk of the rear inner wing.... thanks to the UK MOT finding a <1" hole (iceberg principle))

Anyway - once the car is rolled you see the sidewards stresses on the rear springs as the shackles are straining sideways! I used a few jacks including one on the rim of the roof to take a lot of the car's weight, and then took the leaf spring off. It was a very scary prospect however once the car was well supported on the jacks it was a lot more stable than just the rolling frame.
Without the extra support I dread to think what would have happened to the axle when one end was freed off!

Well work is quiet so I have started. Just would like to find an easy way to strip off black goop..........