Morris Minor Owners Club

I have a 1968 1098 two door and have noticed the passenger side rear spring is covered in oil that appears to be coming from the driveshaft oil seal. Is this an easy job or one I should avoid and get done professionally. I consider myself a fair home mechanic only. Thank you.

It is a relatively easy job if you read the BMC wksp manual and are methodical in your process.
The L/H rear hub nut has a left hand thread so take care when undoing the nut.
A good hub nut spanner is essential.
https://www.morrisminorspares.com/misce ... l-p1238487
Make sure that the hub seal drain hole in the brake back plate which is located under under the axle tube is clear.

only issue is the seal is pressed in the hub and runs on the axle tube which can get worn. I've done one side of ours twice now but it only lasts a few hundred miles, I'm going to have to try a speedi sleeve next time.

Kevin S, did you grease the surface of the seal? It's not good if they run dry until the oil gets to the seal.

Yes it was all greased etc, the axle was re-built including new seals bearings, gaskets, breathers etc and one side and the pinion have never been an issue the other just keeps leaking though.

Thanks folks, going to giver it a go this weekend

Well, I have the engine sorted now, but the previous owner refurbished the rear brakes but did not check the rear axle seals. The diff pinion seal had been leaking for some time and I fitted a new seal soon after taking possession and this included a top up of the diff oil. The end result is both sets of rear brake shoes are completely contaminated with diff oil and need replacing once again along with new axle oil seals and axle to hub gaskets. Seals and gaskets should be delivered tomorrow.

If it is the hub seal that is leaking, there was a modification to the hub with an added O ring which did fix the oil leak problem.

That is interesting. I will be interested to see whether mine have that modification. Research has shown that my Minor left the factory as a CKD kit and shipped to NZ in November 1962. Was assembled here and sold new in October 1963 so is a relatively late model 4 door saloon.

The modification was probably around 68, as the screen shot came from a Morris Minor workshop manual published by British Leyland. I own a 66 pick up which is original, it hasn't got the hub modification.

What ever you do make sure that the oil drain hole in the rear of the backplate is clear.

MM1949 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 23, 2025 12:47 pm The modification was probably around 68, as the screen shot came from a Morris Minor workshop manual published by British Leyland. I own a 66 pick up which is original, it hasn't got the hub modification.

I think you'll find it was much earlier than that

Well not on my original 1966 pick up....

BMC Minor wksp manual Pt No: AKD530L dated 1968 shows the modification to the hub and it states in section HH.10 'On the rear axles fitted to later cars a modified rear hub with an additional oil seal is introduced'. So I consider that it can be safely assumed that the modified rear hub was introduced around 1967/68. No car/chassis number relating to when the modification was introduced is specified.

My much earlier workshop manual of the Series MM and Series II clearly shows a photograph of a hub with the groove for the oil seal although my own Series II with the Austin type axle did not have them.

All of the Minor 1000s I’ve ever had certainly did, including my current 1962, so I agree that they were introduced well before 1967! Hubs can be replaced over the years…

My Autopress Morris Minor “Autobook” is the latest revised edition from July 1969 and the exploded diagram of the rear axle does not show the O ring or associated groove. With any luck I will get one side dismantled tomorrow so all will be revealed.

I do have a good engineer mate who could easily machine a groove in each of my hubs. I would need to source an appropriate sized "O" ring first.

Cheers Chris

The hubs with oil ring seal could be retro fitted and many were so having a later modified hub fitted to a earlier than 1967 Minor is no indicator of actual date of factory change.

Of course, cars do get modified over the years However in all my years of owning various Morris Minors I have never had a Minor 1000 without the grooved rear hubs and O rings fitted. I do not think that many owners would have purchased new hubs to modify their cars as these would have been very costly.
For confirmation, a look in my BMC factory workshop manual confirms that this was a later modification. But - my workshop manual is dated 1958, confirming that the grooved hubs and O rings were indeed in use before that. Copy attached.

The date cannot be assumed as correct because the Section HH pages could have been singularly printed and inserted as subsequent amendments to the original dated front page.
Single later and/or revised amendments are quite common in the motor trade.
My January 1958 Minor 1000 was not fitted with the revised hubs ex factoryand I have known my Minor since it was new. I have subsequently fitted the later hubs with rubber 'O' ring to improve to their oil sealing and retention qualities. S/H later type hubs have and still are in the main easily obtainable and are reasonably cheap for what they do.

philthehill wrote: ↑Mon Jan 27, 2025 6:15 pm The date cannot be assumed as correct because the Section HH pages could have been singularly printed and inserted as subsequent amendments to the original dated front page.
Single later and/or revised amendments are quite common in the motor trade..

No, nothing has been changed. The workshop manual was purchased new along with my 1958 car by the original owner. Neither have seen much use and the manual has remained in its original condition in its original folder. It has never been used "in the motor trade". All pages are pretty much unmarked. I have a rather scruffy copy of similar age which I have always kept in the garage to use whilst working on the car. Both cover only the models upto the 948cc cars and both have the same reference to the "later modified rear hubs" just as liammonty also states above.