Morris Minor Owners Club

Evening all,
Winnie, my 1959 minor crunches on occasion when changing from first to second gear not so much from 3rd to second.
Any tips on reducing this or potential mechanical issues.
I understand that a lot of Minor drivers pull away in second gear as well?
Thanks in advance for any advice

If your gearbox is original, it will have the smooth case. The syncromesh isn't so good as on later 1098 (Ribbed case gearboxes). People sometimes use second, rather than change into first, since to change into first, on the move, requires you to double de clutch. You could try that to ease your gear change issues. Is the clutch adjusted correctly?

Andy, I think what you're describing is fairly typical, as 'Blaketon' has pointed out. I rarely use 1st anyway, except on steep hills to pull away.....

AndyC wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 6:29 pm Evening all,
Winnie, my 1959 minor crunches on occasion when changing from first to second gear not so much from 3rd to second.
Any tips on reducing this or potential mechanical issues.
I understand that a lot of Minor drivers pull away in second gear as well?
Thanks in advance for any advice

Unusual for a synchro, 2nd to crunch on upshift but not downshift.
Are you rushing the 1st to 2nnd shift, try slower.
Or maybe shift is worn and 1st is hanging up as you go to 2nd which can cause crunch as effectively 2 gears at once momentarily.
Change gearbox oil and look through drained oil to see if any metal.

I had a reconditioned gearbox (1098 gearbox) supplied and fitted by ESM just over a year ago. At the beginning it did make a crunch changing up from 1st to 2nd. I queried this with ESM and they told me it is common on newly rebuilt gearboxes and would disappear after a few thousand miles. After about 3,000 miles and 2x gearbox oil changes at 1,000 mile intervals (only this frequent because gearbox is new) the crunch has gone.

On the subject of starting out in 2nd, I don’t do this routinely as it would seem to wear the clutch excessively. Occasionally the gearbox will refuse to go into 1st from stationary and to avoid too much delay at traffic lights I will pull off in 2nd instead. If I am moving at all e.g approaching a roundabout I will carry on in 2nd.

Stephen

Well, the OP says it only crunches 'on occasion' and we don't know how severe the crunching is, or whether this is a new thing or not. One thing that would be worth doing is checking the clutch pedal free play. Assuming it has its original 948 engine and gearbox, it should be 3/4" free play.

My 1275 Midget has a similar box to the 1098 Minor and I often find it better to select 2nd before first or reverse (When at rest), neither of which have synco. Not having the slow running set too high also helps.