Morris Minor Owners Club

hi there, been a while.
i have a couple of questions which some of you may be able to help me with. firstly: When my Traveller is fairly warm i get pretty bad clutch judder when driving off. it's not the kind of judder where the engine vibrates, but the one where the rear doors and windows shake really hard and the people around think i'm a rubbish driver. the rattling gets really loud, the warmer the engine and slow traffic becomes a nightmare. i think it might have to do something with the diff.... any ideas? there does seem to be a leak in the diff, with a bit of oil sloshed arouund the place. is the diff ready for replacement???
also the coil has been a bit of a problem, although i think i've fixed it. i went through 4 or 5 coils in the last 15 months most of them being unipart or halfords ones. i've got one from commercial ignition which seems to be the good one, as it's "old-school". However i think that the small wires on either side were on the wrong way round. i swapped them over and the car runs better and the coil hasn't burnt out. i assume this needs to be done as the car was converted to negative earth. any advice on this?
also i'm thinking of taking my car up to durham (uni) next october. is this a bad idea?
cheers
kim

The oil leak from the diff will usually be from the pinion oil seal.
This is fairly easy to change and you do not have to dismantle
the diff itself. Just removed the prop shaft and then the large nut
on the end of the pinion, drift out the old oil seal and fit a new one.
This oil seal is of a size all of its own so order one in first! There is
an axle breather fitting on to of the axle, you should make sure it is not
blocked up. Just pull it off and clean it. The juddering is more likely
to be coming from worn prop shaft Universal Joints but this would give
you serious vibrations when motoring along which would worsen with
speed. The fact that the low tension leads on the coil were on the
wrong way round is extremely unlikely to cause coil burn out,merely
give you a reduced spark intensity. I suppose you are not in the
habit of leaving the ignition on without the engine running for any reason?
That will burn any coil out pretty quickly. recapping...provided the diff
unit has sufficient oil then it would be rare to have this cause vibration
'when it has warmed up' but the same applies to the prop shaft UJs,
they would give the symptoms from straight from cold. Heat related
mechanical faults are usually caused by something seizing due to lack
of lubricant, have you checked the gearbox oil level lately??

I know you say its not this. but have a look at your engine mounts and check they arn't perished. Also look at the gearbox steady cable and make sure its "appropriately tight" ie. not done up as tight aspossibly possible. (someone will probably give you a better explaination in a minute)

I don't know what Durham is like as an area or as a university, but minors arn't the most secure cars in the world. If you are having to leave it in an area which isn't locked, install some sort of immobiliser (eg. a hidden fuel pump switch) also remove rotor arm if you are leaving it for any length of time. The wood will deteriorate and it is easier for the tinworm to attack if left outside. On the other hand it is great fun to have an unusual vehicle at uni, and really useful for moving sports kit/club and society stuff/shopping. There are pros and cons! (oh and make sure you can afford to run it!!)

Also look at the gearbox steady cable and make sure its "appropriately tight" ie. not done up as tight aspossibly possible. (someone will probably give you a better explaination in a minute)

Don't do this up too tight, just remove the 'slack'.

Or it's just that the clutch is knackered/covered in oil and needs a new plate !