Morris Minor Owners Club

I decided to start refurbishing a pair of old second-hand rear hubs that I have. The reason being that when I finally do the Wolseley 1500 rear brakes back plate change, I can then just fit the refurbished hubs and they will already have new oil seals. This is a way of saving time.

The bearings drifted out without difficulty. A 32mm socket that I had making an ideal drift (it fits an Audi S3 oil filter). I just held the hub in my hand and drifted the bearings out by tapping the socket with a hammer.

The oil seals were difficult to get out. I was conscious not to damage the hub but I did have to use an old screwdriver and a hammer. One hub will need some work to remove rust from the seal seat. The other hub has some ugly tool marks and you will have to take my word for it that I didn't do this gouging! For one thing they are different size marks to the screwdriver I used and for another I was not that rough. The circumference where the oil seal seats is fine, it's the seat that has some marks but they are not deep.

I have never seen the inside of a Morris hub before. I am assuming these tool marks are too minor to have any effect on the oil seal effectiveness? I am not sure how beaten up hubs are normally......

Stephen

Personally I’d want to remove any metal that the damage has pushed above the surface, the general scoring wouldn’t hinder the oil seal if it goes fully home. I’ve found, in the past, that the bearing can sometimes be a weak fit in the hub but if the old bearing needed a reasonable force to remove, the new bearing should be the obligatory tight fit in the hub.

Les that is what I thought so I went round with some emery paper. Where there was one gouge that had raised some metal I removed this with a small tapered grinding stone in a Dremel tool.

The bearings were not loose and need quite a few taps to get them out but no violence.

I know this has been asked repeatedly in the past but can I just check that this is the correct way round for the lip seal? There are a lot of old threads but often they are arguments and they are missing the pictures and diagrams. I also ask this because both hubs had the old seals in the other way round.....

Stephen

The bearings are both marked R&M 35L. They seem to be different ages due to the difference in the lettering.

I am inclined to clean out and reuse these bearings as I am doubtful of the quality of the available modern replacements.

How could I test the bearings off the car? It would be annoying to fit them if they are no good but also silly to bin good bearings.


Stephen

The seal is the right way round.
As regards testing the bearings off the car- clean all grease and crud from the bearings and lightly oil them. If there is no roughness when turned then the bearings are OK. Without being oiled the bearing will feel rough and you may to decide to reject the bearing without further consideration.
As regards play - the original bearings as fitted will have very little if any play. The later bearings as supplied by BL/UNIPART were C3 which means that there is play from new. If there is no play or roughness in the original bearings I would reuse them.
I have just cleaned up a couple of original BMC hub bearings and fitted new seals to a pair of Minor/Wolseley 1500 rear hubs for use on the replacement axle to be fitted in due course to my Minor which will also be fitted with Wolseley 1500 rear brakes.
Removing the rear hub seal is a pain as there is no cut out in the hub to assist in the removal but if care is taken the seal can be removed without much difficulty. You have done right to clean up the seal housing faces in the hub. Pack the seal with grease before fitting the bearing. You can also pack the bearing with GP grease so as to give the best possible start to the bearing. The grease will melt away with use and the bearing lubrication will soon revert to EP90 GL4.

Thanks Phil. I will clean, oil and test the bearings. I think they will be OK from first impressions.

How do you get the oil seals out of the hubs? I saw a video of a chap using a seal puller. This seemed quite a good idea but it could still damage the hub.

Stephen

To get the seals out of the hub I use a flat bladed screwdriver to prize the metal case of the seal away from the hub and then I knock the seals outwards from the hub using the hub inside hole for access. Using care the task can be accomplished without damaging the hub.

philthehill wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2025 6:51 pm To get the seals out of the hub I use a flat bladed screwdriver to prize the metal case of the seal away from the hub and then I knock the seals outwards from the hub using the hub inside hole for access. Using care the task can be accomplished without damaging the hub.

OK. That's pretty much exactly what I did. Just as long as there wasn't some secret easy way I was missing!

Stephen

Talking of bearings, I have a couple that fit the rear hubs but they are ‘sealed’, presumably pre packed. Again, I presume if I removed the plastic covers from each side, I could use them as the original type ?

If sealed bearings are fitted then there is no way that any oil can get to the factory fitted hub lip seal to lubricate it and it will fail.
If you do intend to fit a sealed rear hub bearing then you do need to remove the hub seal before fitting.
If you do remove the hub seal then for once I would recommend that a sealant is used around the outer face of the sealed bearing to ensure that oil does not get out past the outer race of the bearing and the hub..

Thanks Phil, maybe my post was misleading, I wouldn’t install sealed bearings. I was enquiring as to the suitability of using these sealed bearings if I was to remove the sealing element from them———- ie the plastic rings that cover the ball bearings ? They would then appear as ’open’ bearings.

Les
You can remove the plastic sealing covers and use the bearing as a open bearing.
In the past it has been posted on this web site that sealed bearings have been used but I cannot recollect having seen any feedback as regards service life.
Phil

Further thanks Phil. Prefer to keep the bearings open.

For general info

If you put an oil seal on a flat surface, you can either fill the back of it with oil, or dribble it all over the top.... i.e. its got a "cup"

that "cup" should always face towards the oil. Another way to think about it, is if you were to pressurise behind it, it will push the sides of the cup out making a better seal...

Possibly more confusing than helpful

Yes I understand the principle of the cup facing the oil or grease but I was just rather confused as to where the oil is as it is in the axle and in the hub......

Stephen