Morris Minor Owners Club

I know hub removal has attracted several entries on this forum, and despite reading them I am still stuck.
I have a 1955 saloon. I discovered both rear drums had hypoid oil leaking into them. My assumption was that I need to replace the oil seals.
I proceeded to remove the half shafts and the hub retaining nuts (interestingly they are both right hand threads).
I have a Draper hub puller which I fixed to two wheel studs. I replaced the hub retaining nut, not quite tight, so the hub puller bolt had something to work against, and used a piece of steel between that nut and the hub puller bolt. I have tightened that bolt as much as I can with no movement of the hub whatsoever.
What next? Do I use more force? I worry I might damage the thread used by the hub retaining nut. I will be getting new nuts, so it doesn't matter if I damage them.
Would the application of heat help? I wouldn't want to use a naked flame!
I am going to try the nearside hub today, but any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

The trouble as you have found with a standard puller is there is nothing to pull against because you have an open axle tube.

The best way, in my limited experience of doing this job is to use a slide hammer type puller. You attach the puller frame to 2x wheel studs and whack the slide hammer outwards. Very easy and no chance of damaging the axle tube. These pullers are available quite cheaply. They are Chinese nasty but adequate.

Or....... an old method that I have never tried because there is no room to do it in my garage. Remove half shaft. Remove hub nut. Reverse the half shaft on to the hub studs and secure with the 4x wheel nuts (reversed). Tighten evenly.......pop off comes the hub.

I cannot account for the threads on your axle tube. The left hand side must be reverse thread or the hub nut will undo as the car travels forwards.......

Stephen

Many thanks for that Stephen. I think I have just seen your set on AMZN !
I will get one. Hopefully it will enable me to make progress again.
Best wishes
John

Oh and by the way, I read somewhere that some early cars were equipped with two right hand thread nuts. I guess they relied on the locking washers to stop them unwinding.

John

Success! One sweep of the hammer and off it came! I couldn't believe it!
Right tools for the job and all that eh?
Many thanks again.
Right, on to the next problem..........

Marvellous! Well done

Stephen

Don’t assume anything - very often alarmingly bad practice. Too late now, but did you first check that the axle breather is clear and operational?

Just a thought that other responders might have overlooked. It’s common trait on this forum.

A common trait from most on this forum is helpfulness and knowledge!

oliver90owner wrote: ↑Wed Jun 18, 2025 7:39 pm Don’t assume anything - very often alarmingly bad practice. Too late now, but did you first check that the axle breather is clear and operational?

Just a thought that other responders might have overlooked. It’s common trait on this forum.

To be fair the OP was only asking about how to remove the hubs because he had hit an impasse. It is much better to ask than to resort to improvised techniques that may be dangerous or cause damage.

Yes, agreed the axle flange oil drain hole is important and it should be cleaned out when the hub is off. I believe the early axles do not have that drain hole but may be wrong on that.......It seems the OP has an early axle because he mentions both sides of the axle having right-hand thread for the hub nut.

Stephen

Yes, agreed the axle flange oil drain hole is important and it should be cleaned out when the hub is off.

Did I mention the drain hole in the brake assembly? I don’t think I did. Please read my post again.

oliver90owner wrote: ↑Thu Jun 19, 2025 9:59 am Yes, agreed the axle flange oil drain hole is important and it should be cleaned out when the hub is off.

Did I mention the drain hole in the brake assembly? I don’t think I did. Please read my post again.

Mea culpa, I misread your post. Yes, a good thing to check the axle breather first in cases of leaking axle oil.

Stephen

That there was leakage from both sides was my reason for suggesting to check the breather first. The weep holes were put there to avoid oil reaching the drums/shoes.

Posters, who likely don’t know much about these cars, can ask questions without thinking through the possibilities. It’s a bit like telling someone how to remove the engine cylinder head, when they ask, without realising the problem needs only a valve clearance check. Common sense to check the simple things first.

I’ve seen so many posts on here saying ‘change the condenser’ or ‘change the coil’, etc - before doing any proper diagnosis of ignition issues. And so it goes on….

If it is a case of a blocked axle breather, what effect would changing the axle seals make? B A ! There would soon be more leakage and the poster might well be getting disillusioned with things.

oliver90owner wrote: ↑Thu Jun 19, 2025 9:59 am Yes, agreed the axle flange oil drain hole is important and it should be cleaned out when the hub is off.

Did I mention the drain hole in the brake assembly? I don’t think I did. Please read my post again.

No need to shout Oliver 90

Where did I shout? Are you referring to the quote I posted in bold? Not exactly shouting, methinks. No capitalisation in sight.

oliver90owner wrote: ↑Thu Jun 19, 2025 10:40 pm Where did I shout? Are you referring to the quote I posted in bold? Not exactly shouting, methinks. No capitalisation in sight.

Just being bold then

Someone else used that style when posting on this forum, who was it ?

Good evening, I started this thread and I have read recent posts with interest. I will certainly check out the existence/state of the drain points mentioned.
I also have a futher problem which may again relate to the fact that my Minor is one of the early models.
I am about to put everything back where it should be, using a number of new parts. I obtained two wheel bearing kits from ESM, but they are out of stock of the standard gasket and substituted it, at my request, for their own thicker gasket. I am aware that this has implications on how far the bearing protrudesfrom the hub, so I may yet buy the correct thickness material and cut my own.
My main question tonight is regarding the rubber O ring. I can see no evidence of a groove in either the hub or the plate at the end of the half shaft. I assume my car was produced before the O ring was introduced, and that I should not try to fit it. Any thoughts and comments would be much appreciated.
Interestingly, the remains of the old gasket were stuck to the hub. When I went to remove it, it was black and felt quite rubbery. I wonder if a previous repair had been done and the O ring fitted loosely?

You have an early hub that does not have a groove for the rubber o-ring so you should not try to fit it. The rubbery feel was probably some kind of sealant.

This is a later hub. You can see the circular recess where the o-ring fits. The gasket goes over the top of the o-ring.

Stephen

The drain point, if you have one, is arrowed

Again, many thanks for your help! John