Morris Minor Owners Club

So I tried to replace my torsion bar bushes today but couldn't get the suspension arm to shift on the spline. Looks like its been on there forever! I also can't figure out how to remove the torsion bar from the rear end, I can remove the large nut, but hen what? It looks like the bar has to drift back towards the front eyebolt, which it can't because the pin is still in?

Any help would be appreciated. I read an old post about this but couldn't find any detail on removing the torsion bar from the rear.I tried the eye bolt nut and it's stuck fast! but to be honest it didn't look like I'd have much luck this way.

I'm left thinking I'll have to sacrifice the torsion bar and cut it through in order to get the splines off and then by a new bar.

You do not have to cut out the torsion bar.
Soak the torsion bar splines at both ends in plus gas before doing anything
Have you got a workshop manual?
The removal and refitting of the torsion bar is explained in Section K of the BMC workshop manual AKD530.

Hi,

No I don’t have the manual. I’ll try soaking them for longer but it didn’t look like it wanted to budge. Cleaned the visible spline with wire brush too as someone had painted over it :/

Get a brass hammer for your kit. You can wallop stuff pretty hard with it and not damage the part. Sometimes, as Granny used to say, Give it the boot!

Trust me I tried! I have it the boot and a half! With some big hammers and a drift but it wasn’t going to budge. I’ll leave it soaking and try again but otherwise the only option I see is to cut it out and replace it.

However, I’m still not sure how the torsion bar can be removed from the back if the pin is stuck in the eye at the front..

I recently changed the torsion bar eye bolt bushes on the pickup. I wasn’t replacing originals but they were at least 20 years old as I have receipts going back that far. The torsion bars had been painted on to the rear half of the suspension arm. It was a real challenge to get them to move but they eventually yielded to a couple of smart taps with a heavy lump hammer. I wasn’t replacing originals nervous I may bend the suspension arms so I made sure to hit as near to the inboard end as possible. Once the initial give happened they took a few more swift hits to slide backwards.

If you absolutely must resort to cutting, make sure you can find replacement torsion bars. Cutting and replacing the suspension arms may be easier.

Getting the eye bolt out of the chassis rail was an even bigger challenge!

Best of luck.

Andrew

The pin in the eye bolt is separate to the torsion bar. No matter how hard you hit the pin the pin cannot go backwards as it butts up against the front end of the torsion bar.
Remove the thin suspension arm and refit letting it hang down. This is done to stop the pin going back through the eye bolt as the thick arm moves backwards and also supports the front end of the torsion bar as you hit the thick suspension arm.
The thick suspension arm can then be knocked back sufficient to disengage from the cup attached to the pin. Do not knock it completely off the splines as it saves having to reset the suspension height.
Once the cup is disengaged from the thick suspension arm the eye bolt can be removed.
At the back end of the torsion bar there is a horseshoe washer that has to be removed to allow the torsion bar to move backwards.
If you are only replacing the eye bolt bushes there is absolutely no need to remove the torsion bar only to knock the thick suspension arm backwards sufficient to clear the eye bolt cup.
I have to say this is where the BMC workshop manual is essential as it has exploded drawings of the torsion bar fittings.
Good luck.

Hi,

Yeah I’m aware the pin won’t go backwards, but I’ve bashed the rear suspension arm as hard as I can with a drift and big hammer but it just won’t shift! So I can’t get the pin out to replace the rear bush.

My only other option was to remove the torsion bar from the chassis fixing. So I’d need to remove the large nut on the torsion bar, then get the horseshoe washer out, then back ck the torsion bar toward the back of the car off of the rear spline?

Matt.

It hasn't been mentioned. Support the outer end of the thicker leg while hitting the flat area just outboard of the torsion bar. This helps direct the hammer blow to the splines rather than rocking the arm. Best to loosen the eyebolt nut while something is there to prevent rotation. Since the eyebolt should come out to inspect its condition, there is no need to move the rear spline ans it will be even tighter than the front one.

To remove the horseshow washer you have to knock the torsion bar reaction arm at the rear of the torsion bar forward as the horseshoe washer fits into the recess in the rear face of the reaction arm. Then you can knock the torsion bar rearwards. As jaeki indicates - moving the reaction arm on the rear torsion bar splines is usually more difficult than moving the thick suspension arm at the front of the torsion bar.