Morris Minor Owners Club

Finally started putting the head back on my Moggie yesterday (until rain stopped play). Merrily clicking away with my brand spanking new torque wrench, taking my time and not forgetting to put the metal part of the heater pipe in place before starting.
Now I've just realised I didn't put the engine steady bar in place
Question from a buffoon - Can I just undo the one nut and put the steady bar on and retorque it, or do I have to slacken them all off and start again (possibly with another new head gasket)?

Cheers,
Iddy
(getting there slowly!)

Long shot before you do anything else, but is there enough thread on the stud to attach the steady bar and put another nut over the top?

Yes, just undo the one nut, put the bracket on and then re-torque.

I've done exactly the same and just undid the one bolt. I'm not happy to recommend it as a good solution, however loosening and retourquing all the bolts is not a good idea either ;-)

Provided you haven't run the engine it should be ok - but it should go on top of the head nut - with the long stud already suggested - and another nut on top to keep it on !

Yes, i think I did exactly the same silly thing once many years ago and I did get away with just removing the one bolt then re torqeuing that one.

you MAY get away with it too, or your mileage may vary...

Heh, not just me then! I did worry when I did it, but also ended up just taking the one head bolt off to replace it. I *think*, at least on the 1275 head, there's enough thread to put a bolt over the top. Certainly there's enough that I've been able to do that with my heater pipe, I can't remember why I wanted to now, but I did it anyway

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately there's not enough thread to put another nut on top.
Hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow and .....start her up! (if there was sound on the Forum I could use the "start .... your .... engines" sound bite from Nascars .
When I take some snaps I'll post them here (do you just add then to your signature?).
Iddy

If they're small enough you can add the to your sig (although they do slow the board down, so smaller files are preferred). If you have a hosting provider (you might have one with your ISP) then upload them to that, and place a link on the board.

To forget the head steady bracket! seems like we've all been there! It's a pity the stud's not a little longer as standard, for an extra nut. I've also worried about undoing one nut, but must admit to doing it! I kid myself that if I do it quickly it will be ok. Who am I kidding !!

les wrote:I kid myself that if I do it quickly it will be ok. Who am I kidding !!

Yes, I'm prone to that too!

Also make sure the bracket is fitted the correct way. The leg of the "L", where the steady fits, points down which does make the end steady nut harder to access but ensures the steady is more horizontal.