Morris Minor Owners Club

hello all,

I've recently been caught up in a flurry of advice as to what to do about my pulley, now that my engine is out of the van.

The pulley itself appears in excellent nick, it's probably the original one (1971), it has a couple of very slight wobbles in its rim but absolutely no sign of fatigue (yes I know metal fatigue often starts microscopically and you can't see it until it's too late ) and all in all it seems to be a goodie.

However.

People have been mentioning fitting solid pulleys, to guard against the pretty catastrophic failure which can happen with the two-part type.

Also, someone has mentioned to me that a pulley/damper is even better, as the central rubber core helps guard the bearings and crankshaft against excess vibration and wear (I hope I've summed that up right).

I gather that if I did fancy getting one of these pulley/damper doohickeys then I should be looking for one off a 998 or 1098 Mini.

Anyone got any pearls of wisdom to cast before me before I decide what to do? Experience, tips, cautions - you know the kind of stuff

Cheers!

Juliet xx

also from a midget

does the midget one also have the rubber core dude?

pretty certain

will check the torque wrench have not forgotten

aupickup wrote:will check the torque wrench have not forgotten

aiiii - cheers mate

A crank damper is a good idea if you intend to run at high revs. From any Mini 1275 engine - don't think the 998 had a damper - maybe the later ones.

Juliet, I have one sitting at home ( the solid cast type) which may need a home

Nikki

The 998 and 1098 Minis I've had certainly had them, although somewhere in the distant past I seem to remember fitting one of my spares to a Mini as it didn't have one, but I could be very wrong about that.

Anyone know if a 1275 one fits a 1098?

The one from the 1275 ital will fit the 1098 (and vice versa if you wanted to remove the crank damper for some insane reason)...

Multiphonikks wrote:Juliet, I have one sitting at home ( the solid cast type) which may need a home

Nikki

ooh cheers nikki! would you recommend that one? or should i look for one of these high-falutin' ones with a rubber core?

juliet xx

does the midget one also have the rubber core dude?

my midget engine does.

so do both of mine....

998 Cooper engine had the damper - but the early 998 standard engines did not - I have fitted many a damper from 1275 engines onto a series of 998 engines. In fact apart from Cooper I don't think even the A+ 998 had the damper. They are all interchangeable.

soooooooooooooooo.... should i be trying to lay my hands on one of these damper ones, or just refitting the apparently decent original spec one i have in my living room at the moment?

If you are running with an alternator, then it's worth to consider a different pulley. The increased load due to need for a tighter fanbelt will not cause instant failure but anyone who knows S-N curves will know that if you increase a cyclic load by a small percentage, you can reduce the lifetime of the component drastically.

I doubt you'll be able to tell the difference of using a damped pully but that doesn't mean that they aren't better - lets face it if they didn't give a benefit they'd never have een made in the frst place as they are more complex and cost more to make.

Juliet,

PM Me... You can have mine

It's brand new too! But I won't need it!

The sold + rubber dampers are much more robust - and they do help to prolong crank life and timing chain life if the engine is being hammered. But if it's just for pottering - don't bother!

i'm floundering a bit here, cos this is all new to me.... so am i right in thinking that you are all saying that in my alternator-fitted van:

a solid pulley is better than a standard one

and

a rubber-cored pulley would be even better?

Yes.

And a rubber cored one may well be the cheapest/ easiest to source if you go s/h - Plenty of Mini and Metro bits kicking around, and I've yet to have a rubber cored one fail on me (and I've driven some rather neglected cars rather harshly).

It's one of those "not really necessary, but so cheap it doesn't make sense not to" type parts, IMO. Especially if the engine's already out for any reason

wibble_puppy wrote:i'm floundering a bit here, cos this is all new to me.... so am i right in thinking that you are all saying that in my alternator-fitted van:

a solid pulley is better than a standard one

and

a rubber-cored pulley would be even better?

Basically yep, for the reasons Ray stated. I completely agree that with the extra tightness and therefore load on the standard pulley (which is 2 halves riveted or spot-welded together) that the alternator produces (well it's belt) might cause the original pulley to fail, so the solid pulley would be better.

Actually I have never seen a solid pulley WITHOUT the rubber insert. But any solid one will do.