Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi folks
Please can anyone advise on removing the large starting handle dog nut that holds the pulley on to the front of the crankshaft? I have the engine out, have tried wedges of wood between crank & block, have tried a bar through holes in an old clutch housing to immobilise the crank, and used a large adjustable wrench and a lump hammer. All to no avail!

Also, while checking over this engine prior to fitting in my car, I found a small pool of water on top of number 2 piston, the cylinder bore was covered in a very fine dusting of rust. It wipes away without any trouble, but is this a cause for concern do you think? The rest of the engine seems fine. The water was there because the head gasket had failed, water in no. 2 & oil in no. 3! The engine has stood in a dry shed for about a year, and had only done about 8,000 miles since rebuild prior to that.

Not quite the bargain I supposed when I bought it on ebay !!!!

Try this, I had a similar problem earlier - I managed ok, but had the gearbox on for support of the star drill I used to jam the flywheel.

http://www.morrisminoroc.co.uk/index.ph ... pic&t=9124

Thanks for that Shawn

Hello Dominic,

a simple light steel bracket can also be fabricated to bolt to the rear engine plate and pick up one of the clutch mounting holes on the flywheel. This will lock the engine and give you both hands free.
Ideally a ring spanner rather than the adjustable will be more effective as there is a lot of 'spring' in an adjustable. A good solid hit with the hammer should shock the dog off quite easily.

Alec

make sure you have bent the lock washer back - then many bangs witha wee heavy on a large wrench did the job for me! I don't like wedging the crank with wood - i just rely on the engine inertia (flywheel still fitted) - you could conceivably burst the block with the wood! If it still won't move - you can try heating the dog with a gas blowtorch - and then letting it cool before having another go. You will obviously need to renew the gaskets and seals - and the timing chain will have taken a battering too. Oh and sorry, it may sound obvious - but are you turning it the right way!

Hi Chaps, thanks for the info. I am presuming it is the standard thread, if it were left handed it would tend to loosen when using the starting handle?

Yup

Thanks for all your help chaps, I now have a shiny reconditioned crankshaft pulley in place. I replaced the timing chain (rather worn!) oil seal (damaged lip) and gaskets as you suggested bmcecosse. I immobilised the crankshaft by bolting a spare engine back plate to the flywheel, with the dowel in the flywheel bearing against the edge of the plate. It all worked very smoothly! Hopefully this weekend will see the engine swap take place!

If you can find a crankshaft damper to fit instead of the standard crank pulley - it does smooth the engine out a little. Also - i always put a bit of loctite on the starter dog bolt - that way it doesn't need to be stupidly tight, but still stays put!

I made sure the lock tabs on the washer were well bent over, as well as being as tight as I could manage with the 1 5/16" spanner. As it about 16" long, with my weight full on, it must be around the specified torque I guess! As you say, not stupidly tight!
Not quite sure what you mean by a crankshaft damper however....
When I recondition the original engine, I'll see if I can find one!
Back to the garage for me for now!
Cheers

It's the same diameter - but thicker with a heavy steel outer rim mounted on rubber to the central core. Fitted to all East-West 1098 engines as standard, and to all 1275 engines.