Morris Minor Owners Club

in fact here's the picture from page 89 for comparison[frame][/frame]

cleaning up the tiny gearbox components, one by one, the smallest parts are no less important, the rounded detents in the centre of the picture holds the gear forks and selector levers in position.[frame][/frame]

the first one goes in right after the reverese gear lever is inserted, with one end of the detent sitting in the recess in the lever shown. This allows just enough room for the 1/2 gear selector lever to pass through the hole in the back wall of the box.[frame][/frame]

Dave
I can tell from the updates that you're really enjoying the gearbox refurb. Luckily, the majority of it , seems to be in really good nick.
Bob

that's it Bob, I'm so pleased it looks to be well usable, getting it back together correctly is the thing now, the detents and balls, some have springs, some do not, like this unsprung small ball, I placed the large one in there, it jammed in and I had to dismantle the forks and levers just to poke it out again with a piece of wire.[frame][/frame]

while it was all apart again, I managed to loosen the reverse gear shaft and rotate it enough for it's securing screw to go into the hole let into the shaft.[frame][/frame]

the great thing about this rebuild, it may be the longest gearbox refurbishment in history, but it doesn't matter when it's the spare unit. I can pop into the workshop when I have a spare minute and tinker with it, progress is pleasantly slow, but today I fitted two small cleaned up pieces.
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ball sizes. right now it's a pre occupation for me. There is no indication anywhere in the maint manual which ball fits were with regard to the large two and the four small. It just casually says, drop a ball in here, slide a ball in there with no mention of large or small. I don't want to get one of the large ones' jammed in where a small one should go... experimentation and a length of wire is the key I expect.[frame][/frame]

The detents must be a good fit. As I recall all the drillings in the casting are 1/4 inch so the ball needs to be nominally 1/4 inch. The smaller ones are used in the gears themselves.

thank you for that very helpful tip J, that sheds a lot of light on the problem. I need to start again.

the gearbox is still on the cards, but a quick job that's been waiting a while is the long tools, I've seen these in red elsewhere on these pages and they look nice. Next thing to work out is where I'm going to stow it on Alice, the gap between the seat and nearside floor lip/sill looks favourite, need to make some spring clips to stop it wandering across the floor.[frame][/frame]

these bits have been languishing on the spares rack in the garage, they are part of the original bottle jack, I think. I'm not sure where these would have been stored on a brand new pickup. (I'm using a modern jack at the moment) I have no idea what the loop is for on the right
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The loop is for a piece of wood that is used to twist the handle to operate the jack.

cheers Neil, I'm missing a piece of wooden handle, I'm going to have to rasher one up.
The Clips were found in B&Q, just the right size for the crank handle/wheelnut brace. screw holes for wood or rivet holes if going into metal.[frame][/frame]

I'm not keen on piercing the cab floor, so an alternative position for me is here on my bits box/cubby hole lid, where I keep both my jacks.[frame][/frame]

Ok, it's not original, but it is neat and tidy, a place for everything and everything in it's place.
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If you put some heat shrink tube over the prongs of the spring clips it will protect your fresh paint.

You can get powder coated clips if you want to go all out! Btw just noticed you haven't got the rubber gasket between the cab back and the floor. Its designed to keep water at bay.

that's good advice Roni, I've got some of that heat shrink tubing on order, Les, I left that gasket off so It didn't trap moisure at the bottom of the cab back, there's space underneath for it to evaporate, maybe I'm wrong and it will all go south in a few years, but so far no sign of corrosion

A brand new part arrived today, so up on axle stand.[frame][/frame]

the Front offside tye rod/bar was a problem at the last MOT, So I replaced with new, now it's the drivers side, it wasn't mentioned on the advisories, but as there was new shiney metal one side, I have to even her up. Anyway on close examination it's not straight, so ...[frame][/frame]

the new one from ESM, ordered yesterday, and, as always, arrived this morning.[frame][/frame]

the old one cut away, I have treated myself to a modern welding helmet with auto darkening , this includes a grinding function, absolutly brilliant, if only I'd had this during my resto.[frame][/frame]

out with the old, in with the new, the brand new yolk fits in position first, the nut and bolt are well machined and they feel great to put togther.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

tightening up the forward nut as hard as possible to bring the bar forward, this gives me a much needed slack at the rear end.[frame][/frame]

the yolk and rear end of the rod are now ready to lever together.[frame][/frame]

the best method I have found for getting the holes to line up is this. A thin bladed screwdriver that sits neatly inside the yoke, braced against the old raised nut held withing the two flanges of the wishbone arm, you can manouver the lining up of the holes until the bolt drops through, bit of a fiddle but you get there in the end.[frame][/frame] then simply relieve the pressure on the rubber bushes, add the locking split pin and add a wheel.

now I have two brand new tie bars fitted, time for a well earned cup of tea[frame][/frame]

following Roni's advice, I got got some heat shrink rubber tube, it's a pack with various lengths and widths, very handy. The clips won't scratch my nice fresh paint on my tyre lever/starting crank handle. So simple to use, just slip it over the metal clip, cut to length and drop the clip into a container of freshly boiled water, Job done.

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Dave
A couple of neat jobs done. Have you done anything like this before ??
Good job ( s ).
Bob