Morris Minor Owners Club

I'd like to replace the upper and lower felt bushes which on the steering column. Having looked at the manual, there are not specific instructions for replacing these, so I would appreciate any advice. I'm assuming that the general procedure is remove steering wheel, remove indicator switch (is this necessary?) and remove the outer tube.

Any tips appreciated.

Thanks,

Ryan

Unless the play is excessive I would leave well alone...

You can remove the top felt, work in some grease and tease the fibres out slightly and replace it 'inside out' by rolling it the other way after removing the wheel ...Should then be good for another 50,000 miles

The new felts Ive seen are generally useless ie more sloppy than your old one after a few weeks use....

Taupe

I have seen somewhere that the Mini plastic items fit and are superior to the felt ones.

Can anyone confirm this?

Don

I did some searching. Found it here:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=67538&p=615202&hili ... sh#p615202

Probably should not say this, but in the past I pushed a cocktail stick into the bush to tighten up the felt bush. I did replace the bush 10 years later.
Is this bad?

Well it worked - and no damage done. So should really be in 'Useful Tips' section

If the felt bushes have shrunk / dried out drizzling a little light oil down into them may help. a) it helps lubrication and b) the felt will expand and stop creaking. Now how to stop the creaking from the column against the parcel shelf - it is a 948 smaller shelf so abuts the column rather than passing thru a hole in the compressed card.....

Oiling the felt bushes in the steering column is part of the regular lubrication schedule prescribed for all Minors, but may be missed by many owners.

simmitc wrote: ↑Sun May 10, 2020 11:57 am Oiling the felt bushes in the steering column is part of the regular lubrication schedule prescribed for all Minors, but may be missed by many owners.

Really?
I know the felt is a 1000 feature, but I've read the Lubrication details in the Workshop Manual P/PP/PPP and I've seen nothing about the steering column with regard Lube, neither the Felt or the earlier Rubber Sleeve. Was it in the Owner Handbook for 1000 models?

I'm still having trouble with the Rubber sleeve on Basil's steering column working loose because of it being dragged by the rotation of the steering. I had hoped a bit of light oil would allow the column to move freely.

I can confirm the nylon bush from a Mini fits the upper of the column, had that mod a few years now and all is good, eliminating the slop. The lower bush is felt still.

The new felts as someone else mentioned just make matters worse, with even more play.

Thanks everyone for the tips/advice - I think the first thing I will do is inject some oil down there, but failing that I may go for the Mini upgrade!

I had the same wobbly steering column problem and was about to order a new piece of felt, but thanks to the advice above I’ve now ordered a plastic collar from a Mini parts supplier. Thanks to both of the members above for the great tip about the Mini modification.