Morris Minor Owners Club

I haven't cleaned the headlining out of an early car (yet) but I have cleaned later headlinings and similar textured materials using a washing powder (daz or similar) and a scrubbing brush. This really gets into the grain of the material to clean the dirt. I would certainly recommend trying it on a discreet area first - just in case.

Thanks for the suggestion Philip.

After trying several cleaning products, a diluted multi-surface cleaner applied with a soft nail brush appears to be working well if a little slowly. I am trying the process out on the cardboard panel below the rear screen first.

So far so good.

Looks like it is working really well and is certainly lifting the dirt. The nail brush is a good idea, a bit softer than a scrubbing brush but still able to get into the grain of the material.

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It was the final strip down today for the shell before it is picked up tomorrow morning.

Final items to come off were the rear axle and leaf springs, petrol pipe, master cylinder and remaining hard brake lines, exhaust hanger under the rear seat and the asbestos heat shield under the passenger side floor.

I also stripped as much of the floor sound proofing material as I could which did seem a shame as it was in good condition but I have all the dimensions I need to replicate replacement in a similar material. Likewise, the last remaining sections of original 'course' carpet were removed from the cills. I have kept these as 'patterns' but I don't think a similar carpet type is available?

Last surprise was the 'welding' repair to the handbrake lever mount. I don't know if this was a weakness in the early cars but I think I am going to redo the work before paint.

The last two photos show why I'm going for the dip and strip process for this car. It is to eradicate the surface rust which has no doubt got into all the seams whilst retaining as much of the original metal as possible.

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Really interesting work. Just out of interest what was the three panel of the headliner made of and how was it covered. Are you intending to reuse the old headlining or make anew one.

Hi Andy, and thanks for your comment.

The central section of the early hard headlining is a very thin plywood whilst the two side panels and parcel shelf panel are made from a thicker card which can take the tighter curves.

I'm not sure what the covering material is but it has a slightly textured surface and is thin enough to be glued to the base materials and follow the curves.

I'll take some photos of the rear of the panels and post later so you can see what is going on.

I do intend to reuse the existing roof lining after careful cleaning as they are difficult to get hold of in this condition.

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Enviro Strip van and trailer arrived bang on time this morning just as the sun was coming up.

Shell was loaded in minutes. Separate panels took a little longer.

Expected return in around three weeks.

Still plenty to do in the meantime with the rear axle to overhaul and all the small bits of suspension bracketry etc.

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Hi Mike,

The shell and panels are coming back in a 2 pack primer which should highlight the areas of rust I know about and where any cosmetic welding is required.

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Started on the 'MM' axle teardown and I'm still finding date codes on parts such as the rear shock absorbers (1/53) which show they are also original items.

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The split case axle is putting up a good fight but I am making some progress. It appears to have been leaking for many years judging by the build up of sludge on the outside but I have now removed 67 years of crud from one half of the axle to reveal the serial numbers shown in the photo.

I presume the 8 / 43 is the axle ratio (5.375) and 4647 is the part number?

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The rear axle put up a good fight but I have managed to break it down as far as I want to go.

The pinion gear teeth looked good and their roller bearings sounded smooth and quiet so I didn't see the need to replace them or dismantle further. I will be fitting a new pinion seal however as that was a major source of one of the oil leaks.

The diff crown and planetary gears were all undamaged and they too felt smooth and 'tight', however both diff outer bearings were noisy and not smooth so they will be replaced, as will both wheel bearings (which had excessive play in) them and their seals which were the other oil leak sources.

The third photo shows my red paint lettering identifying left and right drive shafts so I put them back in as they came out ie rotating in the correct direction.

The piece of sticky tape with the arrow on is pointing to a very small 'hole' in the top of the axle casing which I am presuming is a vent point to release pressure inside the axle when it is rotating at speed? I only found it after a good clean.
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I can’t answer the question officially Mike but I can think of a couple of reasons.
This axle should be seen as being the ‘end of the line’ in terms of Morris development. It’s design was carried over from the Morris Series E which in turn used this design in the pre war Morris version and possibly further back as well.

Also the axle is a very heavy unit and requires a seven in leaf spring even on the Series II saloon.

And inevitably changes came about with the merger of Austin and Morris into ‘BMC’.

Hi Mike,

You can see in the above photos that I have the diff on the bench. I have removed the bearings it runs in as they are worn and will be replaced.

I thought I would just include a few illustrations from the MM manual regarding possible maintenance works to the split case axle so you can see how complex any overhauling work might be and why I pleased I didn't have to employ the dummy pinion shaft which I don't have!
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jagnut66 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 4:15 pm A considerably different in design to the Morris Minor axles that came after it.
I have to say it makes the later axles look simpler to maintain and live with but I doubt that was the official explanation for the change.
Does someone on here know what the official reason for the move from this type of casing to the later 'one piece' units was?
Best wishes,
Mike.

It was rationalisation, Mike. The replacement OHV version of the original SV engine, developed by Morris and due to be fitted to the Minor was ditched in favour of the then new 803 OHV A-Series Austin engine from the A30 with the merger of Austin and Morris to form BMC. The Morris gearbox and back axle were also superseded with Austin ones, but there was apparently some stock of axles left over so early SII cars had the MM axles (albeit with the 5.375:1 ratio rather than the 4.55:1 of the MM). So it was progress of sorts, but it’s generally believed that the Morris gearbox and axle were tougher than the Austin ones. The old Morris 918 was definitely tougher than the ‘fragile’ 803, but later versions of the A-Series made the change worthwhile!