Oil pressure t piece

[philthehill]

It is not the end of the world and these things happen.
Just put it down to experience.
Phil

[geoberni]

Phil linked to some interesting designs.
I agree SYKES PICKAVANT are a very good brand. That one on his first link I've never seen before. It's hard to see how that works.
I've used lots of such tools in my RAF career, removing all sorts of fasteners in all manner of situations and difficult places.
The problem I've had in the past with the very expensive one Phil linked to is that it is very good when it works, but required the precise drilling of the broken fastener before banging home the correct size parallel extractor. Great in theory, difficult in practice.

I've always found the most effective to be the Reverse Screw type.

I'm assuming you hadn't screwed that adaptor in so hard that it snapped off while simply trying to turn it the other direction....
You've already got a nice hole down the centre, any tapered opposite thread style extractor should easily do it.

My reasoning in suggesting one used with an electric drill was that with a very slow speed but good torque, it would be more effective than trying by hand in a restricted space.
But I guess it depends if you have a good quality electric drill that would let you do that.

[philthehill]

This looks to be a useful tool to remove the broken part of the 'T' piece. Will not break the bank either.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5PC-SCREW-RE ... SwBMhfVOYs

Looks to be similar to the Sykes Pickavant broken stud removing tools in my first link.

I have bought a set (as per the link above) as it may be worth a punt.

[MorrisJohn]

Your assumption is correct Berni. And thanks again to both chaps for your advice. It is a tool I should invest in for the future.

I’ve got some help coming round tomorrow morning. A friend of mine who’s an aircraft engineer and knows Morris Minors well, he’s bringing some tools with him.

I think the plan is to use a reverse screw type extractor with a ratchet socket on it and do it carefully by hand.

All being well the original fitting will be put back in while I await a replacement part.

I’ll let you guys know tomorrow how it has gone.

I'm assuming you hadn't screwed that adaptor in so hard that it snapped off while simply trying to turn it the other direction....

[philthehill]

Once you have removed the broken stub of the 'T' piece and to remove any possibility of the same thing happening again I would suggest that you obtain and fit one of the adapters in the link below:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CLASSIC-MINI ... 4633078441
Ignore the fact that it says oil temp take off - it is in fact a oil pressure take off. I have bought one and it does the job perfectly. If the 'T' piece broke in the adapter as has already happed in the block there would be no major issues.
Also it is as cheap as a new 'T' piece.

[panky]

I like that idea so I've just bought one for Ted the traveller. Always had trouble with the dizzy hitting the 'T' piece so this should sort it out. Thanks Phil

[MorrisJohn]

Thanks Phil, might just buy that.

Just an update, the stubborn thing wouldn’t budge with a couple of different removal tools.

Tomorrow the engine is coming out, we reckon it’s going to need drilled. And then probably flushed out to remove any splinters of metal.

All this to install a couple of gauges

[philthehill]

A couple of tips for when drilling.

Heavily grease the drill before use. Wipe the grease and caught metal chips off the drill frequently. Re-grease the drill before re-drilling.

Use a high power vacuum cleaner next to the drilling to catch any stray metal chips.

Good luck.
Phil

[MorrisJohn]

Thanks for the drilling tips, I will be sure to do that.

[Myrtles Man]

You could try drilling with a left-handed bit as they sometimes cause the sheared bolt to unscrew as they cut into it:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/19033698442?iid=353282179525

[philthehill]

The broken stud removers shown in my link above have arrived and look to be more than suitable for the job.
I have tried the No: 2 extractor which is 4.5mm sq. (the one I would have used for extracting the broken 'T' piece) for durability by placing it in a vice and used a well loaded 8" adjustable spanner to twist or break the extractor - neither happened.
I consider that the loading was more than would have been required to extract the broken remains of the 'T' piece.
No doubt the extractor would have twisted or broken with excessive loading placed on it but with a sensible loading was perfectly OK.
So not bad for a cheap extractor set.
Phil

[MorrisJohn]

Thanks for the further assistance gents. I will keep you posted with the progress.

[MorrisJohn]

Gentlemen, thank you to all who provided advice in relation to this problem. Much, in fact pretty much all, of the advice given was put to use.

After an hours work this evening my friend managed to remove the dastardly thing, with no apparent damage to the threads. We tried lots. In the end, after drilling some of it out with gradually increasing in size greasy drill bits, a removal tool like the one Phil suggested (except it was a Snap On) did the trick and got it turning.

Any swarf appeared to be minimal, we got most out, but we are going to flush the engine through with oil to be on the safe side.

It’s also given an excuse to refurbish the front engine mounts, put in new rubber mount blocks and refurbish the fan.

[philthehill]

Well done.

The tool used is near identical to the Sykes Pickavant item.

The adapter I suggested (link above) replaces the 1" hexagon bolt just above the broken 'T' piece.

[MorrisJohn]

Thanks Phil. Yes, I’ve ordered that adaptor. Seemed like a more sensible place to run off the line for the pressure gauge. I assume that pipe will still fit into that adaptor okay, what with it being a rigid pipe?

Well done.

The tool used is near identical to the Sykes Pickavant item.

The adapter I suggested (link above) replaces the 1" hexagon bolt just above the broken 'T' piece.

[geoberni]

Well Done.
You must've really tightened that up a lot for it to take that much effort....
I was expecting it to come out a lot easier than that.

[philthehill]

The adapter will fit as it is basically no different to the existing bolt but has the extra depth to the head to accommodate the oil pipe adapter.
Just to be absolutely certain check the length of the adapter where it goes through the pipe banjo against the old bolt before fitting. The new adapter may need a slight fettle. I would recommend that you fit new copper washers.
Phil

[MorrisJohn]

Well Done.
You must've really tightened that up a lot for it to take that much effort....
I was expecting it to come out a lot easier than that.

Yeah, I must have (never again!) We thought it would have come out easier too. Thanks for your help.

The adapter will fit as it is basically no different to the existing bolt but has the extra depth to the head to accommodate the oil pipe adapter.
Just to be absolutely certain check the length of the adapter where it goes through the pipe banjo against the old bolt before fitting. The new adapter may need a slight fettle. I would recommend that you fit new copper washers.
Phil

Thanks Phil. If I have any queries on it I’ll come back to you on a new thread, if that’s okay. A bit of plain sailing wouldn’t go a miss though!

[MCYorks]

Once you have removed the broken stub of the 'T' piece and to remove any possibility of the same thing happening again I would suggest that you obtain and fit one of the adapters in the link below

That adapter looks like a good idea and like you say, as cheap as a new 'T' piece. I may well buy one myself.
My personal preference, would be to fit the pressure switch on the banjo adaptor and connect the gauge to the original pressure switch location on the oil gallery. Thus doing away with the 'T' piece altogether. The oil pressure at the banjo is before the filter, so it will be slightly higher than the oil gallery pressure, which is after the filter. That said, the pressure drop across the filter should be minimal unless it's really clogged.

[philthehill]

The description of a full flow oil filter fitted to the Minor is a bit of a misnomer in that not all oil goes through the filter.
There is a blocked filter valve which allows oil to bypass the filter in the event the filter is blocked. The strength of the spring holding the valve shut is only around 3 lb in sq so the valve is open most of the time allowing unfiltered oil to pass to the galleries.
With the earlier filter heads this can be overcome by blocking off the valve so that all oil goes through the filter.
I was going to post pictures of a early filter head bypass valve conversion I have carried out but the system will currently not allow me to do so.