Morris Minor Owners Club

The bush that fits in the fly wheel to take the first motion spigot .mine looks good with no visible wear it is a nice fit on the shaft but you can push it in with your finger into the fly wheel ( but not a sloppy fit) is it ok to secure this with thread / bearing lock or should I just get a new one

The spigot bush fits into the rear of the crankshaft not the flywheel.

If you can push it in and out with little effort it is time to get a new bush.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CRANKSHAFT-S ... 3b39972627

I have just stripped a 948cc engine and the spigot bush was so worn that when I upended the engine the spigot bush just fell out.

Thanks for your reply yes crankshaft not fly wheel

The bush is formed from a oil retaining material 'Oilite' and is not brass or similar.
The bush will benefit from being soaked in engine oil overnight before fitting.

The bush is formed from a oil retaining material 'Oilite' and is not brass or similar.
The bush will benefit from being soaked in engine oil overnight before fitting.

That was something I didn't know, so duly noted Phil.
Best wishes,
Mike.

I short-circuit the soaking process - I have a bag of quite old porous items. I submerge the item in lube and exhaust the air above with my high vacuum pump. Any air is soon expanded from the pores and lube replaces same when returning to atmospheric pressure. I expect heating and cooling, while submerged in lubricant, will also speed up the process.

New oilite bearings are, of course, impregnated with lube at manufacture.

Vacuum pump was not sourced for this specific purpose, of course (another use is de-gassing wines to speed up the clearing process, for example. ).

oliver90owner
You are correct in that the oilite bearing should be impregnated with oil at manufacture but there are oilite bushes and oilite bushes and it is better to be safe in the knowledge that the spigot bush is well oiled.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oilite