Morris Minor Owners Club

hi all,

was continuing the work on the newly purchased 2 door, to find that the gearbox was almost completely dry and the brake and clutch pedals were extremely wobbly.

popped the gearbox cover off, took off the clutch pedal and found an extremely worn shaft. new clutch pedal assembly to be ordered along with a new bush for the brake.

now - should i be checking anything else since i've got the linkage exposed? any other bushes etc. that normally wear out that i should replace whilst everything is off?

The two bushes either side of the chassis leg?

The adjusting rod - look for wear where it has the "hook" as it will cut through and break with time - wire coat hanger can "get you home". Check clevis pins for wear. Connecting plates and relay shaft should have round holes in which the pins are a good fit. The bushes in which the relay shaft sits. Basically everything that you can see.

....and check the clutch return spring is in good condition.

Thanks all. Yes, has all the oilite bushes in the basket along with the pedal and shaft. Will check the other bits and bobs mentioned here and report back!

Look after your Gearbox good parts are getting harder to find.
I had 3 boxes to make 1 nice one.

It is rare for the bushes in the chassis leg to wear but it is good that you have the bushes just in case. The bushes in both the brake pedal and the chassis rail may need to be reamed - if they do you will need a 5/8" reamer.
Whilst you have got the pedals out why not fit a grease nipple to the brake pedal as I have done. An easy job and alleviates any future problems as regards wear. The angle of the grease nipple fitment means that I can access the grease nipple just by lifting the carpet (that is I had any fitted ) You can fit a grease nipple to the inner end of the clutch pedal shaft after centre drilling the shaft to a depth corresponding to the center of the chassis rail inner bush and then a single half depth cross drilling to let the grease get to the bush.
A grease nipple can be fitted to the outer end of the clutch shaft but it is not absolutely necessary as you can lubricate the bush from under the vehicle without difficulty.
Good luck what ever you do.

Phil

If the gearbox is almost dry, the gearbox rear seal may be worn, allowing the oil to leak out.
Also the third and fourth gear selector fork may be getting worn.

Thanks all.

Phil - how would I go about drilling for the grease nipples? I have no precision tooling, but do have perseverance!

Newagetraveller - I'm hoping it's just the old owner leaving it in a garage for years and a slow drip leak. Probably just wishful thinking and I'm a long way before I trust this car with a fast or long drive to test it!

Perseverance is the most important tool in the box.

All you need is a drill, a drill bit, a tap and of course the grease nipple.....

Drilling the central hole through the pedal shaft is the difficult task and I did the last one by setting up the pedal shaft in the lathe using a fixed steady so I would give that a miss for now. You can oil both chassis leg bearings using oil but having the grease nipples is best as it makes sure the grease gets to where it is wanted.

The pedal shaft central hole/grease nipples are not so important as the brake pedal grease nipple as that is where most of the wear takes place.

I will look out the brake pedal with grease nipple in the morning and get back to you with the technical details i.e. grease nipple size, tapping drill and the tap required.

Phil

Fantastic,much appreciated again!

Details of the grease nipple fitting to the brake pedal as promised.

The grease nipple used is a 90 degree nipple with a 1/4" UNF thread.

You will need to use a 5.5mm drill to drill the hole in the pedal boss as the tapping drill size.

You will then need to tap the hole with a 1/4" UNF x 28 Threads Per Inch (TPI) taper tap followed by a 2nd cut tap.
The photos above will give you the relevant position of the grease nipple on the boss.

Two things to make sure of:- 1. The grease nipple when turned clears the flank of the pedal. 2 The grease nipple does not protrude into the hole through which the shaft passes.