Morris Minor Owners Club

Is this assembly correct ? I haven’t got the manual with me, where I’m working, and foolishly didn’t observe the positioning before dismantling. The left hand spring is not sitting vertically ? I think the shoes are in the correct orientation to each other ? I had a struggle fitting them, is why I’m querying it.

Moving to "Mechanical" as it's not really "Bodywork"

Assembly looks good to me, glad to see the beehive springs in place and the return springs on the inside of the shoes

Yes sorry, more relevant in Mechanical.

Looks good. Well done on the dreaded beehive springs!

Stephen

Shoes with large flat to Fixed Block and 'pointy end' to Piston
Springs behind Shoes with 'double coil spring to Piston side
Beehives fitted

All looks fine to me.
The first time I did my brakes, I messed up and fitted springs in front of shoes,... but only on one side.
Must've got distracted.....

Thanks for all comments, one more thing if I may. I’m replacing the bearing while I’m there, however the bearing I have is sealed, whereas the original was standard, I have ordered a standard bearing (open) as I think packing with grease would be better. What is the advantages of a sealed bearing ? I presume they are grease filled.

Modern bearing are often packed with grease and 'sealed for life'; on the principle that if it's sealed the grease can't escape, so reducing maintenance and the chances that it will fail due to lack of lubrication.

I thought that the rear bearings were lubricated by the diff oil.

Correct - the rear wheel bearings are lubricated by the oil in the rear axle.
There is a trend to use sealed bearings for the rear hub of a Minor. The sealed bearing is in some ways better than the open seal as crud/metal particles in the axle oil cannot get into the bearing and cause problems.
Dependent upon the way the bearing is sealed a down side is that the hub seal may not get enough oil to lubricate the lip of the seal and the seal gets torn/damaged and fails.
There has been some previous discussion on the matter of sealed rear wheel bearings on this forum and very mixed reviews were given.

paul 300358 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 10:38 am I thought that the rear bearings were lubricated by the diff oil.

Yes, as originally intended and designed; but I imagine the bearings we get now, just as with the bearings fitted 70 years ago, are simply the appropriate size, 'off-the-shelf'.
Bearings back then were always supplied as made, for lubrication how the user wished.
Depending on the level of storage protection, they might have been protected with some very thick grease and wrapped in greaseproof paper. The end user would then spend time washing it out in spirit before lubricating to their required spec.
Now they come manufactured for fit n'forget.....
As the non sealed alternatives are still in circulation, I guess it's down to user preference, taking into account Phil's comments about the lack of lubrication to the hub seals.

I was looking for some general purpose grease today, found some and noticed printed along with other stuff, that it was usable up to 5 years from manufacture date. I didnt know that !! Regarding sealed V open bearings, I’m going for open. Apparently ESM supply ones made by FAG, the sealed ones I have are SKF.

les wrote: ↑Thu Apr 25, 2024 8:01 pm I was looking for some general purpose grease today, found some and noticed printed along with other stuff, that it was usable up to 5 years from manufacture date. I didnt know that !!

Yes, lubricants etc have a shelf life.
When I was in the RAF (heavens knows what they do now, there's so many contractors involved instead of uniformed engineers) all packaged Oils, Lubricants, Glues, etc had a date of manufacture and shelf life on the container.
If at the work-face you found your forward holding had gone out of date, it was quarantined, and the the Supply system would check to see if it had been extended.
Basically, if there was a lot of a particular batch still available, some sampling would take place to see if it could be given an extension to it's shelf life.
Every month a list would be published of what was extended and what was to be disposed of. It wasn't uncommon to be using a tub/tube of grease or glue with a couple of life extensions written on the container in permanent marker, e.g. 'ext **/** ' (month/year).

It always struck me as odd that for example, you could use a tube of grease on 28 February and it would then be doing it's function for possibly many years, but on 1 March you had to bin it....
The disposal bin was always worth looking through if you wanted some grease or glue at home, recycling instead of going to waste.....

Well that was a surprise to me. You’re always learning !
Thanks for your post.

Interesting discussion on the matter here (including Geoberni's point about aircraft industry practice):-

https://www.emtbforums.com/threads/does ... ate.35899/

Having just checked the various greases and lubricant I have (at least 10) non of them have a use by or sell by date.
So long as the grease is in a sealed container it will not deteriorate.
I would agree with the argument for regular quality control/testing of lubricants used in the aircraft industry.

The grease in question that I have, was manufactured 5 years ago last week ! I took a chance and used it