8 replies to this topic

[205 tref]

i'm going to have to move the mini out of the garage briefly to scrap a 205, so i'll ask a question now so i can get parts in early...

basically, last times the car was driven, the steering felt... bad, at speed particularly. hard to put a description on it, but it felt a bit floppy and loose generally, so's you'd not be tempted to explore mini handling!

i've already got fresh shocks and knuckles for the front (which was a bit low).

the old shocks look visually well past their best, so i'm happy to bin them.

what i'm wondering is, should i be looking more in the direction of the swivel ball joints than the rack? there weren't any bad noises from the steering and at parking speeds it was neat enough, but possibly a little too much play.

i've been under tehre and the gaiters around the swivel ball joints are wrecked.

not sure what previous owners were trying to achieve with car. i notice that the upper strut brackets are stamped 'MOWOG'. is this normal, or indicative of retrofitting of parts?

car is '82 mayfair.

finally, anyone know what size the dirty great bolt at the top of the rubber cone assembly is? it's definitely bigger than 32mm...

hope i'm not asking silly questions, just don't really have time to replace swivel joints and then discover it's rack out time afterwards; need the car MOT'd PDQ as house move looming! :eek:

[dklawson]

It will not hurt to look at the ball joints. Remember they are adjustable. However, while you are working on the front end, be sure to look at all the suspension bushings to make sure they are not perished. Sometimes the lower arm bushes can collapse and not even be detected without removing them. Also while you have the ball joints apart will be a good time to check the rod ends on the rack. You may find they are worn. This would have shown up as excessive freeplay in the steering wheel while driving.

[205 tref]

ok, i'll add a couple of track rod ends to the shopping list...

[Dan]

The subframe tower bolts need a 1 & 5/16" socket (not to be confused with a 15/16" socket).

MOWOG was the name of a large silver back gorilla kept at Longbridge to tighten up flywheel bolts, disc brake hub nuts and other high torque fittings. He spent most of his break times (and free time when everyone else was on strike) painting his name on car parts in his boredom, as such lots of original parts have MOWOG written on them somewhere. Check your rear subframe for proof!

(MOWOG is supposed to stand for MOrris WOlseley Garages / Group, this was a name for one of the companies that formed the BMC but was never used as the official name to my knowledge, for some reason many parts were stamped with this name right up to the end of Mini production)

[dklawson]

I think MOWOG was the half-brother of the character Mongo in the movie "Blazing Saddles".

I first saw MOWOG on many of the castings used on early MGBs. I saw it less and less on cars after the 1970s.

[205 tref]

1 & 5/16"? no wonder i don't have anything to fit them!

a recurring theme i've found running through minis and metros is the wildly large nut sizes for such small cars... especially when compared to fords and pugs!

lol @ gorilla! I like that explanation! It's just a word you hear bandied about so much when people are trying to talk up their bits on the 'bay that i was wondering if someone had been fitting bits that shouldn't be there...

cheers guys! off to go buy a BIG socket then...

since i'm now ordering bits from minispares i wish i'd hung on and got the rubber thingy compressor from them too... in an attempt to save on postage i got the one from huddersfield instead and while it may well work, it looks like i''ll be forever living in fear of losing bits of it. i can see why there isn't a pic on the web!

[Dan]

1 & 5/16"? no wonder i don't have anything to fit them!

Definitely get one, you'll need it. There are several nuts on a Mini of this size. 34mm is nearly an equivalent but not quite and will rapidly damage any 1 & 5/16" nuts it is used on (especially at the torque levels required for the front hub nuts for example). There are however some 34mm nuts on later cars or new parts so really you need both sockets. You will also need a 1 & 1/2" extra deep reach socket to do the ball joints, Halfords have an ideal socket for this on the shelf.

[205 tref]

cool, thx for the socket info...

the way these socket sizes are going if we carried the whole toolkit round in the boot we'd *need* the self levelling lights!

Edited by 205 tref, 30 April 2008 - 07:06 PM.

[Aus]

With the bonnet open and drivers window open, lean in and wiggle the steering wheel whilst looking into the engine bay. I'll put money on your subframe mounts are past their best and the engine will move about inside the engine bay.

The ultimate solution is to junk the rubber bushes between the towers and the subby. For the best compromise setup replace the front and rear mounts with standard rubber mounts. I believe Minispares now do a kit that has a nylon bush to go between the frame and body and an alloy one that goes on the top between the bolt and the bulkhead

Edited by Aus, 30 April 2008 - 07:18 PM.