Vintage Minor Register

Halbe, The back axle looks better than new!! What a finish - well done. Your photographs are also well taken and well reproduced and for anyone else doing a simular job, very helpful. Is there any chance you could publish a photo of your rear hubs? I would be interested to see if there is any difference from my 1933 hubs. I see the half shafts in the tray!! Re Ian's comment re grit getting under your cord binding - I do not think this will happen and how many of us wash off our springs that do not have bindings? Go for it. Highlander.

Halbe, the idea of binding with tape first, or even after cording, is to keep the grease in between the leaves from becoming contaminated with road dirt which affects the smoothness of the spring movement. I found the name of the tape most often used - Denso - which is apparently easy to get hold of. I know originally the springs didn't have any kind of covering but owners would tape them up themselves or fit leather gaiters. The main benefit from my point of view is that it makes it so much easier to keep everything clean.
Having read a bit more about it, it seems that cording is mainly to improve the contact between the greased leaves and not so much as a way of stiffening them. So they work more smoothly and that improves road holding. I now wish I had corded mine!
Cheers
Ian

Hello Ian,

Thanks for your comments
You are right in thinking that the corded springs shouldn't be stiffer than otherwise.
I'll keep mine as they are and keep a close eye on them for getting dirty without my permision
About the back axle I think that to get some extra strength build in is a good thing , metal fatigue could also be a consequence of unwanted motion in that area, so I'd be rather save than sorry with my 9/44 diff., a friend of mine is building a 85BHP MG P type racer and suggested this period mod.

Highlander: here are 2 pictures of my rearhubs.






Regards,
Halbe

Halbe,

Of course you are right, stiffening the axle can only be a good thing. I hope you will tell us how you get on.

Regarding photos of your hubs; these are the same as mine and I expect the most common type. I have fitted housings on the back to take a more modern oil seal. These are simply tin lids with the middle cut out which are just soldered on. They take Payen C.291 seals which are flexible and can be fiddled into the gap between the hub and the tin lid housing. I have been using them for years without getting oil on the brakes. The most difficult thing is finding a lid exactly the same size as the seal ( and anything much thicker than something like a tin lid will touch the backplate).

Cheers
Ian

The photos of the Halbes hubs are the very same as the the two hubs I got and fitted from Tony Gamble. The hubs I had taken off had this 'tin lid' mentioned but mine were, or looked, original - I have looked again aand they are not soldered on and are ribbed on top. My new hubs with the felt seal in the correct place work very well and I am back on the road. I have taken many photos but have not the skill to show you. Highlander.

Alister, e-mail me the pics and I will post them for you.

Ian, Thank you but I cannot e.mail photo either. My Grandaughters can and I will send them this week end. Highlander.

progress report,

Last night I finished the strengthening of the rear axle.
I decided that if i were to connect the two sides, the increase in strength would be enough and on the outside no one could see the difference.
I used a 5 inch piece of thread and connected it all by leaving the thread in place on the casing and bolting everything up on the inside.



Now it's bearing and seal time.

Regards,
Halbe

Loking good Halbe. Just make sure you oput the diff. in the right weay up, so you don't end up with three reverse gears and one forward!

Of course, the chassis is the easy stuff - I'll be interested to see how the coachwork and fabric progresses!

Me too

But if I put the diff. in Back to the future I'll be OK
3 forward gears and no way back

Halbe

progress report,

Today I fitted the new bearing to the front hubs.
They are new sealed bearings made by SKF.
Inner bearing Nr:6205-2RSH
Outer bearing Nr:6304-2RSH





Regards,

Halbe

progress report,

Today I was working on the brakes and before i have them relined can anyone tell me the correct thickness of the lining?

Also another question, the two knobs below the dashboard have a different pattern . Which one is the right one or are both original



I also made 16 nuts for the diff. in the right pattern, i think i have just crossed the line between being smart and totally mad




Regards,
Halbe

Tony; thank you for the body drawing

Hi Halbe
The knobs look like mine.
Ken

Hello Ken,

That would make sense, the fuel mixture is "push/pull "and the slow running knob is made for turning.
I just wanted to be sure that this layout is correct for my car
Any thoughts about the standard thickness for the brake linings?

Regards,
Halbe

Halbe, this all looks fantastic and a real credit to you.