gday all,

i'm going to be replacing the right hand side CV joint in the '65 morris mini deluxe. I have a factory manual, which suggests to first remove the driveshaft uni joint from the transmission yoke, remove the entire wheel assembly plus driveshaft as a whole from the car, then remove the CV joint from the wheel hub.

is this the best way to do it, or is it over-kill? can anybody suggest the best way to remove the CV joint, and be in a good position to fit the new one? i dont mind pulling the driveshaft out as long as it is going to make things easier when it comes to fitting the new CV joint...

and lastly, can any of you please suggest to me the best CV joint i should be purchasing for long life? i dont mind paying a bit extra if it will guarantee a longer service life on a daily driven mini.

thanks in advance for any and all advice

cheers

charles

Hi mate,

The way I have always done it is to get the car up on safety stands or atleast have something to prevent the car from falling off the jack and turning you into strawberry jam. It is easier to have the entire front end of the vehicle off the ground to aid turning the wheel.

Remove the wheel (11/16" socket), Undo the CV nut a few turns and give it a tap with a copper hammer or a peice of wood to ensure the cv is not frozen solid in the splines of the hub.

Undo the upper ball joint. Use an 11/16" spanner or socket, undo your tie rod end(steering). You will most probably need a ball joint splitter for this. Sometimes you can get away with not undoing the bottom ball joint and manipulate the drum/hub assembly so you can remove the cv from the hub. Be mindful of your brake hose as you dont want to put unneccesary strain on them especially if they are old. If you have discs just undo your caliper.

If you have the drive shaft with the slip joint slide under the car and undo the zip ties or cv boot straps so you can slip the drive shaft out. Or undo the U Bolts. If you have pot joints just undo the inner cv boot and be careful not to lose any balls when removing the driveshaft.

Knock the old CV joint off by holding the shaft firmly in the vice or in your hand whatever you feel more comfortable doing.

To fit the new cv, support it in the vice making sure not to damage the thread or splines and fill it with Moly grease (this should be supplied with the joint). Ensure the rest of the shaft is clean and that you have the boot fitted and it is the right way around. Replace the circlip if you feel it is necessary. Place the shaft in the splines of the CV and feel the circlip into the groove holding downward pressure on the shaft. Once you feel it is located properly give it a tap with a hammer and it should slide straight in.

Do up your boots etc on the bench and refit the shaft to the car. Ensure you torque up all the bolts and that you replace the split pins that you remove. Assembly is pretty straight forward.

As for brand I cant remember the brand I used but I got them through Karcraft in Sydney. Visit your local mini shop and get their advice. I think my last ones were "Motorchamp" or "Motormate" or something.

Hope that helps.
Matt

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thank you very much matt! yes, i've used karcraft before (i am in sydney too), so i'll be glad to use them again for this job. i wanted to check if removing the driveshaft was the easiest method, and you have confirmed this for me.

as for having the car up on stands, its a welcome change working on the mini (compared to the chrysler!) as i can simply get a grip under the car with a mate and lift it up while the girl pops the stands underneath the rails. no fussing around with jacks on mini's!

thanks again, time to hop to it!

cheers

Actually I have further advice, if the wheel nut is hard to budge (chances are it will be) get a mate to stand on the brake pedal inside the car while you undo the nut. Try using a long pipe as an extension. I have found that even this sometimes is not enough to pop the nut. Nut size will depend on if you have disks or drums.

Don't forget to remove the split pin before trying to undo the nut!

You'll also need a ball joint splitter... Fun task on 20+ year old joints... just be brutal but gentle if that makes sense. If I were you I'd redo all the ball joints again while I have it out.

Also if you have discs, when re-assembling make sure the drive flanges sit flush and true on the rotor. I had this problem and the wheel nut came loose once it settled in after a few drives

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Can you please post up some pics of the Val in your Avatar please.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/Hanras

Please make sure that the driveshaft on the cv end has 2 circlips coz mine didn't and it fell out of the cv at 4:45 am on the way to work last Wedensday.

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120bhp with 450kg just fun waiting to happen

We were prob. drunk when we set it up last and thought this will be a good idea

Good point, you should always fit a new circlip to the driveshaft everytime you change the CV.

yeah and buy a spare one cause I've broken a few just getting it onto the driveshaft...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K