restoration 1941 Morris Commercial 8cwt PU Restoration 2014

Well here is the start of my latest Morris restoration, as always I will try and add info as we go, I expect this to be a 12month project, and I have started with some smaller components that are already restored.

so basically it is the PU version on a morris chassis, so will sit nicely next to my Humber PU as the back end will be the same.

as it stands, it's reasonably complete, bar the back end, I do have all the original cab, doors and windscreen, the engine turns over freely and has been kept in good order, though it will still go through a full rebuild this winter.

so here is a lovely photo of a MCC PU in France 1940, this is what I'm going to model mine on.

So here is what I have basically............................

The 'strip down' begins this weekend hopefully !

More to follow......................

Oh, this is my recovery method !

Oh good, I always enjoy a Morris, always reminds me of the works breakdown vehicle, when I was an apprentice all those years ago.

trevor

Very nice. I have always had a soft spot for the Morris PU and will certainly be following your thread. There was a lovely french owned (blue) PU in Normandy in 2009.

Alex

Nice find, there are still little gems tucked away waiting to be restored. I shall look forward to following this thread

Good luck

regards

Pete

What a neat project that is . The wings look to be in good shape .

Have you a copy of the PU body plans ? I did draw up the body on My PU here some years ago . I can send you a copy if you need the drawings .

I must make a start on my Pu Morris .

I did buy another PU Morris , located up in NSW . Basically a cab and chassis , good for spares. Sadly , I was slow to pick up the vehicle and the seller ended up re-advertising it and only god knows what happened to it . I paid for it too .

Mike

This may be of interest

The contract card includes the first Morris PU I found here back in 1998 . The vehicle had been got at by a farmer, he fitted a super phosphate spreader and drove around his paddocks with it ! The bonnet revealed a very unusual number - research by me and AWM photographs has uncovered vehicles of this type with similar numbers, in Palestine circa 1940-41 , with the AIF . The number has a O prefix . The pic of Aussies in Palestine , has a Morris in the background ( a CS8 ) , the O number is visible . I have asked many people about these O prefix numbers but so far nobody knows anything

Mike

You are going to need a bigger shed Jules!

What a neat project that is . The wings look to be in good shape .

 

Have you a copy of the PU body plans ? I did draw up the body on My PU here some years ago . I can send you a copy if you need the drawings .

 

I must make a start on my Pu Morris .

 

I did buy another PU Morris , located up in NSW . Basically a cab and chassis , good for spares. Sadly , I was slow to pick up the vehicle and the seller ended up re-advertising it and only god knows what happened to it . I paid for it too .

 

Mike

Hello Mike

I have a fantastic set of colour drawings that I'm sure you produced, and found them very useful, even while rebuilding my Humber PU body. they will be of great use again soon..................thanks for going to the trouble.

Cheers

Jules

You are going to need a bigger shed Jules![/quote

 

It's no good, the wife's Herald will have to go outside !..........................

Hi Folk's

just to keep the ball rolling, I have not been idle ! I been busy stripping the PU, all the front tin work off, blasted and primed, rad out and awaiting re coring, forward bulkhead out, blasted and primed as is the main instrument bulkhead.

I am having a real fight getting the steering wheel off the shaft, it's on a taper, with a woodruff key, but really need a proper puller.

lots of the smaller assemblies are cleaned up and primed.

will add a few photos later.

Jules

some photos

Check for chassis cracks just behind the rear engine mounts. The chassis is a very light construction and Ive seen a chassis fracture .

Spent Saturday removing the head, quite a challenge !

anyway, though I'm very pleased with the general condition, there are a couple of odd questions....................

it appears to have had a re bore ? see the stampings, but is it unusual that the two center cylinders are larger ? what difference would this make, and is it a problem ?

also note that all the valves are marked, I thought only exhaust valves were marked ?

all opinions / advice welcome

Jules

For the bores I am not sure what the +2 and +3 mean in real measurement terms, but nothing that would be noticeable while it was running. It might refer to some kind of tolerance bands, such as they use when originally building the engines.

It shouldn't make any difference to you in the future, since one would measure everything before reboring the block or replacing the pistons. It is interesting though.

trevor

All is revealed here, I think ...

Ah, so there should be a letter stamped in one corner showing the actual 'grade'.

trevor

This was quite common amongst engine makes. Bedford for instance had the blocks measured before assembly as well as pistons, to ensure the skirt clearance was identical on all bores. When you had a brand new cylinder block, you matched the pistons to bores, the letter stamped on the piston had to correspond with the letter stamped adjacent to the bore. If an engine has gone through a reconditioning programme then this process might be done again on oversize bores. A one-off engine rebuild, the machinist boring will hone to finish to the pistons he has, to enable skirt clearance to be correct. This is why you will not get anyone to bore a block without the pistons being available to measure.

upon further cleaning I did find the 'A' prefix, so according to the info above is ' Standard'

Well, it is good to know that it is standard. I would have assumed, though, that they would put the numbers by the relevant pots, but clearly they didn't.

trevor

Out of interest how good or otherwise is the supply of spares for Morris Commercials such as the CS8, PU and C8?

Out of interest how good or otherwise is the supply of spares for Morris Commercials such as the CS8, PU and C8?

I would say it's "otherwise"!