johann morris

As usual tide and time wait for no man. All the tin work, from the bumper back to the bulkhead behind the drivers seat, has been repaired or remade and test assembled. Tomorrow I am going to repair the frame for the canvas tilt over the front cab, although looking at the state of it, remanufacture would be more appropriate. If there is anyone reading this who has a C8 with the observation ring above the passengers seat, could you please measure it for me. I need the inside diameter, outside diameter and the height of the inner vertical, in fact any dimensions that you could give me would be appreciated. It was only when I was repairing the passengers side mudguard, that I realised that the mudguards are in fact different and I assume, either from different models of the Morris or one of them is from a different vehicle, although I have no idea what vehicle that would be. Thanks, Jon

Some confusion I fear. The part that I was referring to, was this component, that attaches to the very bottom of the rad cover. Jon

Thanks for all the reply's, after more investigation almost all of the wires are just back with no colour under the outer wrapping, so that leaves me with in a dilemma as to which course to take but I am minded to replace the wiring with a colour coded system, I will have to have think on it for a while. Richard, I have taken a copy of the document many thanks. David, thanks for asking the question reference the data plates, I will carrying on searching and Match, thanks for the link I have sent them an email. Wally, That's an interesting document I have printed it out so that I can have a read of it tonight. Regards, Jon

Morning and thanks for the responses, Super6, Thanks for the link, I have seen the Auto electrics loom and its very tempting, not correct in my case but tempting. David, I have had a quick search but can't find any sign of that wiring diagram plate, I will have another attempt but if you have a contact, that would be very useful and I would be very grateful. Mark, I will match it up with any colours that I can find on my loom and see where it leads. Every wire in the existing looms is black, if you carefully strip some of the cables, there is a colour underneath but that's not the case on every wire. I am thinking, that to make fault finding easy, some sort of obvious colour system would be better than none. Thanks for the help everyone, Jon

Hello, I am currently planning to make a new wiring loom for my Morris C8 and although my copy of the maintenance manual has a wiring diagram with the relevant wire numbers, there is no associated wire number to colour reference list, does anyone have this information that they are willing to share with me? please. Jon

One rad cover panel repaired, not the easiest of jobs but interesting all the same. Now don't be shy but I need some help, PLEASE. There is a small panel that bolts to the bottom of the rad cover but what is its function and more importantly does anyone have a picture of what it should look like without the rust. Thanks in advance. Jon

Another couple of panels completed and now on to the rad cover. jon

Evening All, I have had quite a busy week really. All the cab panels have been repaired and reassembled to ensure that everything fits together, before they are disassembled for prepping and painting. I took delivery of five 900x16 tyres, inner tubes and flaps, which only cost me £690, its the cheapest that I could find. The rear wheel cylinders turned up from the states, the flexy brake hoses were delivered all the way from Argentina, all 3 for £29 all in, I found some tread edge from R H Brindle and a new master cylinder was delivered, again from the states. Jon

David, Believe me it wouldn't have come off without it and then, when I had eventually removed the head, all the head bolts came out with no fuss. There is a lot of the tin work that is in really good condition the rest is terrible, anyway I have made a start on the drivers compartment and both sides are finished. Jon

Very nice, Have you got any pictures of it before you started? Here's mine April 1950. I played in it as a small child in 1969 ish when it was a wreck on a hill near Ludlow and continued to visit it, as it declined, until 1995 when the farmer decided that he was going to scrap it and it came to live with me. Jon

The old girls been sitting there patiently awaiting some attention since i last posted. The engine is now in peices and i know whats got to be done there, everything. The cylinder head took 2 weeks to remove and eventually gave up and come off without damage, by using a sissor lift type thing and the vehicles weight. I have had the top off of the gearbox and freed up the reverse gear that was stuck and now it all works as it should do. I have now turned my attention to the drivers, passengers compartment, I forgot to take pictures of the driver side before I started but as you can see from the passengers side it needs a lot of work. There are a lot of panels that are in really good condition and only need preparing before spraying, other however, are knackered. Its my intention, to leave as much of the original metal as is sensible and to patch rather than make every new panel but some panels will have to be renewed. I have also made a start getting the brake components, the rear wheel cylinders were easy to get hold of but the fronts are causing some frustration. The rubber brake pipes are on order, the next part to find is a new master cylinder. Jon

10 completed radius arms and one fitted just to see what it looks like. I will be visiting the tank museum in August to get some more dimensions, so I am going to have a break from the project and see how much I can achieve on my Morris. Jon

Its going to be interesting to say the least Eddy but only time will tell how successful it will be. I am currently reading the "A13 cruiser mkv Coventanter a technical history" book and that's one hell of an interesting tank that you have. Jon

Afternoon all, I now have 10 complete wheels, that need their polyurethane tyres, 10 oil seal housings and 10 end caps. I am in the process of machining the shafts that go from the radius arms into the wheel bearings and hopefully by the end of the week I can finish the welding the shafts into the radius arms. For those keen gardeners amongst us, a nice picture of the turf/grass roof on top one of my buildings that I finished and planted late last year. Jon

The first complete wheel. Jon

Lateral thinking, desperation more like. At last 10 wheels, not quite complete but nearly, I just need to add the rib that runs around the rim of each wheel. I have successfully made one, so only 19 more to make. Jon

Thanks paul its good to think that other are enjoying this process as much as me. Wheels, wheels, thats what i have been mostly making. Well only the one to start with, just to try my production concept and manufacture all the jigs that are required. The first components that I made were the bearing houses and flanges, really that's just more of the same old, same old. Then came the wheel outer flanges / sides, these are convex / concave depending on how you look at them, a spare land Rover rim came in handy as a press jig. The whole lot was then welded together and machined to ensure that the flanges were concentric to bore of the bearing housing. Finally the outer strip was wrapped around the outer flanges and hay presto one wheel. Only another 9 to make

Thanks Ed. To be honest, it's more off cuts / left overs more than shelf items. If i use off cuts i get the material that much cheaper. Makes sense to me and if i wanted to be 100% accurate i would have to have alot of these components cast and thats a no go for me. Jon

I have been busy making the track return roller hubs. As usual, I have been using materials that are locally available, rather than ordering specific sized materials, so a little bit of adaption is required. The main hub starts as a piece of tube cut and machined to length, then a flange is welded in each end of the tube and then set on the lathe so that the rings can be bored out to suit the centre bearing housing. This bearing housing is then welded in place. A ring is then welded on to the outside of one end of the tube for two reasons. Firstly to give the impression that the material is thicker and closer to the originals dimensions and secondly to give the polyurethane tyres something to bond to when I cast them in place. This assembly is the reset on the lathe and bored out to the bearing diameter size and correct internal lengths. A separate ring is then welded on to the opposite end of the hub, for the same reasons as the first. Reset on the lathe and then again faced to the correct lengths. Each time the hub is reset in the lathe, for each operation, it has to be adjusted so that the assembly rotates true to within 0.02mm, so you can see its a time consuming process. Once the main hub housing is complete, the next items that need machining are the two retaining flanges. The rear flange houses an oil seal and the front flange locks everything in place, As with the main housing its not a quick or simple process, hopefully the pictures are self explanatory. Finally, the finished assembly and a picture of an original return roller on the PZ2 at the Bovington Tank museum. I hope that makes sense. Jon

Well Brdm, you are not the first to mention youtube but i have to admit, that apart from 3 forums, where i post updates on projects, emails and purchasing bits, the internet is not really my cup of tea. Saying that since your suggestion, i am now investigating putting it on youtube, that is, when i work out how to do the videos and everything else. I would consider my workshop as basic but thats compared to others that i used to work in. I have a lathe, a bridge port milling machine, another milling machine, 2 pillar drills, a basic bender and a compressor.plus of course a welder. No cnc's, although i would love a cnc milling machine and lathe as they make life so simple and quick. Maybe one day i will make some money out of this and treat myself, who knows. The beginings of the track return rollers Jon

Track return rollers shafts manufactured and bolted in place. Jon

I have at last, managed to fabricate the suspension arm travel stops / bump stops and attached them to the chassis. It seemed to take ages to complete these items but we have been in a perma frost for a week, that seemed like a month, snowed in and the workshop was frozen up, thats my excuse anyway. They are not perfect but as near as I could get them, the grey one is from the Bovington tank museums PZ2. For my next trick I am going to make the track return rollers, now that will be fun. Jon

Evening all, I have managed to finish the 9 remaining suspension arm shafts and associated components and the spring retention rollers, well that's what I am calling them. As I don't have any technical construction details of these, this is my version. The spring retainer rotates as the spring is flexed by the suspension arm, the unit consists of a shaft on a back plate and a housing. The housing contains an oil seal at the inner end, followed by a bearing, then a spacer followed by a second bearing. This is the pressed onto the shaft and held in place with a washer and a bolt. Another spacer is followed by a 3mm section o ring and an end cap, all held in place by a circlip. The last picture is an original unit. The original has an oil / grease point in the centre of the end cap, on my version this is just a dummy that can be unscrewed and replaced with a grease nipple so that the unit can be filled with grease on final assembly. Jon

Making money doing this sort of work would be very nice, all I need are some customers. From my experience most of the locals here in midwales are more interested in tractors and sheep. It seems that mid wales is too far from civilisation for most to venture. The hull, turret, upper hull are all 6mm to keep the weight down but packed out where necessary to give the impression of being thicker. The curved mantlet is actually a 12mm x 6mm frame skinned in 1mm. The suspension components are made of various sized material. Jon

Thanks but its nothing, just flour, sugar, butter, eggs and lots of cream, jam and chocolate. Jon