tim gray

I can do better than that, spoke with them on day one and was asked to ring back after 7, duly did so several times no answer, tried twice more the following day no reply. At least they whetted my appatite with three pics. All i wanted to know was the condition of the engine bay ie how complete was it ,and i would have said yes. Acording to the lady of the house its been in thier for ten years, i just hope it has not dissapeared again and will be restored and put out on the ground as a runner. It would be interesting to see some pics of its innards to see how fast it could be brought to life. Having had the PU for a while i could have got that going real quick. Having said that it might have had a load of packing under it to stop it collapsing !!! Regards

More airfix mossies lost during the making of that film than real ones during the war.....plastic all over the place!

Anybody here the proud new owner of a morris compressor truck ? I was wiped out when the owners didnt answer my calls...........absolutley gutted. Hope it stays as a compressor.......they seem to get ripped out and the trucks re done as 15Cwt. Oh well i wait with baited breath for another to rear its head..........if i live long enough that is :cry:

Hi guys, Hate to say this as an ex Royal Engineer, but i remember in the 70,s going from newcastle to otterburne and readsdale ranges to colect the empty cases and link from the ranges to flog to the heavy metal guys as belts. Distinctly remember shot up churchills lying around up thier, early ones as they had the square side hatches and rounded cast turrets. Some were only slightly perforated whilst others were absolutley hammerd. Gone are those days. Looking at the pics of the some of the churchills you would think that a couple of wheel stations would be rescuable.

Would definatley check over all of the fuel lines and filters, mine ran then stopped , ran again etc Turned out to be a filter screen on the banjo union going into the carb, would let a bit through to start then under load starve the thing. Most anoying until you find its actually thier. No smoke associated with my episode however. Tim

Hi thier, On my MCC PU it worked out that the 9-13 curcumference was the same as the alternate wheels ive got at 7.5-16 or so close as makes no difference. ( flicker effect ) One website i looked at can re calibrate your speedo, you mark the drive wheel and remove the speedo drive and put some sort of indicator on the drive cable, push the truck down the road for x No of revolutions of the drive wheel and count the number of revolutions of the drive cable. The guys at the other end work out the rest. Presume that its only worth doing if you end up with radically different fittings to original and intend to keep it that way. Tim

No problems GAZZAW, will do but you may have solved the problem as allied canvas is where the PU is getting its new clothes!! Regards Tim

Hi gents, The PU is booked in for canvas.......Hooray......a roof at last..... but i was wondering if any of you guys would know the dimentions for the canvas style sand mats used during ww2. They rolled up for storage and appear to have had some sort of sticks or bars stiched into pockets. I dont have the film any more but i seem to recall they were used in " ice cold in alex" to extract said nasty chap from the salt marsh in the depression. Any details as to length and breadth would be appreciated. If i've posted this in the wrong part of the forum i appologise now and shall throw myself on the mercy of the Moderators :cry: I will post pics when canvas is done. Regards Tim

Cheers protruck........thats the puppydog :-) Tim

Hi thier, Do an internet search for "paul beck" vintage parts, i sourced the rubber profiles i needed to seal the scuttle to opening windscreen on the PU. Also stocks loads of other profiles and bits and bobs. Worth looking at. sorry i am rubbish at posting links and stuff. :nut: Regards Tim

Hi eddy Dont sell yourself short.......REME are no dumb teddies.......bailed me out on a couple of occasions However...........:cry: my poor RE heart is broken........feeling guilty yet :cool2: 88 mil.....way cool subject but the garden is not big enough!!! Regards Tim

Hi eddy8men, Re the measuring of angles, it would have been used to sight onto a reference stake or onto an aiming mark on the master gun on the battery if visible. From that you can work out the offsets between the weapons and calculate the aim off so all roundS land on the given target. If you look at the graticules on the lower ring below the sight it has a red 64 showing in the picture. This was for 6400 mils, artillery almost invariably use mils and not degrees as the measurement is much more accurate. As similar device was available to set up section fire with the MG 34 mounted on tripods, to get accurate distances you need two reference angles and work it out with trigonemetry. Artillery men often require large brains to work it all out. Nowadays done at the push of a button and GPS. :cool2: ten seconds later fire for effect! Regards Tim

Hi thier, The top three pics are of the 37 Bofors, nice wee gun and as stated portee'd in the desert early on. Do a trawl on Morris Portee on google and it chucks up a couple of piccs if you dig thro them. Also do a search for the 37 mm bofors as some shots from various museums are live on the web. Seen some nice pics of em on the back of the 15Cwt, most of em in the early counter scheme. I would love to have that combo to take to a show but i am not sure if thier are any survivors at all. I could forgive the danish wheels if it were mine!!!!! Regards Tim

Dry hanger, wet garden...............mmmmmmmm. Dry hanger and bashing the ...........out of the rust on my new rims. Perhaps a bit painty afterwards :-D Ear defs on for when getting home vis a vis other half :nut:

Most probably a modification of the "o" type with fifth wheel , similar to the queen mary trailers used by the RAF Regards Tim

WOA2, I will certainly confirm prior to anything drastic or laying out cash, reason i was asking is that with morris doing a range of vehicles within the seperate classes "hopefully" some standardisation took place ( hopefully being the operative word with most brit stuff ending up bench fitted and forced fit.) A lot of cross use of electrical items, switches and so forth..... perhaps an element of the same with aotomotive parts such as studs etc. Interesting exercise. As stated in earlier post i suspect i shall end up on 16" rims for a good while as i cannot trust the 9x13 tyres, measuring the 7.50x16 i have fitted currently, the curcumference is near as dammit the same as the 9x13 so adjustment of speedo etc would not be required.

Hi Rippo, Cheers for that snippet of info, if they are the same thread and obtainable it might be worth getting one and seeing how it seats. I wont get stressed about about a slight difference in the actuall head size as long as the taper seats properly. Managed to hit the shed today and hit it with the thread gauge...7/16 W. 1/2W ring spanner fits the wheel nut. Have to get digging. Regards Tim

Hi guys, Bit of a mixed bag of spanners , does anyone know if the different vehicles within the brit forces had a standardised wheel nut and stud arrangement, less quantity per vehicle of course. The wheel studs are OK on my Morris PU but the wheel nuts themselves are getting kind of tired. Would the wheel nuts from...say an MW fit ? Ive got the morris part numbers i could post, unfortunatley the x Ref at the back of the manual does not list the actuall size or thread :-( Any steering in the right direction for a dealer who could help would be appreciated, or if it comes to it, the thread used and i can see if i could get any made up. One positive is that after the sidewall blew out on one of my 9x13 tyres i have found a set of four 16 inch rims that match the way the smaller ones were manufactured and fit the hubs exactly. Just need to source some rubber for them. Regards Tim

Cheers for the comments guys, few minor changes scince the last photo, main storage locker re fitted between the cab and the tub, horn and dip switch taken off the dash and relocated as a single unit on the column, had to make a copy of the bracket and mounting straps but turned out not too bad. Repaired the holes in the dash. The absolute WORST was a blow out on the side wall of one of my 9x13 tyres..................:-( totally trashed so now dont trust any of them and its sat on a set of 7.5x16 landrover boots. Please god we get enough folks together to get a batch made up....seems to have stalled out a bit as its obviously a finite requirement. Still......these things are sent to try us. From runflats comments i assume that its unlikley to see any pics of the Morris C8P. I will speak with the guy and get him to take some pics for me .It would be good for me to tell him he needs to source a 17 Pdr :cool2: Regards Tim

Hi Guys, Don,t have an MW but do have a PU8Cwt that ive just done the brakes on. 1 May be a simple thing to say but when the new shoes went in you have rememberd to adjust on the snail cams to achieve first resistance then backed off a touch, you may be using up all the travel on the hydraulics just to achieve the first adjustment? This would give very poor braking effort at the wheel stations. 2 When i renewed my brakes it was found that everything had been adjusted to the max (i found my shoes were just about down to the rivets) Check that the plunger going into the back of the master cylinder is not maladjusted. Too much means that the pull off springs are trying to return the shoes thus forcing oil back into the master cylinder. However the piston cannot return fully and thier is a possibility that the supply port may be partially or completely covered. This obviously affects the quantity of fluid available to deliver a full range of movement . If you have succesfully bled the brakes it is unlikley to be the case.Check the brake pedal is correctly set as this should also have an element of free travel before actuating the master cylinder. Probably has a set screw as a stop so check it is not preloading the system and preventing full operation. Believe it or not the hand brake linkages on mine were also interfering with the correct adjustment of the brakes so chock the beast and back off on all of the linkages and controls and carry out the normal process of adjustment. Check brakes, if that works you can then reconect the hand brake and adjust. Just a few thoughts, let us know how you get on. Regards Tim

Two or ten pics as promised :-D Purists may hate me for the engine colour but the eyes are not as good as they used to be and the blue is far superior to morris green for spotting leaks and problems :undecided:

Hi Stefano and Abn Deuce The PU is painted in the "Caunter" scheme from the early part of the desert campaign, 1940.....to 41 ish. The paint job sort of lingered on by all accounts as supplies were short for re doing the vehicles to the new schemes. I suppose natural attrition would have taken its toll as well. Some kit was wearing it at alamien but very few. Two of the colours are easy to get but the silver grey was difficult until i discovered that a local auto paint shop had a match in thier current range so if any one wants some give me a shout and i will send the details. Cheaper than special made. The pattern is from info from Mike Kelly in australia and Mr Starmers book on british colour schemes, well worth the very reasonable price. I will post a few pics of the PU showing the paint scheme and some of the work i did on her. As for C8 P it certainly took me by surprise to see it. Intresting comments about the conversion as its got me wondering if it is a modified one or not, certainly had a tow hook fitted. Had a look in the back and it has a double layer floor providing two small sub floor lockers but they are far too small for 17 Pdr ammo, ancilliaries perhaps. Tail gate has double shovel racks on the internal face. It has an extra seat in a very strange location mounted on the front wing forward of the firewall. Definatley the C8 family as it has the double chasis assy on the front end complete with the squared off wing effect as you mentioned Steffano. Must see if i can get him to send me some pics so i can post them. Hopefully a couple of pics might be posted to clue me in as to modified or not. Regards Tim Gray

Hi Stefano and Abn Deuce The PU is painted in the "Caunter" scheme from the early part of the desert campaign, 1940.....to 41 ish. The paint job sort of lingered on by all accounts as supplies were short for re doing the vehicles to the new schemes. I suppose natural attrition would have taken its toll as well. Some kit was wearing it at alamien but very few. Two of the colours are easy to get but the silver grey was difficult until i discovered that a local auto paint shop had a match in thier current range so if any one wants some give me a shout and i will send the details. Cheaper than special made. The pattern is from info from Mike Kelly in australia and Mr Starmers book on british colour schemes, well worth the very reasonable price. I will post a few pics of the PU showing the paint scheme and some of the work i did on her. As for C8 P it certainly took me by surprise to see it. Intresting comments about the conversion as its got me wondering if it is a modified one or not, certainly had a tow hook fitted. Had a look in the back and it has a double layer floor providing two small sub floor lockers but they are far too small for 17 Pdr ammo, ancilliaries perhaps. Tail gate has double shovel racks on the internal face. It has an extra seat in a very strange location mounted on the front wing forward of the firewall. Definatley the C8 family as it has the double chasis assy on the front end complete with the squared off wing effect as you mentioned Steffano. Must see if i can get him to send me some pics so i can post them. Hopefully a couple of pics might be posted to clue me in as to modified or not. Regards Tim Gray

Thanks for the welcome chaps, always enjoyed the vintage and historical side of things, and very glad to be in a position to join in again. Sort of kept up to speed by visiting shows etc but not the same as being out and about under your own power. Quite strange that as i came close to getting the PU up and running with just some minors to sort, a guy has started working at the same place as me, and he's just bought a Morris C8 P. ( P for predictor apparently) Now i had not really heard of this one so if any one has got a pic or two it would be appreciated. It seems strange that it is a 1943 vehicle yet it is fitted with aeroscreens, no doors etc. Seems a retro step considering the 15Cwt was being fitted with a full windscreen at that time. It would appear from the brief look at it, that it is not missing too much. Some routine things like extra switches on the dash, electric fuel pump etc but mostly requiring lots of TLC. It is a runner so he is on a winner from day one. As i said, any pics or extra info on this type of morris would be appreciated. :-D Regards Tim.

Hi Gents, Just joined the forum and have enjoyed looking around at all the wonderfull kit being posted and incredibly, some very nice recent finds. By curcumstances i had to drop off the scene some years ago but things are getting back up to speed and im looking forward to getting back out and mobile again. Just getting close to finishing all the bits and bobs on the old moggie then she can head north for some new clothes :laugh: Regards Tim