goanna

Under the steering column clamp on a 1939 production CS8, I found the original colour .. I have Mike Starmers books and the colour I found on this particular CS8 is a definate Light bronze green from the pre war BCS chart

As far as early production vehicles go , paint would have been in short supply and the factories would have used anything that was available and fell within the BSC chart .

I have a factory pic of a early MW somewhere. The shade is a very light colour , not dark at all

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

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

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

While its nice to get a new MV mag and have a read when you get a quiet moment, the price of these mags is creeping up towards being £5 and for that you can get a good book on a military subject at a discount book store or a second hand book shop. I bought Pat Ware's books on the Ferret and Hotchkiss M201 for £2 each in Brighton not so long ago.

You chaps are lucky . Those mags are x 3 times the price by the time they get here to Australia . At around $15 at the newsagents here , I don't buy them . I usually read them at the newsagents and walk out !

There was a military vehicle magazine published in New Zealand of all places, back in the early 1980's . Mike

Hi Mike. The thing is with the professional engine machine shops, (like Cox and Turner, Robinson's etc) they have all the catalogues at their fingertips and can look up the necessary part or it's nearest equivalent. Cox and Turner have never failed to find me the pistons I require .......However obscure.......But expensive of course.

 

With my own Morris Engine, Robbinson's acquired the correct pistons for a rebore, I remember that the valve guides came from a ford D series and machined to suit, the valves from something else and again machined.....again all very expensive. Rory Ballard had a batch of valve springs made............Maybe we should have bought a Bedford........Easy Peasy off the shelf!!!

 

John Cox is well in his 80's and is still sorting through the millions of piston rings in his shed. Not to mention the cow shed he rents with pistons. I'll be visiting him soon for some rings for an Enfield piston.

 

Ron

Hi Ron

Yes I rang old John Cox a few years ago. I needed a few bits and he posted the parts to me before I had paid for them , that type of service is not common these days .

I did manage to buy a set of new pistons from Rory . I tried the Dodge rings in the Morris pistons , the Dodge rings are a perfect fit except the Dodge rings are slightly deeper in the ring grooves .

I think I have six Morris 6 OH engines here . One thing that does help me is , I think I am the only military morris enthusiast in Australia , I have a monopoly on any parts that turn up , nobody else want the parts !

I remember Rory saying that the valve lifters tend to wear and new lifters are nigh on impossible to find .

I do some machining myself as I have a few old lathes and Mills . There is a surplus of old lathes here as many engineering business are closing down ( probably the same in the UK ) .... its cheaper to buy a new part from Asia and throw away the worn out part .

Mike

That video clip is excellent but the motor sounds like the introduction to a Dr Who episode .. chuff chuff chuff

Try Cox and Turner . They have most spares for those motors . They do series 1 Land Rover engines too .

http://www.coxandturner.co.uk/holding.php

Hi from OZ

I did a little research regarding the Morris 6 motor .

The bore size of the Morris is very close to 3 1\4 " and I feel that Dodge 3 1/4" rings could be used if the Morris ring set is not available . From memory this a 20 thou difference but this can be overcome with oversize ring sets

Mike

OK

Thanks for those pics .

Those ROKO buckles loosely resemble the WW2 US style buckles .

Mike

Can somebody please post a few pics of the buckles in question ?

Thanks Mike

Hi from Down Under

A very nice Crossley Q was donated to the army museum at Bandiana , Wodonga , around 1980. The museum had a cleanout around 10 years ago, they sold it . The vehicle , when I looked over it, was a cab/chassis . The cab was in good order .

Mike

Yes I was thinking of a solid replacement . Will test my lathe skills . The other worry is the tie rod .. that might break as well . It is well to remember that these trucks are around 70 years old and corrosion plays a part . Thewalls may have rusted thinMIKE

PIC of broken link threaded end

This is a warning to Morris Commercial CS8 owners ... The drag link has potential to shear off . I have a CS8 , it has a broken drag link that could be lethal if it occurs during driving. The link is hollow and the threaded ends are very thin . MIKE

PEARL HARBOUR : The fat actor from Saving Ryans Privates is using a BC 611 Walky Talky to communicate with the P40 Pilot ..load of drivel and hogwash it is

You might try a friend who owns a lathe . Might be possible to make a new pulley on the lathe . I have made a few . The choice of metal is yours. Cast iron or steel .

Mike

A friend here in Melbourne Australia, is restoring one .. A UK immigrant brought it out with him in the late 1950's .

I can provide details if required . It has a british army rebuild plate from the 1950's on it

MIKE

Tim

I've never forgiven you for pinching that MCC radiator badge from New Zealand . The darn things are so hard to find and you go and steal one from us antipodeans .

I bought another CS8 ..it's coming down from Queensland, only about 1500 miles away . Something like buying a Morris from Wick, Scotland , if you live in Cornwall .

I hope you sort out the PU engine . If the rings are worn, you would at least see some blow by or maybe be using some oil . Have you found any correct size tyres yet ? Still on Land rover wheels ? I spotted the article on your PU in the magazine .

I found another Morris PU , a wreck only good for spares , I bought it but the chap re-sold it . I was too slow picking it up and he got rid of it . Takes all types ... what a BAST>>RD

MIKE

If it was an Irish army conversion then surely it would have had provision for carrying crates of GUINESS in the back.

After all, the Irish word for ammunition is GUINESS isn't it.

Mike

PS I spent ages drawing up the PU 8 cwt body of My MCC PU .Not to scale but pretty good for a high school mech. drawing graduate .

Hi Tim

Long time since I heard from you .

You are lucky to have a engine that goes. I've got about 6 of the things, but none of them go .

I'm no expert, but around 90 psi would be normal I think for the OH .

I notice in the manual they recommend decarbing the motor every 5000 miles !

What does that say about dirty wartime petrol.

Mike in OZ

BTW did you get a promotion before you left the army ..I notice your AVATAR says sergeant now !!

Me too, but I am on the other side of the world!

I started out in 1984 with a novice license ..I used a 122 set ( 1945 set made here ) but the vfo was unstable. Luckily it has a xtal position too . I had a xtal for 3535 and i pounded away on CW for ages ..even had a few DX contacts with USA hams on 7mhz .

I even had a go with a No. 11 set ...horrible thing ... with much rf coming out on spurious freq.

The coastwatchers sets are very nice..xtal locked. Known as the 3BZ .

I am currently putting a Larkspur C13 station in my 1950 LAnd Rover

Mike VK3CZ

The last pics shows Australian 1941 15 cwt Chevrolet GS Vans , or "utes" in common parlance . Militarized civilian vehicles.

The army here used a lot of them in the 1939 to 42 era > GMH built the cabs and rear bodywork. ...everything else was imported from Canada , the RHD steering boxes etc. The rear body was sheetmetal over a wooden frame , very fragile and flimsy .

Virtually none of them have survived here as 99% were sent overseas . I have the remains of two of them.

You could go to the AWM in Canberra and look up V5202 in their books and it would tell you what ship and the date it left Australia for Malaya .

These vehicles were all either captured or destroyed in the fighting .

Mike

Fantastic pics. The wireless set might be a No. 11 . Or maybe a No. 1 set .

Does anyone know the regiment "INNS" etc . Would the "TA" script refer to Territorial Army ? The chaps shoulder badge also says INNS XXXXX etc.

Mike

Stefano

Yes that's Dave's truck..or Rory's ....