goanna

I took this pic 5 minutes ago. The side of my Morris PU.. it's still has the original ww2 colours ... 2 greens very faded of course . You can see the later coat of light stone speckled there too.. it has fallen off . Mike

I found some colour under brackets on one of my CS8 wrecks ... the steering column clamp and such - the colour I found to be the N0.5 Light bronze green . I think some vehicles were N0. 5 overall base coat . I have one original wooden side panel from a CS8.. this was painted in No3. with the darker No.4 disruptive over . Mike

Hi Jim From memory, that Humber was originally restored by Mike Spicer .. I have a few older pics of it finished in light Stone - desert yellow . The 8 cwt class was pioneered by Morris-Commercial in 1936, with the Mk 1 PU . That is a very neat sewing job.. could you make one for me ! Mike in Australia

I attended my first MV event in October 1976 .. click on this link for piccies http://www.oldcmp.net/vmvc_portarlington.html You will notice RHD Jeeps and Dodge weapons carrier . LHD vehicles were banned here ( state of Victoria ) in 1948, this resulted in many RHD conversions, many of which were backyard botch jobs . The chap riding the Harley is a WW2 vet , Keith Gardiner . I was in my Jeep . We visited Fort Queenscliff , which was manned and active during WW2 . A few guys from then are still active in the scene . Mike in Australia .

Hi from OZ land I grew up watching Vic Morrow on TV and I was brainwashed by all those classic 60's movies, 'Longest day' and 'The great escape' and many more . Airfix models , and all too . In the late 1960's, a chap living near me in suburban Melbourne owned a WW2 Jeep and I spotted it cruising around . In 1970-71 as a schoolboy , I would peruse the Saturday morning classifieds for WW2 Jeeps and there were always one or two for sale for around 300 to 500 dollars . Aged 19 , in 1975, I managed to buy one , a very rough 42 willys . It was registered and I used it as my everyday car. Despite its rough appearance , it was a reliable car and performed well for many miles . The only problems I had with it were a broken Bendix spring and burnt exhaust valves , it had a Holden Stromberg carby and it was running lean . I eventually became aware of a MV club in Melbourne and joined in 1976 . In the club , I met the chap with the Jeep who had lived near me in the 1960's , for the first time . Sadly , many of the long time members are now gone to heaven . The clubs web site is: http://www.vmvc.net Mike

Is this a case of the dreaded political correctness ethic that plagues the modern world .. it has come to bite me ... Gees, I'm confused. Sorry, I humbly apologize, for in my niave state of mind, I didn't realise that one company, has got a monopoly on making canvas item for the whole MV hobby world. Mike in Australia.

I believe the early MCC CS8's were fitted with RF tyres .. As I have not noticed any reference to spare wheels or spare wheel mounts in the parts lists... But I am not sure about this .. Was a spare carried, for example , in the BEF era CS8's ? Maybe it was the very early MW's that had RF tyres , similar to the CS8's. Mike

Back in 1980, I bought a NOS Canadian 300 watt set, in the shipping crate . It came with two tins of accessories , canvas cover, can of oil , funnel . The tool box is located within a larger tin box. The boxes had a lead seal on the catches. The tools included are pliers, open ended spanners in a clip, even a piece of rag and lots more. I could take some pics of it if anyone is interested. The boxes have the fancy Canadian lend-lease logo.. a maple leaf with CANADA in English, Russian and Chinese. In the spares box , spare meter, rings , piston and more . Down in Melbourne , a surplus dealer had tonnes of NOS spares for them. Sadly, all gone now. Mike

Hello I have posted a similar query on other forums and the replies are most informative. Has anyone made their own seat covers and canvas top for their own MV ? Having it done by a motor trimmer or upholsterer can be expensive . There are many old industrial sewing machines around .. What is the most suitable machine to buy ? Side curtains, tops , seats .. we all need them . Mike

The main thing about Champs I don't like is their handling characteristics in rough terain . The suspension setup on them gives a very vague feeling off road , you don't get an idea of what its going to do- e.g., tip over . In a Land Rover or Jeep , you fell every tiny bump and you know what it's going to do, but the Champ doesn't tell you when it's about to do something radical . I have been in Champs , very nice on the highway , smooth and comfy . Land Rovers and Jeeps feel like a bucket of bolts on the highway , screaming / howling transfer boxes , but better off road . Depends on what you want to do with it . Mike

Rick First , try to confirm the spark is there at the coil : remove the centre HT lead from the dissy and rest the end of the lead about 1/4" from a earthed spot eg. the engine block . Take the dissy cap off , turn the ignition on and manually open/close the points , you should see a healthy spark from the HT lead to earth. If you get a good spark at the centre HT lead , then thats a start . Put the dissy cap back on and put the centre HT lead back in . Remove the plugs and mark each lead with a bit of tape 1,3,4,2. Locate the HT lead from No.1 plug and rest the end near a earth . Find the ignition mark on the flywheel and mark it with white chalk . Switch on the ignition again . Turn the engine over with a hand crank until the inlet valve on NO. 1 closes and watch for a spark from the No.1 HT lead to earth as the ignition mark goes past . You can keep going round again on the hand crank to watch for a spark at No.1 lead . It helps to have two people on hand . You can use a timing light also. Some of the timing lights are in series with the plug and you can watch for a flash as the spark happens . Mike

Hello to you all, Thanks so much for the words of encouragement .... Richard , nice to meet u again , that is so interesting , your research . You are correct, the Cat. ref number is 209. 'Chemical' is a new one on me , never heard of it . Very few of the specialist bodied variants made it out here ... 99.999 % of them were the bog standard GS version. Your Z numbers indicate that there are only 359 in that batch .. very odd . If it was a tanker ... what a rarity . The chassis number stamped on the rear LH spring hanger is : 1930 CS8 18080 . 1930 is the sanction number , does anyone know what that means ? 18080 is a late number , probably made around late 1940 , ot could be early 41 ? It has aero screens and it must be close to one of the last batches to have these screens fitted . Rick W : Yes I am planning to sandblast the chassis . Very fortunate for me , there is one about 7 miles down the road .. he's cheap too . Mike http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee269/morrispu/MORRIS190GALA.jpg[/img] http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee269/morrispu/MORRIS190GALD.jpg[/img] http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee269/morrispu/MORRIS190GALC.jpg[/img] http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee269/morrispu/armylaundryJuly1940c.jpg[/img]

Hi all, from Australia , Call me an optimist or a fool , I don't mind which ... This is my 1940/41 CS8 Morris project .... it looks sad but she has an excellent chassis . I have gathered together lots of bits and wrecks for parts , they seem to suffer from rust in the chassis and it took me ages to find one with a decent chassis . The contract number on the little dash plate says V 4152 . It has the aero screen hinges still there . The motor is seized , gearbox and diff seem OK . It's the original factory motor , the numbers match the MCC plate on the firewall . It has had a carter updraft carby installed by somebody . Problems will be fabricating new petrol tanks and front wings . The rest is not that difficult . Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye . Mike http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee269/morrispu/3.jpg[/img] http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee269/morrispu/4.jpg[/img] http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee269/morrispu/5.jpg[/img]