PN-51-77 Morris J Commercial

PN-51-77 Morris J Commercial

Web address.

I'm told that the web address under the header picture triggers most peoples anti virus software. (thanks for tip off JB). It does not affect my computer, so here is a screen shot of the page from the forum site.

http://www.hetnederlandschekentekenarchief.nl/hnka/index.php?topic=2992.0
This link works for me. Use at your own risk.

Ice cream anyone?

Up for auction is a morris j type van.Extremely reluctant sale,change of plans make this vehicle available.
as can be seen,it was originally an ice cream van.sometime in its past has been paneled in.signwriting still visible (see photos)
exremely rare now, I had planned to retun it to its original state.
mostly complete,in need of complete restoration. no warranty or guarantees,what you see is what you get.
engine free turning,in fact i had it running about 6 months ago.
collection only on this,after cleared funds.cash preferred due to paypal charges.
viewing highly recommended and encouraged.
PLEASE NO TIMEWASTERS,TYREKICKERS OR DREAMERS.
sensible questions will be answered,please be patient ,i am not always on the computer.
NO BUY IT NOW,auction will run to end.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-J-TYPE-VAN-ICE-CREAM-VAN-/150762029490?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item231a1e01b2#ht_500wt_1145

Here is a period picture of one of the other Verrecchia's ice cream vans.

The finished dashboard.

Knobs.... Wolseley knobs.

 The dash panel on the Wolseley has been restored, the next slight problem were the knobs. Each knob was either cracked / dis-coloured or just wrong.

So I checked out various car sites looking for a set of similar knobs with the letters C,S,P,F,H,L.
MGA cars had it turns out 8 similar knobs, the extra ones being a W and a blank one.

So it was no real problem to rub down each one and spray them a more aged ivory colour.
Once dry the little letters will be filled with red wax. (can you spot an original knob in the line up? Its number 6. )
Another little problem sorted out.

Wolseley Dash.

As it was when the car was purchased.

Stripped down.

Rubbed down and refurbished. Then a trial fit of the lamps and chrome.

Trial fit in the car. A couple of the dash panel switches need repair so it will have to be removed again. Also a new set of switch knobs have been purchased and will be the finishing touch to this part of the restoration.

More snow.

More snow on Thursday saw me taking my Morris to work, only a trip of 4 miles but it took over half an hour. Only used 3rd gear once, the rest of the crawl to work was in 1st or 2nd.

At work I had managed to keep most of the snow on the roof and wings, still worst to come they say. Saturday was bright and sunny but we hit a low of minus 13 over night by mid morning it had warmed to minus 2 so this weekend I will be doing indoor jobs.

The next item to tackle is the Wolseley dash panel, a nice looking bit of Ash or maybe Beech with bad varnish. Not so, its an early car so this is pressed steel and painted to look like wood.

How the heck to restore this?

We have a few ideas having looked at various "paint effects" sites on the internet.

Watch this space,  this is a job for the kitchen table in front of our log burner. I hope the weather is not too bad where you are.

Also if you have any spare items big or small to help a fellow J owner convert his J to a JB do let me know and I can put you in contact.

What a difference a day makes.

The Wolseley's charging system failed, the ignition lamp started glowing even when the engine was being revved up. Could it be dynamo or control box?

I, in my technical kind of a way, switched on the headlamps, removed the regulator cover and placed a screwdriver tip into the regulator contact, upon revving the engine the headlamp brightness increased.

So the dynamo is working. As I say I had removed the cover and then I noticed that some of the screws were a bit chewed up on the the regulator contact strip, the two screws at the top of the above picture.

I undid these screws which are normally sealed with paint to find that somebody in the past has cleaned the points surface at some time with a file.

 There was nothing for it but to replace the regulator box with a new one. This I did very quickly because it was rather cold on Saturday about minus 10 over night and had warmed up to about minus 2.
Everything was now working correctly. This is yet another little teething job on a vehicle that has not been used previously for many months.

Yes over night we had some snow, a light dusting, maybe 3 to 4 inches. So Sunday was a day to wake up, feel it was much warmer as already the thaw had set in, only slight, and over night tonight the frost will make it a nightmare to get to work on Monday. Seemed like a good idea to take the dogs for a walk and kick snow all over them.
Other jobs to do on the Wolseley is to find all the grease nipples, to remove the metal dash panel and repair the wiper switch, also at the same time replace a couple of blown dash panel bulbs. The fog light switch is also an item that needs looking at.
Still life would be boring if it all went smooth.