Period Postal J vans.

MYF 873 Fleet number 44073, registered April 1952

Seen in Leeds, RGK483, Fleet number 52259, Registered April 1955



Two J vans currently being restored by Finch Restorations,
11 Oborn Road Mount Barker, South Australia.
Details of chassis and body numbers unknown, YET..

J/R 1507, early to mid 1950 J van up for sale.

Selling my Morris J van. It is complete with running gear. What you see is what you get. I have been told It is the 6th oldest known J van in the world and its built around 1950. It does not run. Now if you don't have the money do not txt me and ask questions about it. I will not let anyone look at it unless you have cash in your hands. It will need a full restoration. For sale in the Liverpool area of Australia for Au$15,000. or GBP £7972.00 approx

Another new van found.

This van has been found and will soon be on its way to Western Australia for a full restoration. It changed hands for $200 Australian dollars. The van has been dated from the body number as the chassis number is unknown, it's an early 1950 van (Jan-June 1950).

Taken from the BBC news site for Stoke & Staffordshire.

A 1950s delivery van rebuilt with bodywork from a salvage yard was unveiled at Crufts - after its owner ignored calls to scrap it.
The Morris Commercial J-Type belonging to Lincolnshire-based Laughing Dog farm bakery went on show at the NEC.
Its 1,750-hour restoration was overseen by 27-year-old William Grant, who named the van after his grandfather Ted Grant OBE, who set up the company.

Its 40mph top speed - slower than some greyhounds - rules out long journeys.
"It's almost dangerously slow now and it will be owned by the factory and used as a promotional vehicle," said Mr Grant.Image copyrightPAImage captionThe restoration took 1,750 hours
The restoration at Laughing Dog's site in Old Leake, near Boston, went ahead despite the front of the 1.5-litre J-Type - bought in 2013 - being badly rusted.
Mr Grant sourced a rear section from a scrapyard in Stoke-on-Trent and reproduced other panels using more than 20 sheets of mild steel.
The new panels were shaped by hand to produce parts indistinguishable from factory-made equivalents fashioned in 1951.
Asked how the van performs when driven, Mr Grant added: "It's very, very noisy. It's got a very high back axle ratio, so it accelerates quickly but has a top speed of about 40mph.

The Laughing Dog.

TED is one of 44,000 Morris J type vans built over the 10 year production period which began in 1948 after their introduction at the Earls Court Motor show. These little and light vehicles were designed for the Post Office, Telecoms and government planning offices for use as small commercial vehicles but additionally used by many small businesses around the UK.
Built early in 1951, our Laughing Dog example was the 18th oldest vehicle known and is one of roughly 400 vehicles of this type left today predominantly due to the original construction methods used which led to severe corrosion problems and in part due to the lack of interest shown from enthusiasts and restorers to take care of these vehicles. Times however have changed and they have become a rare collector’s item due to the memories they evoke and their quaint appearance.
Our Laughing Dog J van, which has been named TED in a nod to our farm bakery founder, Ted Grant, has been restored to its former glory by Ted’s grandson, William, who has a very keen interest in metal work. Because of the poignancy of the vehicle from the moment of its unveiling, it has become an extremely important and integral addition to our Laughing Dog brand.

Little is known about ‘TED’s early history, however the ‘YM’ letters which are present in the number plate tells us that it was delivered to Central London and at some point the work to convert it into a minibus was believed to have been carried out by Martin and Walter, a well-regarded company in the 1950s due to their ability to covert light commercial bodies into camping conversions.

When William started the restoration process which began on 26th January 2015 at his workshop in Boston, Lincolnshire, he wanted to restore it to the original condition of how it would have been delivered from the factory. However, no sooner did the work begin and it became evident that there was very little which could be repaired (when the body was shot blasted it was likened to looking like a paper doily!) due to the original body condition being so poor because of high levels of corrosion and make shift repairs – with much of the front end being a mixture of parts from a washing machine and fibreglass!

William scoured all over the country (often in the most unlikely of places) and luckily found a rear section in a scrap yard in Stoke-on-Trent. From this he built the remainder of the vehicle, by hand using traditional metal working techniques which have been in use for over a century to ensure that the replica pieces were indistinguishable from the original factory items.

1500 work hours later, a huge learning curve and a firm understanding of how sheet metal behaves, 60 different sections made up from 480ft of sheet steel were produced to comprise the cabin portion of the van. These were shaped largely using the English Wheel, mechanical hammers or simply beaten over formers that took the shape of the original part to be copied.

The chassis was cleaned and repainted and everything was pieced back together before the engine, a later unit with increased performance, was reinstated along with the remaining items to complete the vehicle. The engine is the only item which is not true to the original condition of the vehicle.

To finish the van in a true authentic style, the van was sign-written by Mervin Dove, a skilled craftsman also based in Lincolnshire, the heart of Laughing Dog, who has over 50 years of experience and is one of only a handful capable of such work in the UK. This process involved hand painting the script and images which you can see present on the van with a small brush following a charcoal rubbing as a guide.
Now fully restored to a most glorious condition, TED will be touring the country to help us on our mission to bake the nation 100% dog happy!

Laughing Dog…It takes a little longer to make, but we think it’s worth it!

Poor offside brakes!

The van was dug out of its winter slumber, it was taken to the MOT station for a check over, all was well apart from very uneven front brakes.
Back home, its time for a strip down. 
Wheel and brake drum removed, contaminated brake shoes were revealed.
Also the piston in the lower cylinder was a bit sticky due to slight corrosion of the aluminium.
The shoes were contaminated with grease which the hub seal had let pass.
No problem, all the parts needed were on the spares shelf in the garage.

Removing the inner wheel bearing.

A couple more period pictures taken from the Facebook page.

Manchester POLICE vehicles being inspected.

J van on the left has a roof mounted radio aerial, and nice chrome bumper blade while the J van on the right has blacked out side windows, roof aerial, roof sign and large front facing tannoy speaker. Also looks like it has flashing indicators fitted, these can been seen in the original image.

 Bread and Meat.

Out and about being eye-catching.

Doing what it does best, being eye catching. What a great advertising tool the J van is. Well done Peter W.

Another period picture.

Also how about this for a bargain?

Located in North Island Nz, saved by us here in the UK, stored for nearly two years, now being transported to south island and then returned to the UK. Interestingly it seems to have one wooden frame door. Note also, one door has the handle mounted on the short side, like a normal van while the other is mounted on the long edge. No idea of age or history of this cab. If the cab body plate is still there (the Nuffield Metal Pressings plate) we can at least date it. The cost of this? less than 4 new tyres for your J.