The SU's J type van out and about.

For all you vehicle people that also do Facebook check out their page here.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-SU-Carburetter-Company/194187013968933?sk=wall

Do you know what this chassis fits?

I had an e-mail from a guy named Stuart, he said " I got it off an old bloke about 20 years ago . He had a car and this spare chassis in his loft . The car had been sold previous and I was told it was a Lanchester 12 . Obviously, I didn't see the car before it had been sold. "


So here are the pictures, Stuart is going to measure the chassis so we might have a better idea what it might fit. It looks like it had an off set engine.

I'm no expert (been told that many times) so come on all the real experts out there what does this fit?
The J type van in the previous posting, has been removed from e-bay. I'm told it got up to £2550, so will it soon re-appear as an ice cream van,  two e-bay J types this year have been Vandalised (pun intended) and good roof panels doors seats etc have just been thrown away when these much needed spares are wanted for other restoration projects.

The e-bay JB is doing well.

The e-bay JB is doing well I'm told, it's a charming vehicle and should be saved. It has I'm told most of it's GPO features even down to it's planning vans lamp over the table in the rear.

Currently for sale on e-bay.

A sister planners van currently under restoration.

The above two vans join the ranks of 496 BYY and the fully restored and very nice 949 BYY. It is amazing what is still out there.

Talking about the GPO, some of you out there collect all thing GPO, well how about a J type 6.00x16 tyre and as you can see it has been embossed to deter thieves. How rare is that?

If your interested please let me know.

Now google earth is a handy tool at times and has been updated recently, the latest aerial view over my "neck of the woods" shows my Morris Minor in the bottom left hand corner while my JB van is in the top middle, I wonder how many other J types can be seen around the world, is yours visible to the spy in the sky?

Morris J type van for sale.

Hi all, if your interested there is a 1961 GPO Morris JB planners van for sale on e-bay.
Rubber wings fitted to the rear while the fronts are steel. Also has a passengers seat.
Registration number 942 BYY. Link to it http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vintage-classic-morris-j-type-van-project-resteration-/220819371519?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3369dc35ff
The van is located in Tenbury Wells Worcestershire. Sorry unable to post pictures as using a phone to post this message....

Holiday time is here.

I will be away for a few days so sorry if there is a delay in replying to your e-mails and questions.

The above van I mentioned two blog postings ago. The latest news is that via a friend of a friend, Quote "I have received a note from a contact at York in Western Australia and he knew of this J. He is going over soon to see if there is an ID on it. Will keep you posted."
Thanks for the news P.B.

Lets hope the chassis plate is still on the the panels in the back of the van. I also hope the owner can be tracked down, maybe he would sell it to me. I'm in need of another project.

Talking about projects my main problem is normally lack of time, money, parts or sometimes all three. My friends latest project has a different problem, unexpected guests in the drivers side glove box.

A nice wasps nest.

If your taking your J type to any rallies in the next few weeks, do tell me so I can mention it here. Another J type owner might then attend knowing another van or owner will be there. After all we love the rare Morris J type, world wide maybe 300 are still around. In Britain road worthy vehicles? I would say about 30 so we should get together as often as possible.

A pair of front shockers.

If your looking for a pair of new old stock front shock absorbers for your J type my friend  has a pair for sale. These are the standard 10 inch closed and 15 inch open with loops top and bottom. Price £35 for the pair plus postage £8.
He also has a quantity of those hard to find windscreen wiper rubber pegs.
Interested call Derek 01225 766800 or e-mail jones@jpamela.orangehome.co.uk

Another J type found?

A Morris Commercial J-Type van was spotted in a corner of an industrial yard in the Western Australia country town of York. Pictures taken Jan this year!




I have been e-mailed with these images of a J van, now I don't know the sender but have posted the pictures he sent. I hope that is OK.
Could somebody in Oz do a few thousand miles and see if they can find this van and it's owner? Or do you guys out there already know about this one?

A second unknown sender e-mail also turned up today, with a picture of a Dutch J type van, who can tell me more about this vehicle?
Within a couple of hours I gained this translation of the history of the van.

Arabic white, Bergen grey and lemon yellow.

The Grandpa of Marc Bischoff Tulleken was a master painter. "In short it meant that he was skilled in painting and hung pictures from homes and public buildings with additional knowledge of the reclameschilderen". (I think it may mean he was also a decorator but one who actually painted pictures/murals on the walls)

 Marc’s grandfather and his brother had a business together, and in 1953 bought the Morris van “ Brothers Gorter” it was a new van with a 600 pound payload.

The van had to be a rolling advertisement for the business, so he sprayed and sign wrote it himself.. The van received the first provincial registration GZ-82069. In 1955 this was changed to NS-27-98.

The van was sold to them by J.J. Moolen Automotive Company N.V. a local forge annex repair shop for automobiles in Amersfoort in the Netherlands. The van could at that time be levied by the Ministry of War if they felt they had reason to do so. The van then had to go for public registration, with a full fuel tank to the church square at Hippolytushoef for assessment.

But the van was not only used for the business It was also the family car.

”For the weekend all the paint brushes were taken out of it and the ladders were lifted from the roof," says Marc. "The van was then ready for outings. Sometimes with the whole family on the road, for example: a few days to Terschelling. There was only a driver and passenger seat, I know my mother still remembers it. In between was the engine under a lid. That could not be otherwise with a flat nosed van. The radiator cap sat in the middle of the dashboard.

For trips my grandfather had created a kind of wooden bench that could be fitted in the back. If more people went along there was a mattress. All in all we covered so many kilometers, with pleasure and in comfort)

"During the clearing of Grandpa's House I found this picture, which I had seen often, but also a design sketch for advertising on the van. Compared with the van in the photo there are differences. It may be that he had the van adapted later on to the fashions of that time. "
"After nine years, Grandpa bought his first Volkswagen Splitbus. Because of the many kilometers he drove, he changed them approximately every two years."

"After the dissolution of the business, grandpa’s brother still drove the van for a long time. My grandfather drove all Volkswagen, still a class better. Much later, the Morris was bought back by the dealer and continued into the 1980s behind the garage area, rusting. It was advertised as in the picture when it was still there. Unfortunately, I have here no more photos of it. "
 Even the wheels and Hubcaps were painted in matching colours.
Thanks to B.F. of the MO and 6/80 club for the above information.

A quick update.

Busy life = not much vehicle restoration.
Good news, Links to the on-line manuals have been reloaded onto this site.
The ONY blog is being rewritten by Alex, so for a short time most of his blog has been removed, out with the old and lots of new pictures soon.

That grill, I've seen it somewhere before.

Picture taken by J.M and C.L. at Silverstone MG get together. 26/6/2011

Yes I have been playing again, well work is so boring so I have been playing with gif's, these moving things you see above. They're like "flick books" but computerized, should I copy Harvey and do J vans driving all over the page? My skill level is not that good yet, so just playing for now.

The latest from this part of the world.

The latest news, the lost blog entries and links to down loadable manuals have been saved and will moved back to this site shortly. I had manage to save them some weeks ago but just  had so little time to do any "blogging".
News of the fleet, my March 1948 "Gents" bike that had the slipping gears has at long last been repaired. With advise and a generous donation of brand new spare parts from a fellow J type owner (thanks again HBF 263) the bike is on the road. It now needs lots of light cleaning to improve it's appearance and the left hand pedal needs a bit of work as slightly bent.
Now the summer is here and the warm rain is due tonight I might well start cycling to work, well as soon as the schools break up for summer and the roads are quieter.
I took OBL432 for an MOT, I set off from home the other day and within sight of my house the throttle cable snapped. I had converted my JB's engine to have an SU carburettor when I first got the van, so it's both cable operated throttle and choke. This gives a much lighter pedal than the old system having the rod linkage pivoting on the engine, I found that if you hit a "pot hole" in the road and the engine would move slightly on its mountings it also tended to rev the engine up slightly. So you would tend to bump into a hollow and the van would lurch out of the hole, giving a very uneven ride. It was only the nipple on the end of the cable that had come off and with the aid of a bit of electrical terminal block from the tool kit we were under way within a few minutes. Well I'm pleased it passed in a way I'm now all legal again but it was far from being full check over of the vehicle.
I like to know the state of my rally wrecks, sorry my fleet of fine museum quality vehicles. A fresh pair of eyes checking over your vehicle and any recent work you have carried out has got to be a good thing.
Having been short of time the only other thing I have been doing is finishing the repair to the drivers door on my Morris Pick up.

The bottom of the door before the bottom and front sections cut out.

The new under door section fitted.

Welded up and the 3rd skim of filler being applied.

Getting there but still low spots.

Getting better all the time.

The repaired door refitted to the pick up. Correct fitment will be carried out once I have the correct door top frame, the one on this door was stainless steel (taken from a car) and should have the commercial type which is plain painted steel.

I have recently started feeding the birds at the bottom of our garden and one cheeky Robin has become quiet tame, within a couple of days he was taking food out of my hand.

He has got so brave now that he has started sitting on our patio table and has "pecked" the glass door to let us know he is waiting.

Dr Dolittle lives?

Also Alex is taking over his blog that I started for him so expect to see some changes shortly on the ONY Frank Grounds mini-bus blog.