Another J van found? Maybe it's not lost?

An ex-GPO planners van in a front garden in Birmingham. No details on this one, the picture was posted on a photo site a few months ago, is that an "X" or a "Y" an "8" or a "B" that can just be seen on the rear registration plate. I wonder if any local J van enthusiasts know any more about this van?
Thanks again to M.P. for this picture.

 A Postal J van with roof mounted number plate waits outside The George and Dragon.

Another post van waits under a NO WAITING sign, outside the main Post Office, the security locking bar is released and yet no Postman is in sight.
These period pictures have been supplied by The MYtH. Many thanks MYtH.

Another van saved but 3-4 more lost.

I had heard on the grape vine that some J types had been found in a warehouse that had to be cleared. That somebody who had an interest went to see all the vehicles but found that most had been scrapped. He managed to save the one in the enclosed pictures.

I have just rescued this J Type Mini Bus from the Crusher.
There were four more small vans like this that were sent to the crusher last week.
I heard about them on Sunday by a chance meeting with a gentleman who owned some warehousing. I mentioned that I towed a vintage caravan behind my classic car. 
He informed me that he had to clear out a warehouse he owned and would I like to take a look sometime at some of the vans,cars and caravans. 
Without waiting any further I phoned him the very next day and arranged to go that afternoon. 
He had been on holiday the week before and was shocked to find when we visited the premises that in his absence someone from the company had cleared out the warehouse thinking they were doing him a favour. 
All that was left was this van,an Eccles caravan and some other more modern items. 
Thanks M.P. for this information. I have this down as a 1951 Martin Walter mini-bus chassis number J/R 6733 First registered in April 1951 in London.

Far flung J types.

Now I know that J types were exported to all parts of the British Empire when we had one,  and I do have a long list of places they went. My thanks to Mike Parry for finding one in Bankok of all places. The location of the Old Morris Van is geographically located at latitude (13.7856 degrees) 13° 47' 8" North of the Equator and longitude (100.5001 degrees) 100° 30' 0" East of the Prime Meridian on the Map of Bangkok.

Now so many of the vehicle restoration blogs have seen little progress these last few weeks, I know all my fleet of vehicles are wrapped up for winter (unless a film crew calls) but its so nice to report stunning progress on the HBF263 Tipper Truck. Here is a sneak preview picture of their progress.

Well done Bob and the restoration crew..

Also do check out the MYtH blog updated 4 November....

Latest e-bay news.

The e-bay GPO J type chassis cab is currently £1500 with 4 days to go, will there be a late burst of bidding?
Currently there are some J type spare parts on e-bay from two different sellers.
A front wing, a rear inner wing and an outer rear wing. All new just very dusty and slight surface rust from over 40 years in storage.
From a second seller they have both front and rear morris commercial badges for sale.
I'm using a nasty Windows PC to post this so its rather long winded to copy the pictures (so much easier with an Apple Mac) so you will have to make do with just the links to the items.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morris-J-Type-Van-Front-Wing-/160668577076?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Other_Vehicle_Parts_Accessories_ET&hash=item256897ed34#ht_500wt_1112

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morris-J-Type-Van-Rear-Wing-/160668587321?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Other_Vehicle_Parts_Accessories_ET&hash=item2568981539#ht_500wt_1112

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Morris-J-Type-Van-Inner-Rear-Wing-/160668844274?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Other_Vehicle_Parts_Accessories_ET&hash=item25689c00f2#ht_500wt_1112

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-J-TYPE-VAN-GRILLE-BADGE-/220878184414?pt=UK_Car_Parts_Vehicles_Automobila_ET&hash=item336d5d9fde#ht_500wt_1112

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MORRIS-J-TYPE-VAN-REAR-BADGE-/220878185642?pt=UK_Car_Parts_Vehicles_Automobila_ET&hash=item336d5da4aa#ht_500wt_1112

Another JB for sale. New South Wales..

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110757747674#ht_500wt_1202

From the advert the seller states,
I have finally decided to sell my 1950 Morris J Van. It has been a great car and fantastic advertising for my business.
It is fully registered til September 2012. (not club rego) It starts every time first even if it's been sitting for a few weeks.
Despite it's rough look it is very straight and would paint up well.
Every time i park it outside my shop i get ten people asking about it and wanting to talk about it. The J Van is a real crowd puller.
All the mechanical work has been done locally by qualified mechanics, brake specialist, auto electricians and engineers.
It has had new wiring, new brakes (complete overhaul), steering and suspension, exhaust system, new upholstery. lots of work. lots and lots.
the fuel lines and tank were removed and overhauled or repaired. floor was repaired and or replaced where needed. new battery.
Must be paid for immediately and collected in Kyogle or I will arrange transport at your expense.
All these years i thought it was a 1950 J van but after looking at the chassis number i think it is probably a JB from 1957 onward.
I am no mechanic as you can tell .. so look at the photos and let me know.
It does have the 4 speed gearbox of the JB van. anyhow to me they are all the same J Vans (certainly they look the same.)

(it's registered as a 1950 Morris J van)

Chassis number would seem to be 46713, so this would date it to early 1960. A check on the Triplex glass coding would also help.

I love the foam air filter and with the breather pipe  missing from the rocker box cover it could well get rather an oil covering over everything, maybe thats why the engine has just had a wash off.

A GPO J type van for sale on e-bay.

A J type is for sale on e-bay, an ex- GPO van that is a good basis for a pick-up restoration.

Here are the details and pictures from the e-bay advert.

Morris j type NO ID to this one
but is belive to be 1950s
side valve engine
easy made into a pickup
PLEASE DO NOT BID IF U DONT WANT IT
buyer to collect within 3 days end of auction
contact within 24 hours
this is advertised else were so can remove at any time
cash on collection

Winter is coming.

Some time ago I dug my Morris Post van out of hibernation. It had been in constant use for about five years and then I laid it up to give it a rest. I knew it need work doing to the brakes for its next MOT but I did not bother. Having recently had a shift round of vehicles  I awoke the slumbering CBY358D. Well I could not understand it, the brakes were poor when I parked it up over a year ago and now they were non existent. You would have thought they might have healed themselves in the last year resting but no such luck. I had all the parts I needed on the shelf in the garage so it did not take long to fit four front wheel cylinders, two flexible hoses and to start changing the brake fluid.

Well the brakes are much better but as money is a bit tight I felt a new tyre for OBL432 was more important than getting an MOT for CBY358D. I was not intending to use the CBY over the winter so the van is back in the rented garage. With the first frost of the winter upon us I have been looking at car covers. What a price they are, having checked various firms to have a custom shaped cover for the j type made, some firms were talking £350, in the end I bought small one made for a caravan. Its made of breathable three layer material and cost £49 plus p+p. Its a bit baggy at the front, because of the windscreen slope but with added padding to the rear drip rail and wiper motor shafts (to stop the sharp bits damaging the cover) it not a bad fit and should keep some of the frost/snow/rain from getting in.
The Minor saloon has also been treated to a cover. So that's me broke for the next few months. Still, I'm using the motor bike for work and at 65 mpg I'm saving some petrol money and knocking off a good 10-15 minutes on each journey to and from work.
Both the blogs for HBF 263 and the Austin 101 have been updated, their progress on their projects is staggering. Two new J types to watch out for on the rally field next year I think.

At last another vehicle blog.

Another blog but with a twist an Austin 101.
LSV 492 at last has found an owner that will give it the much needed TLC. A fantastic amount of work has already been undertaken and the owner has launched a blog site to chart its rise. Here are a few pictures of LSV from my vehicle album on this computer, over 11,000 vehicle pictures are in it, no wonder I can never find what Im looking for.

First registered as YMJ 702 this combination was issued from 1959
This plate would have been issued by Bedfordshire C.C. (currently Luton).
http://austin-jb-van.blogspot.com/

Help required for a fellow J type owner.

Can anyone help Bob with his restoration of the 1961 Tipper truck HBF263? He is in need of door handles and headlamp/ side-lamp bases.
e-mail him direct if you can help, bobskibikes@hotmail.co.uk