Mega Super Service

Mega Super Service

For all Morris J type Vans, Morris JB vans and (BMC 50's vehicles)Torque! e-mail fiftiesvehicles@mail.com. The copyright of any photograph on this blog-site will remain with its owner. No infringement intended.

Tuesday, 7 July 2015

Wednesday, 1 July 2015

Clutch Master cylinder.

Going to replace your clutch master cylinder on your JB? Did you know its different to the brake master cylinder? It looks the same but it does not have a one way valve in it.
Did you know you can also use a Morris Minor brake master cylinder? Whats the difference ? Apart from £60 its the bore size, 7/8 verses 13/16, yes a whole 16th of an inch. This might get you out of trouble till you can get the correct unit.
The upper master cylinder in the picture is a Morris Minor type (note the missing spring plate washer) its down the back of the work bench somewhere. On the left hand end of the large spring is the one way rubber cup valve which needs to be removed if this master cylinder is used as a clutch master cylinder. 
Lower unit is the original JB type showing the layout of parts. 

Sunday, 28 June 2015

Check out a Morris J van for sale.
Here is the link. http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C630569#
Its a September 1952 van, looks a good one. (Thanks to Old Slouchy for finding this advert)





Another van is for sale in Oz, this is a new find, so yet another van has come to light, these are almost getting common.
Advert states, 

For sale is my Morris J van photos do make up most of my description. 
This is a harder to get project van. 
Still has origanal baker boy graphics on sides and back, has 5 unused bread bags with a letting from the original delivery driver. Year is unknown but can be searched up chassis no. 41570. 
It is complete but not running, lots of spare parts including spare engine bock, clutch, pistons, globes, 
camshaft, water pump, headlight bulbs, two stock rims, j type workshop manual, j type
 supplementary manual, j.2 manual and lots of bits and bobs. 
Even has origanal key still in the ignition. 
Shows signs of rust all over. 
Roof very sound side and door sills would need to be repaired. 
Message me for viewing please no tire kickers or time wasters.










What a nice project, a late 1958 JB van.

It would be so good to see that restored .




Friday, 22 May 2015

The Incas!

A picture of a strong roofed J type van, ex GPO with rubber wings has appeared on Facebook. Seems it was the bands transport in the 1960's. The band, The Incas was formed by a group of local lads in the Wolverhampton area.

Saturday, 9 May 2015

The "new" JB engine is in,

The "new" JB engine is in, it's  just about running. Well, it has air leaks on the manifold, the mixture is not right, the exhaust is blowing and the timing has been set up by guess work. Lots of fine tuning needed and maybe getting some water in the engine might be a good idea..

Saturday, 2 May 2015

Basingstoke Postal Service.


Robert Brown's article published in The Basingstoke Gazette January 9, 2004
All about Basingstoke's Postal service.

THE news that the Royal Mail is to combine first and second deliveries into a single daily delivery has come as no surprise to many people, as recent months have seen a drop in second class mail passing through the postal system, due to the increase in fax messages and emails.

Postal services have been around for many centuries, the first being between Austria and Belgium in 1505, then in 1512 in Great Britain, where it was improved in 1627. In April 1680, postmen were employed by London Penny Post to deliver inland mail to city premises. At that time, a form of postage stamp was placed on the mail.

By 1784, “post days” were on three days a week – Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays – which mainly brought business mail between companies in various parts of the country.

In 1840, Rowland Hill introduced reforms to improve the postal system, and by 1855 he had set up posting boxes by roadsides to allow people to send their mail to clients instead of having to find a post office. These boxes were painted green at first, then in 1874 they were changed to red. At the same time, people were urged to make slits or letterboxes in their front doors so that the letter carriers did not have to knock on the doors and await a reply.
Before postboxes were introduced, letters were collected by a bellman who walked the streets carrying a large leather bag. Upon ringing a bell people would hand him any mail that they wanted sent. Then he would take the mail to the nearest post office to be sent, and hand over the money to the postmaster that was also given to him for the service.

Basingstoke’s first post office was in Winchester Street in 1808. It was run by Robert Cottle in his general stores. He fitted a postal aperture in the wall of the shop where people could put their mail when he was closed.
This mail was put into a postbag every night at 10pm and taken along to the Angel Inn, in the Market Place, for the stagecoach driver to sort out for the different towns he was passing through.

When the railway was built, the mail was sent by train, and by 1850 the post was brought down from the railway station, sorted out for the local area, and delivered to the houses and shops at 7am in the summer and 8am in the winter. When the post office was moved to 26 Wote Street in 1859, postal carriers delivered the mail to the local premises at 7am and 11am every day. By 1875 there were three deliveries a day, including one at 5pm.

In 1883 the post office moved again, to 23 Wote Street, where an additional delivery, on Sundays, came into being. Until then, deliveries were only made on weekdays. An extra delivery was later introduced on weekdays, making four, and this service continued into the 20th century.
During the Great War of 1914-18 some of the postmen left to fight in France, so women were accepted as postal workers, as with many other trades in the country.
In March 1925, the business was once again moved, this time to New Street, where a separate one-storey building was erected for the sorting office at the rear of the post office. With the telephone system being included there, an exchange was built to the left of the main office. (In 1981, the General Post Office) decided to separate the postal service from the telecommunications service.).
The Second World War brought many difficulties in delivering the mail, so only two deliveries a day were made, and the Sunday one was stopped. When the war ended, this service continued, with the deliveries in the town being in the morning, and in the country there was one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. By 1953 there were 12 town “walks” and 10 rurals, with 70 postmen.

In 1966 the postal coding system came into being, then in 1968 the first and second class service was started. The following year saw the Post Office become a nationalised industry instead of a Government department. Two more changes occurred over the following few years when decimalisation took place in 1971 and four years later the metrification of postal weights and measures were completed.

Meanwhile, the post office was moved to London Street in 1971 and the sorting office section to Priestley Road in 1978. This allowed the mail arriving at the railway station to be transported away from the busy town centre.
With the ending of the travelling post office this month, the constant stream of postal vans going to and fro between the station and the sorting office will now come to an end.

Friday, 24 April 2015

The big engine swap is underway.

 Radiator removed to gain access, the strip down has started.
 All accessories removed and with the cylinder head removed it will give us that little bit of extra room.
Out with the old worn unit, at the grand old age of 60, it needs to be retired.

Friday, 17 April 2015

Taken from a Facebook page.

Copied from a Facebook page, a post by Errol Classic Vauxhall on Save the Morris J Type van.
A nice Austin 101 egg delivery van, no other details..
Its a shame the sign on the drivers door cannot be read, it might give us a clue to what part of the UK this Austin van operated in.

A list of chassis number and registration dates.

J/R 010 10/1949--J/R 649 1949--J/R 755 1/1950--J/R 1061 12/1949--J/R 1102 12/1949--J/L 1518 1950--J/R 1612 03/1950--J/L 2935 1951--J/R 4491 11/1950--J/R 6050 12/1950--J/R 6187 1/1951--J/R 10916 12/1951--J/R 10972 1/1952--J/R 14776 12/1952--J/R 145931/1953--J/R 15455 1/1953--J/R 16261 03/1953--J/R 18124 1952--J/R 19902 12/1953--J/R 20658 02/1954--J/R 21720 12/1953--J/R 23555 1954--J/R 24274 1954--J/R 25618 12/1954--J/R 25079 1/1955--J/R 25741 05/1955--J/R 29869 11/1955--J/R 30963 11/1955--J/R 3183110/1955--J/R 32465 11/1955--J/R 33340 1/1956--J/R 35466 1/1957--J/R 35671 12/1956--JB/MR 37200 06/1957--JB/MR 39547 12/1957--JB/MR 39012 1/1958--JB/MR 39648 1/1958--JB/MR 42533 1/1959--JB/MR 42677 12/1958--JB/MR 43367 1959--JB/MR 45648 1/1960--JB/MR 45693 12/1959--JB/MR 46009 02/1960--JB/MR 47648 12/1960--JB/MR 47907 12/1960--JB/MR 48069 01/1961--JB/MR 48219 01/1961
Approximate Production data for each year.
1949 750 vehicles -1950 5347 -1951 5051 -19524098 -1953 5027 -1954 6000 -1955 6894 -19563169 -1957 3284 -1958 3131 -1959 2965 -19602516 -1961 362
Total produced 48620


Ardingly Vehicle Show 12/7/09. Picture taken by Clive Barker.