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.