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.

Wednesday 31 October 2012

The 6/80 & MO car club.



The 6/80 and MO car club who cater for our side valve engine vans have produced a new calendar for 2013. Featuring two JB vans in the calendar with OBL being Miss July.
Price £5.99 + p&p contact Colin Poland, e-mail publicrelations@680mo.org.uk to order yours.

Saturday 27 October 2012

Another Australian J for sale.

Another early van has emerged out of the undergrowth, looks like the Dravleys Dry Cleaners van need some TLC. I do hope this very early (square side lamp) J type van is saved.
It on e-bay Australia http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/morris-commercial-rat-rod-/170931946515?pt=AU and it is up to $300 dollars, very cheap. Its well worth saving.


An up date on the green Morris JB van at the top of the page.
Its a 1959 model and according to the DVLA,
Seems it is still recorded as being in its old colour of grey and has not been taxed since 1990, I wonder if we can solve this little mystery.

Monday 8 October 2012

Spending money.

I have been out spending money, very easy to do even when your feeling a bit short.
I have up-graded the storage site (on this blog) where the down-loadable manuals are stored, this will mean bigger files can be stored and the downloading speed should improve.
Please feel free to download and print out any of the documents there.
I have also been buying various J type spares, you never know when these parts will come in handy.
Also if anyone is interested in doing the rear axle ratio swap I have purchased another good second hand crown wheel and pinion, its a 4.55 to 1 to replace your 5.625 to 1, complete with all roller bearings and thrust bearings.
If you want to know how to replace the differential parts check out this blog post http://ratioswap.blogspot.co.uk/.

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Purchase Tax in 1950.

Another snippet from a commercial vehicle magazine tells me that purchase tax went up in July 1950, this forced Morris motors to increase the price of the 10 CWT van (J type) up to the staggering price of £72 19s 5d.
If they were that price now, how many would you buy?

Monday 24 September 2012

Commercial Motor Mag 7th March 1952.


The ice-cream dispensing vehicle has been converted from a MorrisCommercial J-type van, the original roof being replaced by one of' hand-beaten aluminium. Coachbuilt doors replace the original sliding doors, and the whole Of the body sides above the waist rail are fitted with 'sliding windows.
Interior fittings -include two aluminium lockers, one on each side of the body, and aluminium counters. 
A Stuart Turner electrically driven water pump and a Perspex sink are fitted to the off-side locker, whilst two jellymould roof lamps provide interior lighting. A Flettner ventilator is fitted in the roof.

A high degree of manoeuvrability is a useful asset to an ice-cream dispensing vehicle, and this feature the J-type van possesses to a greater degree than many other types.

Another mention of the the JB van, this time 23rd September 1960,

TODAY'S announcement of a new range of Austin and Morris I0-12-cwt. forward-control vans sounds the death knell of a vehicle that pioneered the many small forward control vans built by many European countries. This was the Morris-Commercial J type, later known as the Morris JB. The J type was introduced at the 1948 Earls Court Show, and was revolutionary in being the first 1/4 -ton van not to be derived directly from a private car and bearing no resemblance to a car.
It has remained popular to the end, the G.P.O. alone having several thousand in service. With its large body capacity, neat lines and good manoeuvrability, the J type was a winner from the start. The only major change it suffered was the replacement of the original Morris Oxford side-valve engine by a more modern overhead-valve unit. In its development stages, however, the prototype once had a flat horizontally opposed engine, designed for a car and then dropped. One example was also built as a battery-electric milk float.

Tuesday 18 September 2012

The latest on Bugly the van in Australia.

Bugly has changed hands but Im glad to say his new owners are keeping us all updated with its current restoration.
I understand they are up against a tight time table.
I cannot say who the new owners are but I will say Chocolate and have a look at the colour of the wheels, that should give you a clue.




The GPO rally 15th September.

A good turn out of vehicles but few people.
Here are a selection of pictures of the J type mail vans that were there and also the Telephone van within the cramped museum.
Enjoy.


















Monday 10 September 2012

Part 3 of the co-editors story.


Pt3
Oh heck,

Where do I start with this one? This epic was originally penned on 12th Dec 2006, I edited it somewhat and changed it to past tense as it was written at the time, in the present. So, on with the show!
At the beginning of July 2006 I decided to start accumulating tools parts and materials in order to carry out the restoration of my Morris Six YSJ 342 during the winter. I had taken out a €5,000 loan in September 2004 in order to buy the car and by July 2006 had just two payments to go so I decided it wouldn’t hurt to see if the bank would either extend the loan I already had, or maybe give me another.
No problem. €8,000 (around £5,000) was mine at the touch of a computer key and no re-payments due until Feb 2007. Good terms, great stuff! I bought a mig-welder, a new compressor and spray gun (I often spray finish the guitars that I make and my old stuff had seen better days) some air tools, 2 pack paint, screen rubbers, new tyres, suspension bushes, carpets, door rubbers, new wiring loom, an air conditioning kit (I had grand ideas…), replacement gearbox, s/h rear wings, s/h steering wheel, replacement steering transfer box, wing piping, door mirrors, electric cooling fan, seat belts and an Eaton M45 supercharger to boot, you name it I bought it!
To read the rest of part 3 click here.

Could any J van owners who are going to the GPO rally next weekend please contact me. I would like you to take pictures of any J vans and confirm the chassis numbers of the vans. I would like to attend but as normal, its not convenient with SWMBO.  Also could Mr T Russ (events) please make contact.

Sunday 2 September 2012

GPO window parts.

The summer has ended, the nights are drawing in, what a year this has been. Well this year has been a wash out, the wettest for 100 years, I think we all knew this, I have never known so many vehicle rallies and shows to be cancelled.
For me these last few weeks have been a "butter side down" time, I will not dwell on this. On to the
Good news, a fellow J type owner remembered he had a spare GPO windscreen, its been in the loft for about 30 years and needed some finding, well done that man for offering it up as parts/ pattern.
Pictures enclosed of the complete GPO screen. It is amazing what is still out there.


This has helped restore my faith in other J type owners.
Thanks again for helping a fellow J type owner out.

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.