41 morris project

[alleramilitaria]

moderator's note - original title: need transport for a 8cwt from bris to coffs harbor NSW

ok lets try this again
early morris 8cwt, no bed, frame and firewall forward... about 1 1/2 to 2 tons.
need transported to the land of the big babanna.

can anyone help????
thanks
dave

[alleramilitaria]

just to let all the fine folks up north in queensland know that border raiding seasion is about to start (for me)

im going to resettle a morris blitz from up north to the great state of NSW, on its way to the USA in a year or two.

that way i can be known as the only nut in the americas with 2 morrises, or morisie.

why do i keep doing this to myself?
dave

[Tony Smith]

You certainly give plenty of forewarning of your intention to commit International Border Raiding. I think this is a Freudian cry for intervention. Your subconcious is telling you NO.

[alleramilitaria]

tony
im trying to set some records here...
longest border raid

longest border raid by telephone

most morrises in north america

i think im too far gone for my subconsios to even have a voice any more, i think it just says (go on do what ever you want)

dave

[Mike K]

Dave ..

We are one of the few .....but don't fell alone . You are the sole member of the Nth. American military Morris club. Likewise, I'm the sole member of the antipodean Morris military club .

I've had people here in the local MV club actually ask me, with some cynical tone in their voice, " Why do you like those Morris things " The person asking is usually a Jeep owner

The MV disease usually goes like this:

Jeep.. gets tired of this and goes onto, normally a
Dodge ....... grows bored of this and buys a
GMC ....... too common and chases after a
half track or a tank .

Right under their noses ..are very unique vehicles with so much history behind them . Beaches of Dunkirk stuff - those Morris CS8's abandoned and rebuilt by the Germans. Nobody down here seems to want them, probably because Sgt. Saunders never drove one in the 1960's in COMBAT . But Sgt. Shultz did drive one in Hogans Heroes ..many times .

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

Dave ..

We are one of the few .....but don't feel alone . You are the sole member of the Nth. American military Morris club. Likewise, I'm the sole member of the antipodean Morris military club .

But when you all get together, you have a great time!

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

..very unique vehicles with so much history behind them . Sgt. Shultz did drive one in Hogans Heroes ..many times

We know NUTZING about this!

[alleramilitaria]

hi
i now have a early morris near the big bananna.

i need to make it into a rolling chasis, question is what kind or size of tire can i find down under to put on the rims????

thanks
dave

[Mike K]

I thought it's a CS8 ..with a 6 cyl motor ...

Anyway I'd go for some used 8.25 X16 tyres .. a fairly common commercial tyre ..if its just for moving it around the shipping yard .

Mike

[Tony Smith]

Being British, it will require the 0 degree bead that haunts seekers of 9.00-16 tyres for Canadian wheels. MRF supply a 9.00-16 that will fit right on, any other 8.25 or 9.00 tyre will be a bit of work for your Father-in-law, no matter how cheap.

[Mike K]

Dave

I know that the standard British 8 stud pattern 20" rims also appeared on civilian Bedfords of that era .... 20" rims with skinny tyres ... you might find some in an old wrecking yard somewhere near the banana ...

I think 10 mins with a angle grinder would have the 8.25's fit OK ..wouldn't matter for just moving it around a dockyard .

BTW ..have you checked the chassis for rust - they are a bugger for rusting badly where the crossmembers sit under the side rails ...they blister , or exfoliate I think is the technical term . One of mine has the chassis rotted away to almost no metal ....

Mike

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Tony Smith

Being British, it will require the 0 degree bead that haunts seekers of 9.00-16 tyres for Canadian wheels.

[ANORAK ON]

Tony,

Of course you have read Mike´s thread 9.00 X 16 U.S. versus British wheels, don´t you? It isn't so much a case of the 0° versus 5° degree bead angles, but the considerable difference in bead diameter.


Hanno

[ANORAK OFF]

[Tony Smith]

Absolutely, Hanno! It seems you have read my new Signature. It is of course a variation in the bead diameter that makes the fitting of the tyres such a problem, even though both types are nominally 16", but MRF identifies the 2 by bead angle, 0 deg or 5 deg, and it would be better to know of which we speak when ordering.

[alleramilitaria]

ok
asking for help getting any history for my "new" truck.

cab NO.1 mark II
CS8
MCC 1941
contract no. V4152
WD NO. "none listed"

i know the truck is a 41 morris GS with a LG widnshield. also it made its way to australia at some point.

any military history would help.
thanks
dave

[Mike K]

It is one of a batch that ended up here ..most of them found here are from contract V4152 .. the actual chassis number is stamped on the rear LH spring hanger .

They all seem to have been fitted with the late FULL cab with metal skin half doors indicating late CS8 production... the chassis numbers on them are typically near the end of production, around the 20,000 mark .

They were possibly REFUGEE cargo intented for Malaya , but diverted to aussie after Malaya fell .

They were sold off into civilian hands while the war was still on ..LANES Motors of Melbourne ( Morris dealers ) was offering them as early as mid 1945 . A few were despatched to LANES agencies throughout Victoria , places like Shepparton and other regional centres had a Morris agency and each received a few to sell . I believe the total number LANES sold was around 200.

They have all turned up in Victoria or QLD, indicating that they were disposed of in those two states ...probably via storage parks like Bandiana or Mt Gravatt or similar .

They were sold with very low mileage ...probably spent 4 years in those vehicle parks... the army here didn't like them because they were a odd ball thing and locating spares would have been a nightmare .

Having been disposed of so early, they endured years of abuse in civilian hands , unlike CMP's, some of which wern't sold off til the 1960's . Thats why , when found today, they are normally in a shocking state ..many are beyond help.

Having said all that. I have the remains of two of them from other contracts.. these are earlier production ( one is 1939 ) and these were fitted with Aero screens ...these were possibly ex Middle East as they don't fit in with the other batch V4152

mike

[alleramilitaria]

thanks mike
tried to catch up with you when i was down there but my e-mail was via mcdonalds and they block MLU!!!!!!

so i didnt get your e-mail till today.

the truck i got is in shocking but good shape, if that makes any sence.

the frame is gone, going to have a new one made!!
the axles, trans, and motor are in good shape, the steering works like a top!!
the sheet metal is in great to poor shape but is all there and can be used for patterns if not restorable.

i managed to bring back on the airplane all the gages, the fuel filter with all the lines and switch, speedo cable, and entire wind screen. 22.5 KG. the Quantis girl thought i was crazy.

but i need some 16 inch wheels, got any?

[Keith Brooker]

Got any photos of it Dave to show us all

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by alleramilitaria

but i need some 16 inch wheels, got any?

Hi Dave

Yes I had a spare set of wheels in good shape....but sadly, I did a deal with a well known organisation and they took the wheels..I'll fill you in on what happened later on .

The wheels from a 15 cwt CMP should fit OK ?? ..thats a easy solution . You should have contacted the MJCQ ( Military Jeep club of Queensland ) guys ..I'm sure they would know of some 16" blitz wheels for you .

Your keen .... new chassis being made

BTW the wheel nuts are different to a blitz.. they are BSF thread I believe.....one of my CS8 wrecks came with brass wheel nuts fitted ..I'd never come across that before .

[alleramilitaria]

ok i will keep asking about the wheels
if i have to i will relug the bolts with CMP lugs to make it simpiler.

the frame should be easy to have made, only 3 basic cross members and one of them is the front bumper.

im not sure if i will be able to talk to any of the queenslanders soon, they beat the NSW team in the origin match so my wife might not want me talking to the enemy any time soon. LOL

i have found 5 20 inch rims and have them with the morris, i found about 12 CMP wrecks while i was there. all had 20 in rims!!!!!

thanks
dave

[alleramilitaria]

Hello all
Here is the story of a 1941 Morris C8 that I found over a year ago. I have had a bunch of vehicles and wanted one that could be made to run on the street without too much of a problem and would look great. I have jeeps, and carriers, and one Morris already. The question was what next?

Well after getting a bite and some background and a phone number (thanks mike) I was able to track down the lead in Brisbane Victoria and for once the vehicle had not been crushed years ago. After a few days of talking back and forth a deal was struck for the truck some spare parts for a huge sum of 600.00.

After a year of false starts moving the truck my father in law decided to surprise me by having it moved to his place near Coffs Harbor in NSW (I guess im a official border raider). Well to his surprise what he got reminded him of something that needed to be in the junk yard (scrappies) than at his house

[Mike K]

WONDER WHO HE WAS ?

You have some good panels there ... and the front wings look a lot better than mine are

I could have got it, but too far away for this birdy . Looking at the yard, I can see why the chassis is stuffed - too many years of Brisbane rain .

It's actually a C "S" 8 ... 8 = approx. 8' wheelbase .

C is derived from the MCC C series of civilian trucks , released in 1933 .

S = 6 cyl. motor .

BTW there was another one sitting in Ken Hughes yard at Kingaroy..for many years. He offered it to me for $2000...way too much for a unrestored car that was over 1000 miles away . It has dissapeared and nobody knows what became of it . ..it was sitting for years without a bonnet ..so the motor would be in bad shape . It may have been crushed during the cleanup.

[Mike K]

dream on ............

[cliff]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

WONDER WHO HE WAS ?

BTW there was another one sitting in Ken Hughes yard at Kingaroy..for many years. He offered it to me for $2000...way too much for a unrestored car that was over 1000 miles away . It has dissapeared and nobody knows what became of it . ..it was sitting for years without a bonnet ..so the motor would be in bad shape . It may have been crushed during the cleanup.

Mike I went over the yard about 5 times taking photos the last visit was a week before the crusher moved in and I do not recall any typical English vehicles except for an Austin K6 or K7 6X4, A QL Bedford which found it's way to another place in Kingaroy to save it and some later post war vintage Commers.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by cliff

Mike I went over the yard about 5 times taking photos the last visit was a week before the crusher moved in and I do not recall any typical English vehicles except for an Austin K6 or K7 6X4, A QL Bedford which found it's way to another place in Kingaroy to save it and some later post war vintage Commers.

Somebody may have grabbed the Morris before you were there Cliff . It was sitting on a tray of a truck. I had pics of it and it was well known it was there . He roughly replaced the wooden planks of the GS body, and in his mind it was 'restored'.

Another chap in Brisbane has or had one too..he is missing the motor ..he lived in the city along the water front ... I rang him years ago ... he was a elderly chap , cannot recall his name .

Another one lives at Wagga in NSW ..the owner intends to restore it, but I've heard nothing from him for over 5 years.

The most original example In Australia is in the Moama museum ..a VMVC member found it in a shed in 1984... 90% complete and running , in very good shape ..he sold it to the museum people around 1986 and there it is today .

The Belfield auction CS8 went to New Zealand I heard ( does anyone know more ? ) ..it sold for a outrageous price as it was in a bad state ..but the chassis was sound.

Another one turned up at Whittlesea , I bought some bits from it at Bendigo swap ( the vehicle itself was beyond help and was scrapped - rust ) . Some time later, a nice elderly chap rang me and told me how his father purchased one from the local Morris dealers in Whittlesea just before the war ended . They used to to tow a horse float with it , they attended horse shows and drove it to Sydney twice . He said they traded it in on new Land Rover in 1952.. which he still owns... He said the Morris had very low miles on it when they bought it . He also said Lanes Motors , the main dealers , were painting them in cheap grey paint before selling them on . He was 15 in 1945 and speaking on the phone, he recalled the autovac on the dash and the concertina air filter on the floor.

[aj.lec]

BTW there was another one sitting in Ken Hughes yard at Kingaroy..for many years. He offered it to me for $2000...way too much for a unrestored car that was over 1000 miles away . It has dissapeared and nobody knows what became of it . ..it was sitting for years without a bonnet ..so the motor would be in bad shape . It may have been crushed during the cleanup.

OK
A small investigation into this and i have found the current owner .It turns out it is the previous owner of my c8 ,he bought a fair amount of gear from Kingaroo

[alleramilitaria]

had a friend help me with the tear down while i was there.
kinda freeky looking and workd for scraps.
and would not let me work on the vehicle without being there.

[alleramilitaria]

here are some pics of the vehicle after all the crap was peeled off and the work started.

the fenders / wings are a little smashed but are not torne or rusted through, so should be easy to have rolled out.

[alleramilitaria]

here after everything was taken off that could fit in my suit case and the metal painted with a heavy rust stop primer. as you can see nearly all the metal is there and good for rebuild or pattern.

the diff, trans, drive shaft all work.

the motor still has oil in it and still has all the parts present (gen, starter, exhaust, etc....)

and best of all the steering still works.

by the way I STILL NEED A SET OF 16 INCH RIMS, thanks

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by alleramilitaria

here after everything was taken off that could fit in my suit case and the metal painted with a heavy rust stop primer. as you can see nearly all the metal is there and good for rebuild or pattern.

the diff, trans, drive shaft all work.

the motor still has oil in it and still has all the parts present (gen, starter, exhaust, etc....)

and best of all the steering still works.

by the way I STILL NEED A SET OF 16 INCH RIMS, thanks

The rear axles are pretty bomb proof .... One of mine has a bent front axle 'I' beam , looks like it hit something in a hurry .


The motor has poured big end bearings with shims a la the 216 Chev, .. a pain to recondition if you have to.