Morris van restoration

[morrismalta]

Hi fellas

I am from malta and I have just bought a Morris van for restoration. all I know about it is that it was registeres in malta in 1979 and previously it was a royal mail van in uk according to the previous owned since im the second owner since over here. i need to buy some new body parts for the van. do you suggest any website that has good quality new parts that are the same as the original panels.

to see photos of my morris go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=5 ... =876315256

regards

tim

[MarkyB]

You need to make your album public, or some such, for the Facebook free, like me.

[ASL642]

For spares try www.morrisminors.com (ESM) or www.bullmotif.com (Bull Motif) Have you joint the Owners Club? With membership you get a bi-monthly magazine which has all the details of Minor suppliers.

[Pikey]

http://fairmilerestorations.co.uk/pages/minor.php

Speak to Ian Mackensie, I simply wouldnt go anywhere else for panels.

Regards

[ASL642]

Useful to know - another source for seat sub-frames

[morrismalta]

thanks for the links fellas. you are really helpful

my issue is because a friend of mine just restored an escort mk1 and he told me that when he bought imatation new parts did not fit properly to the original parts and in some cases ended up fabricating parts locally instead of using the new parts he had bought

For spares try http://www.morrisminors.com (ESM) or http://www.bullmotif.com (Bull Motif) Have you joint the Owners Club? With membership you get a bi-monthly magazine which has all the details of Minor suppliers.

i did not have any time to join the owners club yet since i signed up to this site this morning. can i join the owners club even though im from malta?

im still new to these vehicles so i dont know much about them. i always wished to own one thats whay last week i got this van. at first glance it looks to be in good condition since the previous owner had started restoring it 12 years ago but some of the work was not done up to my standards thats why i need to buy the parts so that i can rplace the parts where unproper welding and sheet metal work that was done to it.

unfortunately i cannot start working on it at the moment since ive got another project which ive got to finish first but till then im doing my research to gain information so that when i start it it will be quite straight forward.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[ASL642]

MorrisMalta - we have several members from Malta on this site. If you wish to join the Owner's club you can do so by clicking on the link top left of the page - Membership - Join the Club. You can pay using a credit card (totally secure payment site) It will usually take about 2 weeks for your membership details to arrive

[morrismalta]

regaliaqueen - just joined the club right now

[MaltaMM]

Hi Tim,

Welcome! I'm from Malta too and there is also Frank who has a yellow Morris 1000 van who is Maltese too and who posts regularly here. I have a pick up with Maltese bodywork which I intend to start restoring soon.

Glad that this van was saved, I saw it advertised on maltapark some weeks ago. If the van is ex UK there are a couple of members on here who can possibly trace its UK history. With the help of Russ Harvey and Chris of the POMM register I managed to get alot of info on my pick up's life in the UK as it was originally a General Post Office van before being imported to Malta second hand in 1976 and then fitted with the Maltese pick up box.

There are pics of my pick up and many others here in Malta on my Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/47184112@N ... 445931570/

Good luck with the restoration,

Stu

[ASL642]

MorrisMalta - officially welcome to the MMOC! Ask any questions you like - there's always someone around to help

[morrismalta]

hi

i do not think that i can trace any history about my van when it was in uk since when i was imported in malta it had a new chassis number stamped on it which is CHMP390G79. all i know about it that it was imported from uk to malta in 1979 and according to the previous owner it was a ex royal mail van when it was in uk but got nothing to proof it.

tim

[MaltaMM]

Don't give up so easily Tim! True unfortunately many imported cars were given "new" chassis numbers by the Malta Police, especially cars like our Morrises which had the chassis number on a plate and not stamped directly on the body. The A-series engines were also very often stamped by the Malta Police since once again the enigne number was on a removable plate rather than stamped on the block. Out of interest CHMP in your chassis number means Central Headquarters Malta Police and the last two digits, in your case 79, means that the chassis number was stamped in 1979.

I was lucky that my pick up still has its original chassis number so that made identification easier. In your case Chris of the POMM register may be able to trace it from the cab number. The cab number was stamped on a plate which is fixed on the top of the bulkhead on the nearsdie (lefthand) side of the car. You may be lucky and the cab number is still there. If there is a "P" in the number it means the van was originally a Post office vehicle. if there is a "C" in the cab number this means that the van was civilian. Hope your cab number is still there!

[morrismalta]

unfortunately under the hood is clean because it was already painted. there where no plates fixed to it but the previous owner gav me a couple of plates but he aint sure that they were from this van because he also had a pick up some time back.

[youngcamper]

I like the looks of this,

Is it me or does that have a mini front grill on it?

[morrismalta]

youre right about it. its a mini front grill but the previous owner gave me the old one which is quite in bad shape and will probabbly replace with a new one

[POMMReg]

Check list;

Cab/Front;
Looks to have a black dash(GPO/PO) - extreme n/s(cnr) should have 2 holes for the tax disc holder (GPO/PO)
Washer jets; (cannot see Lucas 'screenjet' bottle) so must be late '71 (50000 series cab).
Engine should be a black 10V/451E/L5000-10200
is the NMP plate (under the n/s tie bar) still there? - prefix should be Z37923-4(PO),Z35127-34(Civvy)
Wiring loom covered in PVC tape (GPO/PO)
Lower arm suspension should have a anti slip bkt (2 x U bolts secured by a metal plate).
Bonnet front cnrs should have rubber buffers
cab floor should have a black bitumastic floor paint,
Mailvans didn't have courtesy lights - should be a grommet in the hinge pilla/'A' post
does it have a button starter or 'Neiman' steering lock/ign
Cab doors (cannot see Yale lock holes) - cab dr window surrounds should be black (GPO/PO)
Dr liners (if metal) should have 7 holes (mailvan), (3 on Engineers)
Brown seat

Body/Rear
Chassis should have a tow/lift bkt bolted in the o/s rear chassis leg
Body interior;
inverted 'L' shaped bkt welded to the roof with 3 holes (usually either cut off or bent back in civvy hands!)
bkt screwed to the o/s inside gutter lip (level with the above)
evidence of a interior lamp being fitted - screw holes on the n/s upper horizontal strut and gutter lower lip.
a plate spot welded on the upper horizontal strut (this is a sure way to identify a mailvan).
(cannot see advert board clips/rear dr exterior hooks)
The rearmost body xmember should have a slam bolt hole + a spring pusher locater above.
Body floor (metal) should be black (over red)
Wooden floor (fnt) should have 3 captive threads (2 together = partition) + 1 for the toolbox
Rear of each interior wing should either have 2 holes OR a x headed bolt head (mudflaps)

That's about it, have a flick through this checklist and let us know what rings true (if anything)!!!

Chris

[morrismalta]

the first chance ive got ill have a look and see what matches the checklist and what doesnt. but the will be plenty of things that wont match due to work done locally to the van

[POMMReg]

There's a few secret ways to tell if the vans' ex-PO or not - won't display on here!!

my Email is; POMMReg@gmail.com

You said you got a few 'plates' from the previous owner(?)

Make a note of them & quote them to me please.

Chris

[morrismalta]

will check out and email you