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Thanks for that, Dog. There were more vehicles made during WW2 than I used to think - mainly commercials but I believe some cars for essential use. I think London worked through all its number-plate registration letters and numbers with G as the first letter during the war, so that makes several thousand in London alone.
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What a beauty,would like to take the car for a run.I would feel like a king.>:)
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Interesting to note that the peeps who carried out the restoration were Gilbert Dawson and John Sullivan.
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They sound like heavy weight boxers.What a restoration do old skills never die.
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Handsome restoration indeed, but would be a tedious drive with enforced mimsing here and there. I suppose it's a side-valve 850cc engine like the thirties Morris 8 Tourers (two of the teachers at my school in Ceylon had examples, one of which was photographed standing on its nose in a stream on a tea estate). The very first Morris Minor, a nice little car with superb handling, had the same engine (with a four-speed gearbox instead of three), but the model more or less doubled in power with the advent of the pushrod ohv Minor 1000 engine, losing its sweetness of character at the same time.
It seems slow now, but when new the Minor 1000 was thought brisk for its size and was much favoured by young hotshoes until the Mini came along.
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Just to be pedantic the original (post war ) Minor had a 918cc side valve engine, I believe that that engine had prewar origins and would guess that it was used in the Z type 2.
In the Minor it could just about make 60mph - my first car was regularly thrashed the (then) length of the M1 with foot flat to the floor from N. London to Loughborough. Great fun and controllable in the wet and snow, albeit at low speeds!
The series II had a 803cc ohv, followed by the 948cc A series and later increased to 1098cc.
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>> Just to be pedantic
Pedantry is to be encouraged in these matters. I welcome it. The ohv split-screen Minor also had the raised headlamp position of the Minor 1000. I suppose the result of legislation, but a pity because the original sv Minor with the low headlamps was far, far better looking. My Dublin aunt had one for years and used to let me drive it when I was young. As you note pmh it wasn't dangerously quick by any means but handled absolutely beautifully. Very frugal too even when flogged.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Mon 4 Jun 12 at 16:43
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Mine was a very early 1948 version with low headlamps. To be precise, it only had main beam on the offside lamp, but dipped onto both headlamps. It must have been the original poverty spec, since it also had a single driver side wiper! I never found that specification documented anywhere at the time, (or since). As I was a student, (and drove like one), I was regularly pulled by plod who always took a lot of convincing that the those specifications were original. Maybe I just learned to pass the attitude test very early on.
Last edited by: pmh on Mon 4 Jun 12 at 17:10
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I had an ex PO van. Rubber wings and top-hinged driver's side windscreen. Curious spec, as many things weren't quite the same as comparable cars. I was led to believe they were built to a higher spec.
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Many of the PO-BT vans of the same era with A series engines were fitted with a restrictor plate between the carb and inlet manifold. The story was that the vans that were 'personal issue' were frequently modified to improve the performance by removing the restriction. I remember being told that the vans with the restrictor removed, as well as going better, had superior fuel economy as well:)
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Jowetts made private cars into 1940, a couple exist in the owners club.
They ceased production and kept on making the engines for generator sets and pumps.
I found 3 of the gennies in a warehouse locally and bought them all......sold them at £50 profit each.
Wish I'd kept one now, but the engines were no use for cars, having no distributors or starter/ring gear/bell housing.......just a monster flywheel and a magneto..
Ted
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>> the engines were no use for cars, having no distributors or starter/ring gear/bell housing.......just a monster flywheel and a magneto..
Were they flat-twins like Bradford engines Ted? Don't forget the Bradford was a car, van-like in appearance, and about the cheapest four-wheeler available in its day. I got lifts in several during my hitch-hiking days in the fifties. It wasn't fast but had a good feel as flat engines usually do. One owner quickly freed a sticking valve at the roadside at night too.
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They were indeed, Lud. Another reason they were no use was that there was no facility for fitting a dynamo.
Ted
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Decent machine shop and a bit of determination and you might have had a magneto-fired, crankhandle-started lightweight Jowett special, 68mph and 55mpg...
Easier said than done of course.
I hope the Javelin is fit and well Ted.
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1941 Morris Z Type-2 restored to former glory - Avant
