Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[ukdave2002]

16 in all very much Morris



You may be aware that the humble Morris 8 side-valve engine from the 30's was, used in Centurion Tanks as an auxiliary engine to power a generator when the Tanks main engine was not running.

The Swedish government ordered some 240 Tanks in the late 50's and early 60's and ran them well into the 90's. In the last 10 years most tanks eventually found their way to the scrap yard, as did a batch that were broken by a scrap merchant in Stockholm.

The auxiliary engines have long been sought after by Morris 8 enthusiasts, as they were the last engines of this type to be made, had an easy life and were maintained to military standards. A Swedish member of the Morris Register came across the yard in Stockholm that had broken the tanks, the owner was retiring, and wanted scrap value only for the engines.

So a deal was done and the Morris Register bought 16 engines and had them shipped to the UK , all 16 were snapped up by members



Those of you familiar with the humble side-valve engine may not even recognise it with all the extra gubbins, they have a mechanical speed governor, a Solex carb an external water pump, oil filter that looks as if it is off a bus!





The ignition leads have an external earth screen to ensure no stray sparking, all other electrical connections well and truly protected , and if you look closely ; the flywheel is not faced to take a clutch plate, it was directly coupled to the generator, that I believe also acted as the starter motor.



I got one of the engines, the plan is to fit it to my 1937 tourer, together with a 4 speed series E box

Dave

[Rick]

Once in a lifetime find eh! interesting photos

RJ
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[Rosco663]

Far out Dave!!! Good score you are no April Fool.

Certainly alot different to the humble lump I have for my Series I. I have never seen one of these before but 16 in one hit

The additional engineering applied there is quite astounding and typical for military applications. I can makeout the basics underneath but it is certainly different with all the added parafernalia.
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Rosco