Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[zagatoman]

Hi all,

I am trying to gather as much information, past owners, original garage that sold the car, everything about my classic 1936 Morris 8. I do not have much information about the car.

I have joined the Morris Register so hopefully they might be able to help also.

Like to thank the Cumbrian County Council, they were able to tell me the date the car was first registered and the name of it’s first owner.
Dr. Douglas Thomson, of Penrith, registered on the 20/11/36.

Any other information that you might be able to provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Paul

Reg. BRM 841
Year: 1936
Make: Morris 8 series 1
Body: 2 door, Black/Green
Vin: 118485
Engine: B51905 918cc

DO YOU KNOW THIS CAR

Paul


_________________
Enthusiastic amateur classic car nut.

[goneps]

Paul,

What I can tell you is that the engine no. has the prefix UB, not merely B, and that it's not the original engine.

Chassis numbers started at 901, engines at 501, so originally the two would have been approximately the same, give or take a few hundred. Presumably the VIN is also the chassis no., which would line up with the date of first registration.

Richard

[zagatoman]

Hi Richard, Just had a look at the Vin plate, this also shows the engine number and it starts with a B. UB engines might be for something else.

Paul


_________________
Enthusiastic amateur classic car nut.

[goneps]

Hullo Paul,

Very interesting. UB is unquestionably the correct prefix for 1934-38 Eight engines; Series E and subsequent were USHM. There were prefix and number variations for the military and marine engines, and the Brockhouse industrial engine. Many of these have found their way into cars, and it's possible that you have one of these. They can usually be identified by a horizontal blanking plate the length of the block on the right side immediately under the head, which is not present on a standard UB or USHM1 engine. There's an article on the military versions in the Technical Articles section of the MR forum.

Have you checked the cylinder block? The number should appear on the left side, behind the distributor on the chamfered face immediately under the head. On very early engines it was central on the right side immediately under the head, on a slightly raised rectangular part of the casting.

Your picture does not show a VIN plate, it appears to be the manufacturer's identification plate but differs in several respects from the original plate on my car (with a chassis no. approximately 8,000 prior to yours). VINs are a relatively recent innovation. I'm inclined to suspect that yours is not the original as fitted by Morris Motors at the factory. It's fairly common for people to misread engine numbers or their prefixes when the stamping is not clear to the naked eye.

I strongly suggest you post this information to the MR forum for the opinion of others. Of course, one way of being sure would be to apply for a heritage certificate from the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon. It would be very interesting to get to the bottom of this.

Richard

[Rick]

Re the style of chassis plate, it looks a bit like the Moggy Minor type from the 1950s, at least from the part visible in the photo above:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/116038127874126157/

RJ
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[goneps]

Agreed, Rick. Here's an original style 1936 plate for comparison:



Richard

[zagatoman]

That is strange, I will try and look into it a bit further. When I get a bit more history with the car it might help explain things.

Could the plate have it been changed in the 50’s if the engine was changed as I think the engine is a Series E unit.

Thanks for your help.
_________________
Enthusiastic amateur classic car nut.

[goneps]

A picture of the offside of the engine would aid identification. In the meantime, since you suspect it's a Series E USHM1 unit, it should have an oil filler hole (probably blanked off) on the offside of the block ahead of the coolant inlet elbow. If it's an early side-valve Minor (USHM2), the filler hole will be behind the elbow. Later Minors (USHM3) had a water pump, so there would be a blanking plate at the top front of the block and another along the top offside of the block as mentioned earlier. The so-called Tank engines are similar to the USHM3.

Quite likely what you have is a factory exchange engine. These were strange hybrids, using a later USHM block and crankshaft, which bestows the advantage of counterbalanced crankshaft and thin-wall shell bearings. Such engines were returned from the factory with the original flat head and timing cover with oil filler tube. If it is indeed a factory exchange there should be an identifying brass disc riveted to the upper part of the flywheel housing.

If you need to confirm the chassis no., that is stamped on the top of the offside chassis rail just behind the dumb iron. You'll have to remove the wing to find it, though.

Richard

[zagatoman]

Hi Richard, engine photo as requested, hope this helps.



_________________
Enthusiastic amateur classic car nut.

[goneps]

Yep—that's a Series E (USHM1) engine, but the presence of the brass disc at the rear of the engine (partly hidden by the steering column) suggests it's a factory exchange one. Interestingly, and unusually, the Series E air filter has been retained. I'm surprised there's enough clearance from the wing if the E manifold has been retained.

Here's what a Series 1 engine looks like:



35/Series 1/Series 2 cars had no air filter, although later Series 1 (such as your car) and Series 2 had an air silencer mounted horizontally in front of the toolbox, which meant that the horn was exiled to the front chassis cross-member, behind the apron (valance, if you prefer).



Just visible at bottom left is the oil filler tube and cap, and the dipstick (not visible) is also on the left side, behind and below the distributor.

Richard

[Peter_L]

Dr Douglas Thompson

http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/centenarian-a-valued-member-of-penrith-church-community.262831.html

Courtesy of York Archives: "A search
of the title deeds of the two houses in Bishop Yards, Penrith,
in one of which Messrs Little & Shepherd, solicitors, have their
office, the other formerly the home of Dr Douglas Thomson,
and now of his widow, "

[colwyn500]

[ukdave2002]

It looks to me as if a very diligent owner or garage has replaced the plate when the engine was changed

As Richard points out, unusual to see the later air silencer (is it a silencer of filter? can't quite make out as I'm looking at this on a small phone screen) if it's a filter they are rare as only fitted to export models and the Z van.

Dave