Morris 8 Touring Club of NZ November 2022 Newsletter

A line up of Morris’ taken at George and Lyn Schwass’ place at the Garden and Garage Tour

On 25th September 2022

THE MORRIS EIGHT TOURER CLUB OF NEW ZEALAND (INC)

NOVEMBER 2022 www.morris8.nz

M8TCNZ - Events Calendar.

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Friday 11 November Selwyn Motor fest

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Sunday 27th November – Club Display at the Selwyn Motor Festival at Rolleston. (Club will pay entry fee).

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Wednesday 14th December –Christmas BBQ. Buy a small gift for Secret Santa and bring either a dessert or salad to share

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Thursday 15th December - Last day for Parts Shed. Closed until 26th January

New Members We extend a very warm welcome to the following new members:

Ian and Mairee Thomas, Hector, Northern Buller 1939 Two door Series E Sedan requiring restoration.

If members know anyone who has or is interested in Morris 8 vehicles, either suggest they join our Club or pass on their details to Terry for follow up.

BANK ACCOUNT FOR PAYMENTS Please ensure you use our preferred account number.

M8TCNZ

A/C 03-0802-0101743-000

This is the only account which accepts online payments .

Members who make any payments for parts are to quote their name and invoice number when making payment via online banking. Payments should be made promptly.

Thanks for your support in this matter.

It will make life a lot easier for those reconciling accounts.

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The Morris Eight Tourer Club of New Zealand was formally incorporated in 1974: The aims are to encourage the sharing of knowledge and fellowship whenever members may meet.

Club Officers 2022-23 President

Terry Richards P:021 047 4670 E:

Vice President

Anthony Rolton Ph: 027 509 2092 E: a.ralton@hotmail.com

Secretary

Julie Ward Ph: 027 714 3850 PO Box 10-386, Christchurch 8145 E: m8tcnz@gmail.com E: awardfamily@yahoo.co.nz

Treasurer

Lynn Schwass P:029 977 3304 E: m8tcnz@gmail.com

Parts Coordinator

Pieter Maat P: 03 349 8428 M: 021 0869 1832 E; pieter.maat13@gmail.com

Assistant Parts Coordinators

Richard Rowe P:03 325 2405 Terry Richards P:021 047 4670

Newsletter Editor

Chris Gulleford 29 Bayview Street Kaikoura, 7300 P: 0274 390 718 E: chris.gulleford@outlook.com

Committee

Richard Rowe John Lester Doug Pagel George Schwass Andrew Ward

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Ph: 03 325 2405 Ph: 021 152 7758 Ph: 027 346 3844 Ph: 027 431 4781 Ph: 03 325 5775

Morris through the Years After the upgrades to the Morris factory by Leonard Lord in 1934, Cowley had five parallel tracks in the assembly area. They were fed by twelve miles of conveyors, bringing in parts made on the premises and by suppliers (122 of whom were acquired by Morris in the 1920s and 1930s). Morris was very astute in many ways, and his suppliers had to produce large quantities at prices he demanded. No wonder so many ended up being bought out by him. Not only could they then concentrate only on his supply, which could be increased in many cases, but he denied his competitors access to those components as well.

If we look at Daimler in 1913, their reputation for quality hand-built cars was actually a necessity. The castings were not regular and so needed extensive fettling before use. The assembled engine had to be partially dismantled before it could be fitted into the frame. Even the gearbox had to be ratchet drilled by hand in situ. By comparison, Morris was assembling quality parts made to fit together reliably due to dies, templates and measuring tools used at manufacture.

As an aside, there was also later on in 1925, the Willys-Overland Model 91 which they named the Overland13.9, which had all Morris running gear. That’s a big step for Morris, from being a customer to becoming a supplier. 1925 was also the year that Morris purchased Léon Bollée in Le Mans in an attempt to sell his cars to the French. The Morris Léon Bollée lasted only until 1931 when he sold up having made a loss on his private investment. As a retired Master Printer, my more personal interest in 1925 with Morris was the formation of The Morris Oxford Press Ltd, which was established at Cowley as a subsidiary of Morris Motors Ltd to print sales and service literature and the ‘Morris Owner’ magazine. Our Handbooks, Workshop Manuals and Sales Brochures came from here as well. It was renamed The Nuffield Press in 1942.

I have operated a Miehle Two Revolution Letterpress machine much like this in the early 70s. .Alan Gulleford

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President’s Report Greetings once again, to you all.

Oh for the simple life, is it just me or does anyone else have trouble with their bank.

I tried to pay my Vintage Car Club Subs, a couple of weeks ago at the A.S.B. (VCC’s bank) and was told they couldn’t do the transaction and I would have to go to my own bank, Westpac.

At Westpac they also said they couldn’t do it and that I would have to do it by phone bank or internet banking. I have resisted internet banking so far, so the nice teller (very patient) showed me how to do it with phone banking.

It does however look like I am going to have to relent and get my Grandkids to show me how to do internet banking. (Oh for a Cheque book).

I quite often get people asking me to give them an estimate of what their cars are worth. When doing so, I search for what similar cars are selling for (the overpriced cars sit on Trade Me forever) and things like live registration, what needs to be spent. i.e. Brakes, Paint and Upholstery etc.

I try to be as accurate as I can but if people are not happy with my estimate I usually suggest they advertise them and let the market decide the price.

It has been great getting articles from Members for the newsletter and the different tips on how Members do things, an example being Al Gardiners running boards. Very informative.

Well, enough from me except to say Barb and I enjoyed the Swap Meet, meeting old friends etc. See report next page.

Cheers,

Terry 5

The V.C.C Swap Meet 7th – 9th October 2022 On the Thursday night 6th Pieter and I picked up the Club Z Van on his trailer and dropped it off at the M8TCNZ Club site at McLeans Island ready for the display on Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday Barbara and I ventured out to the Swap meet for a look around. She looks at everything on every site. It was good to see John and Mary Lester set up in their mobile camper next to our display site. We spent most of the day wandering taking in the various wares people had on their sites (good and bad). Barb spotted a handbag she rather liked and I suggested she think about it and come back for it later, problem being we couldn’t find the site again. Sorry Barb. I did notice George Schwass buying the odd couple of car horns and a rather large trunk for his car carrier.

On Saturday I went out on my own as I was on car parking duty for the V.C.C. so didn’t have too much time to look around. On arrival in the morning the Club Members had our Gazebo erected and we had a lot of interest during the day in our Morris 8’s and George’s Solex’s. I think everyone has either owned a Morris 8 or Solex or known someone that has.

Sunday morning Barb decided to come out with me in case there was something she had missed on the sites and see if she could pick up a bargain or two. After 3 days I managed to obtain a Series 1-2 Carb, a cash box for the Club and found some tasty meat pasties of which I bought one every day.

Delicious. I also tried to sneak in an icecream , Unfortunately George caught me eating it, I tried to tell Barb that George had photo shopped the photo to no avail. It was enjoyable weekend and good to see our Club Members’ out there in their cars and manning our site this year.

Terry 6

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Door Strapping I have recently received a letter about door strapping and our Member has extra he is willing to sell. Please contact me if you are interested. Pieter (Parts Coordinator)

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Remobilisation of a 1937 Morris 8 Sports Episode 3: Fixing the fuel gauge - what I did to stop it reading backwards Hi, my name is Alister (Al) Gardiner. This is another episode in the trials and tribulations of our Morris 8 "remobilisation". I hope readers might find something of interest amongst the content. My apologies if it is all a bit ho-hum to the more accomplished of you. For feedback I can be contacted on 0279222242, or at grannybigal@xtra.co.nz.

Topics The topic of this instalment is the strange case (or not so strange as it turns out) of a fuel gauge reading backwards. Future articles will highlight just some of my further solutions to the rebuild challenges, such as:  

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installing some front shocks – there was nothing in the box of bits starter motor nightmare - did these things ever work at 6V? additional instrumentation and electrics - LEDs, turn indicators and 12V upholstery trim - a bit of individuality on the door pockets starting issues - how can some things so simple be so difficult? my car battery – a custom solution using the ubiquitous 18650 lithium ion cell

These will still take a few months to compose and deliver. I suggest that if anything is of immediate interest to you, get in touch with me or the editor to see if it can be prioritised. See earlier issues for other topics.

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The Problem I started out attempting to get the engine running with only a few litres in the fuel tank. Strangely, the petrol gauge read full. I immediately suspected a wiring error somewhere since I had carried out all the instrument panel wiring and added quite a few features – more about that in a future instalment.

So I pulled the instrument panel out again. I rechecked the wires to the gauge and then tried reversing them. There is also a third connection inside the gauge to the chassis which biases the pointer position in some way. But to no avail - all seemed OK. The fuel tank level measurement system is electromechanical.

Basically a float in the tank operates on a resistive element via slider fingers to vary the resistance as the fuel level changes. The resulting current electromagnetically positions the fuel tank gauge pointer.

I then jumped on-line to find out anything I could about the Morris 8 sender unit characteristics, rather than clamber under the car and pull the whole thing out – to find out what?

And here is what I found out on-line from the comfort of an arm chair - as the more knowledgeable of you are probably already aware of. There were two different models of Smiths 6V sender unit produced, which required different gauges. One system reads full on low resistance, and yes - the other reads empty on low resistance. Apparently replacement earlier type sender units (Smiths G33, which our type should be) are like hens teeth ie almost impossible to find. I can only assume that in the past our car sender was replaced with the later type (Smiths G35). The previous owner(s) must have had to adjust to reading the tank in reverse. Not impossible but I imagine a bit unnerving until you get used to it!

The technical article from the URL next page explains in more detail why it is not possible to mix these different versions. .

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Basically the pre-war system (G33) tank sender provides near zero resistance when the tank is full, while the later (G35) system is the reverse of this (near zero when empty).

See: http://www.morris8cars.66ghz.com/Pictures/TechPics/ Gauge1.pdf for a full explanation and a second article describing how to determine the physical differences in the units at: http:// www.morris8cars.66ghz.com/Pictures/TechPics/Gauge2.pdf?i=1

Some Tests and Measurements With a small amount of fuel in the tank (~2litres), the gauge was reading FULL. Disconnecting the wire from the sender unit to the gauge (open circuit or high resistance) made the gauge read EMPTY. This more or less confirmed the the case. With a variable resistor connected between the wire to the gauge and ground, the gauge gave the following approximate indications: Gauge Reading Resistor Box Value (Ohms) Full 0* 3/4 2.9 1/2 7.0 1/4 10 Empty 25 * ~1 ohm was measured with about 2-3 litres in the tank.

This proves that the gauge expects a variable resistance ranging from very low for a FULL reading to a high resistance of about 25 Ohms for an EMPTY reading (ie it must be a G33 unit).

Note that the gauge scale is non-linear, with the higher scale range spread out, eg 1/2 is much closer to Empty than to Full.

I measured the unmodified sender unit at about 1.6 Ohms with the float fully down (ie EMPTY), 32 Ohms fully up (ie FULL), and 16 Ohms with it about half way. These readings were somewhat intermittent, which suggested an open circuit in the element winding, or corroded/worn/weak slider fingers.

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They do however correspond with the required resistance expectation of the gauge but in reverse.

By inspection, based on the above reference and confirmed by the measurements, our car tank sender is therefore a G35. I assume that the gauge is a G33, and that the original tank sender was at some stage replaced with a G35.

The photo shows the G35 sender unit mounted on the front of the tank with the connected cable linking it to the gauge. The return circuit relies on a good electrical connection from the sender body to the tank and then to the chassis. If you are having fuel gauge problems, checking the continuity of this earth connection should be one of the first tests. Because of the low operating voltage and resistances it doesn’t take much corrosion or just a slightly loose connection to reduce the current flow sufficiently to give false gauge readings.

The Adopted Solution

So what to do? With not much chance of finding a replacement I wondered if I could reverse the internal wiring at one end to get the pointer to move in the opposite (right) direction. I decided to attack the tank sender end since it seemed simpler to pull apart than the gauge. So out it came. Often a real problem because at least one of the lightweight flange The sender unit with connection to the gauge. screws usually shears off. For once I was in luck, and with liberal use of CRC the unit came off without incident.

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As it turned out, modifying it wasn’t easy, but also not too difficult.

I unscrewed the cap on the sender unit (4 screws, see photo above) to see if the resistor element could be reversed to get it to deliver high resistance when the tank is empty, and ~ zero Ohms when it is full. On examination, I found that the external terminal at the bottom is connected internally to the top of the wound resistance wire element (see thin straight wire running vertically from the solder blob in the photo opposite).

The variable resistance is the dark coloured vertical element behind this wire. The pair of slider fingers can just be discerned one either side, Sender unit with cap removed positioned at the bottom in this photo (float is as high as it can go, ie max. resistance). The fingers were quite worn, but I could find no way of adjusting or replacing them, so expect to have to put up with a bit of jitter on the guage. The top end of the resistance element is left open circuit. There appeared to be no means of removing the element to reverse it, so after some deliberation I decided to unsolder this wire from the terminal blob, leave it open, and solder a new New soldered connection to the lead to the bottom few turns of the resistance element at the bottom element. See photo opposite, where the terminal has been removed from the bottom of the housing 14

and stuck out to the side with a chunk of bluetack for convenience. This photo shows the new soldered connection between the terminal and the resistance element. The unsoldered original wire can be seen loose at the top.

I left the old wire end "scrunched" up on top of the element when reassembled, in case I need to reconnect at some time in the future. See photo opposite, which is now presented "upside down" (in case you are confused), to more clearly show the new wire connection and screw terminal in position (now at the top).

New wire terminated and old The modified system was reinstalled connection left loose and tested. It appears to work well.

Fine Tuning To improve accuracy at low fuel levels, I speculated that a shunt resistor of about 100 Ohms could be connected between the sender unit terminal and ground. This would reduce the effective sender resistance as the tank approaches empty, and shift the gauge pointer up a bit from the hard off position to align with EMPTY on the scale.

This value would reduce the Sender unit reinstalled with shunt resistors combined resistance from around 32 Ohms for the sender alone to about 25 Ohms).

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It does not noticeably affect the higher scale readings. After testing with a variable resistance box I eventually settled for 40 Ohms (rather than 100), made up of 3 x 120 Ohms 1/2W resistors in parallel. This lower value set the gauge pointer at a little above EMPTY with about 3 litres in the tank, still providing a small reserve when registering EMPTY. A terminal was soldered to each end of the 3-resistor assembly, which was then enclosed in heatshrink tubing and connected between the sender terminal and a mounting screw, ie to chassis. The photo shows the sender unit with the sheathed external shunt resistors connected between the terminal at the bottom and a mounting screw to the right.

Does it now read correctly?

Yes. I have not had the car on the road for any distance yet to be able fill the tank to the top, but I am confident it will be accurate enough for classic car outings.

So if you do happen to be faced with this situation, making a modification to a tank sender unit is well within the capabilities of a car nut who can handle a soldering iron.

That’s it for this this instalment -more next time.

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FOR SALE – Series I Morris Eight Sports I have reluctantly decided to sell our Morris 8 Sports. I purchased the car in 2005 from Russell Newall (Gore) who had restored the vehicle.

I have done 1,530 miles since then!!

The car has a Series E motor and 4 speed gearbox, but the original motor and gearbox go with the car.

I have not used the car much for a few years but it is now newly warranted and registered.

It is in very good condition and the asking price is $20,000.

The car is located in Blenheim.

More information and photos can be obtained from Graeme Hymes. P: 0274 922 997

FOR SALE: Triumph 350 3TA Pair front exhaust pipes new $150 Motorcycle tyre (Avon) 350 x 17 New $60

Contact: Joe Greenaway 03 383 2073 17

From The Morris Owner August 1937

BRITAIN'S LARGEST CHROMIUM PLATING PLANT WHAT is believed to be the largest automatic chromium plating plant in this country is now in use in the Morris Radiator Factory at Oxford. It holds no less than 3500 gallons of plating solution. Every week sixty tons of brass, 1,656,000 feet of gill plates and 844,800 feet of water tubes are used in the radiators produced in this plant.

THE VOGUE OF THE OPEN CAR THERE is a big demand for open cars. This will surprise those motorists who think that "all-weather" open bodies are suitable only for warm summer days. The 20,000th Morris Eight with two- or four-seater body was recently delivered. Yet this Series I Eight model is not more than two and a half years old. Sheer preference for the open car has been responsible for this big demand, not a difference in price. The Morris Eight two-door fixed head saloon, at £128, costs the same as the four-seater tourer.

OVERHAULING THE WINDSCREEN WIPER Proceed by removing the wiper casing. To do this, first of all take off the operating lever by removing, with a small screwdriver, the slotted nut in its centre. The two screws at the sides securing the cover then have to be taken out, but the switch can be left in-situ.

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It comes off with the cover. The latter can then be pulled off, exposing the motor.

This will be seen to have a tri-polar armature and, of course, a three-segmented commutator. The latter should be inspected for cleanliness, and any traces of carbon or copper dust carefully removed with a soft rag moistened with petrol. The two brushes may then be sprung out of their holders, cleaned, and replaced, making sure that they are quite free in their guides, and making good—and square—contact with the commutator. Whilst the cover is off, ascertain as far as can be seen that no internal wires are loose or fractured, and then replace the cover, screws, and operating arm. Should it be found thereafter that the wiper still refuses to operate, in all probability it requires an overhaul by a Lucas service station. H.F. A WINDOW-CLEANER was fined l0s at Croydon for riding a bicycle with two eight-foot ladders on his right shoulder and a bucket of water swinging on the handlebars. He stated that he had ridden in this manner for years.

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FOR SALE Car: 1938 Series 2 Condition: Needs restoration Registration: None Where: Christchurch

Open to offers Car Status: Same owner for 40 years.

Contact: Dave Phone: 022 105 2882

Traffic stop We all know it’s dangerous to use a hand held phone or to text while driving.

So imagine the surprise a Patrol Officer in the States got when he saw an elderly rather regal looking lady doing her knitting while driving her pretty flash car at very high speed.

In an attempt to get her to stop, the officer drove up beside her, motioned her to lower her window and called out “pull over”.

To which the lady replied “no it’s a cardigan”.

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Parts Wanted The M8TCNZ prides itself as a supply source for parts to restore & keep 80- year-old cars on the road. To do this we need to sustain a stock of parts.

Our Parts Coordinator and Committee is sending out a request to any member who has (or knows of someone) who has M8 parts or an old M8 for wrecking, which may be lurking on the back of a shed – we would like to hear from you with a view to retrieving them for Club reuse.

At this stage we restrict this request to the South Island (easy for us to visit and pick up.)

Contact: President, Terry: or Parts Coordinator, Pieter

SELL: Parts for sale for a Morris Z van. There is a chassis, scuttle, doors, radiator, rear axle, and minor body parts. I only want $100 ono for them. They have to be picked up from Otaki North Island. I can hold them for a short while for the right buyer. Contact Martin Neylan E:majneylan@gmail.com Ph: 021 103 9380

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Parts Coordinators Pieter Maat P: 03 349 8428 M: 021 0869 1832 E:pieter.maat13@gmail.com

Assistant Parts Coordinators Terry Richards Richard Rowe

Parts Shed Open for parts on last Saturday of each month (Not 4th) 10am to Noon Members on site every Thursday – 9am to 11am Location; 140 Waterloo Road, Hornby, Christchurch. (next to Hire Pool) Payments to Club – Bank Account.

For ALL payment to the Club.

Name: M8TCNZ Account: 03-0802-0101743-000

Disclaimer: Readers are advised that the views and opinions expressed in this Newsletter are solely the view and opinions of the contributors and are not necessarily the views and opinions of the M8TCNZ (Inc.). By submitting items to this newsletter you are giving permission for such items to also be placed on our website.

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Morris Eight Tourer Club PARTS SHED ROSTER 2022/23 Lindsay de Groot Laurie Johnson Pieter Maat Anthony Rolton George Schwass Simon Reid

Richard Rowe Alistair Creamer

29th Jan 2022

25th June 2022

26th Nov 2022

26th Feb 2022

30th July 2022

28th Jan 2023

26th Mar 2022

27th Aug 2022

25th Feb 2023

30th Apr 2022

24th Sept 2022

24th Mar 2023

28th May 2022

29th Oct 2022

28th April 2023

Joe Greenaway Doug Pagel Dave Dellow

FOR SALE

Club Bumper/Grille Badge We have a new stock of 75mm diameter Bumper/Grille badges made of spun cast alloy and coloured in the Club logo.

Why not give your Morris some style with a new Club badge.

Price $20.00 (includes postage) Part No 1001 23

Sender; THE MORRIS EIGHT TOURER CLUB OF NZ (INC) P.O. BOX 10386 PHILLIPSTOWN CHRISTCHURCH 8145 24