Morris Light Recon. Car Mk2

[Flying10uk]

I seem to recall hearing or seeing somewhere that the Morris Commercial Quad used the same engine and some of the running gear as the Morris Commercial light cargo truck but I stand to be corrected on this. Perhaps the Quad used especially low ratio transmission??? I believe that the German army had an entire Battery equipped with captured British Quads and 25 pounders. We lost many of the Morris trucks we started the war with in France 1940.

[Gil Boyd]

Interesting subject as this combination always got my attention when I either saw them at shows or on films. An incredible piece of integral warfare, complimented with the 25 Pounder which was in my opinion a lovely easy to move and easy to fire old girl.
I still remember sitting on my bunk on a Northern Ireland tour in 1972, the news coming through that during the attack on Mirbat BAT house in the Dhofar, that Talaiasi Labalaba 22SAS who was a Sergeant then, fired the 25 pounder on his own causing many casualties, and eventually being killed himself. This gun was always deemed by those artillery trainers as a six man gun when they wrote the manuals so this was an outstanding piece of soldiering.

Immense bravery by all concerned. But as always, not rewarded properly because they were "never there" politically in the first place...........a disgrace............another story for another day!!
RIP lads

[ArtioZen]

Hi Gil - I had a quick internet scratch (am no expert - but am eager to learn and share). It seems the Humber AC straight 6 was indeed powerful (as you stated) and came from the Rootes family of engine and vehicle production (Commer). Unlikely to share with the Morris group and associates - even during war. Its seems the Morris CDSW used a Morris straight 6 which was about a third of the power of the Humber. The Morris C8 / Quad would have been the 4 cylinder Morris engine which is a close brother of the one in this restoration. I have picture of an example Morris LRC engine tag with "EK" stamped into it and a bell housing casting with "Morris Commercial" cast in, lifted for reference from a UK restoration discussion site. I have yet to photo these (if present) on this resto. vehicle and will share as they come up. I would love to record your friends recollections on the engines - those Midlands produced blocks have been an interest of mine since I was a boy! Maybe its best to not bring this up and keep him turning with another pint - have one for me, until you can have one on me I hope this projects engine can find its donor parts - else it could be swapped for a period Dodge example or similar :/

[Paul S.]

Wouldn't the IWM or REME have archived information on the Morris service models for historical purposes?

[ArtioZen]

I think that's all right Flying10uk! The UK based resto. thread did source running gear from a Quad for the LRC (it may have been a mk1 LRC - 2wd and that may be their advantage - this one is a mk2 4wd) and even commented that the final drive ratios were the same (rear axle). I think the engines are almost totally compatible from the "E" series for the sake of getting one running - just the LRC may have better "inclined running" prep and the carb at least has a waterproofing prep (lots of designation letters on that little Solex bugger). A lot of equipment was abandoned, disabled or destroyed in the days before Dunkirk - there are lots of internet accounts that detail how to smash a distributor...just not that many on rebuilding one! I would hope there are good reference materials in the UK - any spares out there too?

[ArtioZen]

I dug a little deeper and found some other usable photos of the LRC as it stands (If I went back to see it now I would take very different photos) Unusual to have an original turret - albeit on a replacement ring - the fighting compartment was cut away a long time ago and "restored" a little less of along time ago. Rear of the engine bulkhead looks mostly original - down to stowage brackets. Seems it was painted red for some time and then had the dark bronze green and "mickey mouse" black camo after the restoration. Apparently it still has signs of the original interior paint - silver in the early war years (until the aluminum was required for aviation) - it was determined that this gave a higher melting / flashpoint for the paint in case of brew-up - later ones were white until the aluminum stocks returned. Engine is already a bitza. I have found a supply of Rust Eater at a local clearance store When the snow shifts I can empty the barn and be ready to help move it then help plan a running gear strip.

[Gil Boyd]

Get a lick of paint on her and the Philly PD will buy it from you for their SWAT team who I know well
All joking aside, a great project on a very very rare beast. By the way my Royal Marine Veteran is adament about the engine switchs. Someone may corroberate that sometime in the future if they read this thread and recognise such a diverse change of engine lumps on the Mk2

[Sentryduty]

Looking at the driver's compartment photo, I only see two pedals.



It looks like the right foot pedal has a hydraulic master which I would guess is the brake, and the left pedal seems like it would maybe run the clutch. Is the throttle missing, not visible, or was this car run with a hand throttle as appears mounted on the left side of the driver compartment?

[ArtioZen]

Hi Sentryduty! - Great question! I have been processing this since viewing the vehicle and some manuals - being somewhat mechanically inclined I can propose, from the drivers right foot:

Bracket and rod linkage on right tub wall is a foot throttle (foot pad missing) with throttle stop bolt in place - the shorter lever attached to the linkage is a hand throttle on the rear right wall.
Right foot is a hydraulic brake master with integral reservoir (twin piston) - hydraulic lines jump to a block on the front wall and run high along the right wall to mid hull and then split
left foot is clutch, direct ot cable which may have also run forward of the pedal and along the right wall.
left hand is a high / low ratio selector (linkage is a heavy tube running towards the transfer case along the line of the front prop shaft housing).
Right hand is a tall handbrake lever - ratchet gear exposed on the bottom of the lever.
Inboard on the right is a H pattern shifter - 8 forward and 2 reverse - not sure yet if the high / low range can be shifted on the fly - could be all crash gears (no synchros) = double de-clutch
And a sweet steering wheel - dash bracket bottom still attached - dash completely missing - am probably searching for early Smiths gages...
Attachment 69187Attachment 69188

[Sentryduty]

That second photo makes it much more clear and it makes sense to have the heavy duty pedals for the brake and clutch. I figured the throttle must have been missing because running off a hand throttle alone is challenging, but military vehicles never cease to surprise me. A crash gearbox would be my guess as well, and does indeed take some skill to run, I drove one in a very early production 1964 Mustang and they are an interesting experience in their own right.