Front square lamps and My first van!

Square front J type lamps, which is correct type? This should be easy, I thought as many other people did they were the same as Austin Atlantic A90's. Not so, same lens and chrome rim but different holder assembly. This period Lucas parts book shows two types of the 470 lamps.

I was told J types need the 470-1 type which is not shown... just my luck.

So anybody out there with an early van, please identify the correct one and end this confusion.

A slightly better scan showing type 470 has terminals for the connecting wires and type 470-2 is pre-wired to the bulb holder through a rubber grommet.

My first J type.
While trawling the net, I came across a picture of VOU 562. This was my first J type. Its first owners were the Reading Co-oP laundry, in Oxford road, Reading. When they finished with it, it was bought by a small furniture restorers and upholsterers also in Reading. They used it for many years as their only works van. The name of the firm was Sibley and Chamberlain. They did not even paint the van, just used it in the black and maroon from the laundry. The old Co-oP sign had been painted out when sold off.

I got to hear of it. I had sold my two Albion Buses and was down sizing my fleet of commercials.

So I went to see it and meet nice old Mr Sibley, who was in his eighties and shutting up shop. The van had not run for a couple of years so armed with various things we set to. A charged battery was fitted and Mr Sibley showed me how to hand crank the engine. This he always did, turn the engine over a couple of times before using the starter button. Well like all Morris vehicles it started no problem. I drove it home, about 25 miles, no tax, no MOT or insurance. At a cross roads with traffic lights, I had to stop and the engine cut out. It would not restart and I had to push the van across the junction. I traced the fault to the fine wire in the distributor, from the side connection to points terminal. A temporary repair and we were off again. Of course I would never do anything like that again, I was young, 20 and knew no better. (yeah right).

I kept it for a few years but never took a picture of the van. Well not quiet true, in those days of film cameras when loading a new film you had to wind on and waste a couple of shots, you must remember this, your not that young, well I took a couple of shots out my bedroom window, and the second one showed the roof of the van.. I will have to dig that out, but after many house moves I wonder if I can find it?

I had to sell the van when I got my first house, sold it to a guy in Aldershot who was buying it for his 18 year old son to get him interested in old vehicles. They rubbed the paint down to bare metal and then lost interest in it. I heard it had changed hands and had moved to the Bristol area and now I understand it's with a guy who uses it for auto-jumbles and the like. Nice to see it is still around.
The second picture is of course OBL, taken in the 1985 well before I had found/purchased it. (Note) I have since removed the front orange indicators as I did not like them, I fitted a twin filament 5/21 watt bulb into the side lamp housing instead. Thus I have front white side lamps and flashers which is perfectly legal for this age of vehicle.

Keeps the front "original".

I know the picture was taken in Newbury at the start of The Ridgeway Run. The driver is not David Elan the owner. Sad to say David who saved this van is no longer with us. He had promised to sort out many rally pictures of him and this van and also his 1952 Morris Minor.

The third picture I found was of OBL with the roof mounted speakers. The cheeky bugger had taken a copy of the picture from this site, posted it on Flickr (I have no problem with anybody copying anything on this site, but a credit would be nice though) but he has claimed copyright for the picture!! He has dated incorrectly and even listed it as an Austin, what an insult. Its a mad world.

No work done on OBL, apart from using it everyday for work, and last night using it to collect a new double glazed window frame from the suppliers.

I have just been touching in the paint work where the paint came off when I removed the last of the R G Jones stickers. I hope your projects are progressing.

At long last I can report that Tinworm has started back on his project. So the link to his blog has been re-activated on the right, do take a look. Also Rodney has made an entry on his blog, do check them out. Please note as requested I have now uploaded the sidevalve J type workshop manual in two parts on the right.