1957 Commer pickup project South Africa

[CommerNut]

Hi All,

Glad I stumbled across this forum! At least something seems to be happening here.

I have started a project to restore a South African assembled 1957 Commer Pickup.

It is fitted with the 4 cylinder 2.3l petrol engine - apparently also used in the Humber hawk?

I am in need of a lot of technical details, since I haven't been able to track down a workshop manual for this vehicle. It is quite a hit-n-miss to get most service parts.

My Grandfather bought it new in 1957 and used it till his death in the '70s. My Dad used it for a couple of years and then it ended up in storage from circa 1980. I pulled it out of storage in June 2013 and now the mission is to get it in a running condition again!. Any help or advice will be much appreciated!

Cheers

CommerNut (The reverse threaded One!)

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[desgail]

Welcome aboard CommerNut, looks like a good sound pickup. I will check with the Rootes Guys down here and see if I can come up with a manual.
Cheers DES...
This is my 1955 Pickup.

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[CommerNut]

Progress update:
While the engine was filled up with diesel to de-sludge and flush it I started with a sideline mission to try and get spark with the original ignition components, so I started by replacing the easy bits: Spark plugs and plug leads. The plugs which were still in the engine are marked H-9....problems! I cannot find a reference anywhere on the modern substitute for these plugs and ended up choosing NGK plugs with similar dimensions, but it will take more research to make sure they are not too hot or cold. Distributor cap...same problem, it is not available anymore, but I did find a similar MG part number...at least they are still available.

So while pondering the electrical issues I decided to track down a replacement oil filter which will be needed after draining the engine flush. Easy? Nah! It is an AC M14 filter - also no longer available and no substitute listed anywhere! So like we say down here in Africa: Boer maak 'n plan! "Farmer makes a plan".
If you can't buy the oil filter, then you make the oil filter: I found a GUD replacement filter with the same dimensions as the AC unit and I then disassembled the AC end caps - luckily there are some filter manufacturers in town and they crimped the end caps over the modern filter ends and it works beautifully - they were also kind enough to make it in such a way that I can transplant it to the next filter in future myself.
Next the ignition bits: If you can't replace them, then you use them as is and try to find other ones in the meantime.
Now having been standing around a long time the Commer had all it's copper wiring removed and for obvious reasons it is now quite a challenge to figure out how to make it work again. The coil has SW and CT instead of + and - notations and I ended up spending a good few hours doing research on the internet on the science behind ignition systems...you then realise how spoilt we are with modern systems - these older units were quite a science to understand! This at least taught me that the Commer is a positive earth system and the negative must be connected to the SW side of the coil (Switch for ignition) and the CT side goes to the distributor (Contact for points).
About this time it was time to drain the engine and cooling systems and most of the scary stuff came out, but not without some challenges. The welsh plugs are finished and the radiator flush product had eaten right through two of them, so they had to come out. In the process two studs broke when removing the manifold and same story: Imperial thread and no longer so commonly available - an engineering works had to order them for me and I should have it in a week's time. It also gave me time to shove the hose in the holes to get more rust and mud out of the engine.
Next episode: Trying to start the old workhorse after standing for 35 years! Easy as long as there is compression, fuel and spark, right?

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