Ken’s Marvellous Morris 8!

Meticulous craftsmanship and uniqueness come together in this rare British 1946 Morris 8! I encountered this gem at the annual Hank Funk’s Garage car show in 2023 and upon closer inspection of this car there was a lot more to this vehicle than the nice paint job and the fancy 5-spoke Center Line Mags!

Ken found this car in a farmer’s field in stock condition, without the engine and transmission. “It had been sitting there for approximately 35 years, and the birds and rats had pretty much decimated the interior! Green related. “However, regardless that the body has been exposed that long to the ele ments, the body had mostly surface rust, holes throughout the lower inner frame areas, so in my opinion it was salvageable!”

Before Ken purchased and picked up the car in 1997, he flew out to Calgary, Alberta to have a good look at this Morris 8 that had left the English factory with lefthand drive. The original Morris importer was situated in Winnipeg, but spent its’ life in Alberta, just outside of Calgary.

“I immediately had a visual idea of this car’s potential.” Ken envisioned. “When I arrived back home in Vancouver, I did some research and found an original sales brochure.” He continued. “I did transparent overlays of the side, front and rear views of the Morris 8, and then sketched an altered con cept of this car, altering the wheelbase, ride height and custom wheels, etc. I had an epiphany and liked what I had drawn with the changes, and immedi ately phoned the owner and arranged to purchase the car!”

Ken also arranged how to pick up the Morris and bring it home to Vancou ver. “An interesting note.” Ken added candidly…and bravely! “I portrayed this amazing find and purchase to my wife, when I arrived home with the car!” No doubt, Ken was met with a bewildered reaction. “My wife adjusted my head so that she could see into my ear, and said. “Yes, I can see daylight through there!”

“Now it was time to get to work to make this little beast into a ‘gem!’” Green declared. At the time, Ken’s profession was architectural draftsman, however, he grew up around cars and over time had acquired many hard skills along the way. “Along with my brother, we accumulated many tools and machines to allow us to perform almost any task that needed to be done.” Green explained. Some of their machine inventory included a metal lathe, metal band saw, metal milling machine, metal brake, bead roller, arc, mig and tig welders. These would come in very useful for this Morris 8 project.

“Over a four week period, I took a panel beating course. This gave me skills and confidence to tackle this car’s body rebuild.” Ken verified. “I made wooden bucks to help me to alter and widen the fenders.” The trunk and skin were removed and panel beated into their original shape.

Both front and rear suspension systems were created from scratch, including a front five inch dropped front tubular axle with disc brakes, and a shortened 8” Ford rear-end differential with drum brakes. The steering rack is from a Porsche 924 and is mounted on the front axle. The steering column is a Corvette tilt and telescoping unit that is shortened by 18 inches. The steering wheel is a one-off custom design, that was cut down from a 1936 Ford banjo style wheel. The rim is from an MGB with an early Volkswagon horn button. Both front and rear bumper brackets were initially fashioned from wood and then adjustments were made out of aluminum.

After the body fabrication was completed, the 2.8 litre German V6 engine that was used in the early Ford Mustangs and Broncos, was rebuilt. The cylinders were bored, pistons balanced, engine blue printed with ported and polished heads. A custom machined aluminum adaptor from motor to MC 80 Magna Charger Blower was installed. This engine produces around 285 horsepower! The Ford C4 automatic transmission was beefed up and a shift kit was installed. Ken designed and fabricated the 3 K &N filtered air-clean er. The running gear, engine and transmission were then installed.

The car was then taken apart for the final paint of the frame, body and running gear.

“I didn’t paint the car or perform the upholstery work on this Morris.” Ken admitted. The bucket seats were from a Pontiac Fiero with the headrests cut off. The altered custom front and rear seats were covered in an English leather. The headliner and carpet were English wool to maintain the British theme of this Morris 8.

The rims on this car are 5-spoke Center Line Mags, with the front ones being 4 1/2” wide and the rear ones 8” wide. Front wheels are clad with 135/15s while the back ones are 235/15s.

“The biggest challenge on this build was there were no over the counter parts.” Ken revealed.”Most of the parts had to be custom made. “I couldn’t find any original parts available for this car in North America, and thankfully found some from British sources.”

The original grille was in rough shape, however, it was made from chrome plated brass and Ken was able to silver solder pieces from two donor grilles together to make one good grille.

The original 6-volt bulb lighting system was inadequate, so Green changed the headlights to a 5 1/2 inch sealed-beams.

Ken had expected the build time for this project would take him 3 years, but it took 6 years to complete!

“Over the years since the Morris 8 has been completed, it has garnered a lot of attention.” Ken remarked. “I have received over 50 trophies, this car has been featured in the I.C.B.C. calendar and has been shown at two concours
featured class events,” Green continues. “I didn’t build this Morris to win trophies, but I find it very rewarding that people like the car and find it worthy of a trophy!”

Ken Green belongs to the B.C. Hot Rod Association and also belongs to a casual group of fellows who like to drive their cars on cruises. “The name of our touring group is “The Can-Am Curmudgeons.” As the name implies, they are a mix of Canadians and Americans, who’s motto is: “Celebrating Borderless Bitching and B.S.”

“The Morris gets driven.” Green declares. “This car has been twice to California, Utah, Nevada Arizona, Oregon, Washington and parts of British Columbia.” Ken relates. “It has gone 60,000 Km since the rebuild!”

“A number of years ago a friend of mine, who is not a car person, said to me: “please help me as I’m not a car guy. Can you please help me by describing the car that you are building?” Ken answered. “It is green in colour, English, short, squat and ugly and is 65 years old.” His quick reply was. “Now that you have described yourself, what does your car look like?”

One day Ken was at a stop light and a fellow pulled up beside him and asked. “Is that an Angela?” Ken replied. “No it is a Maurice, sort of like a Perfect!”

At another time at a car show, a very enthusiastic woman offered a funny comment in front of a lot of car guys. “I love it!” Ken made the mistake of asking her what she loved about the car. She replied. “It reminds me of Mr. Bean’s car!” Needless to say, Ken’s ego was shattered!

It is a good thing that Ken Green has a dry British humour to carry him through whatever comes his way. I wish him all the best in enjoying his modified Morris 8 for many years to come, a real gem!

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