In a message dated 95-12-12 16:36:32 EST, you write:
>has anyone ever seen MOWOG on a pre-war part?"
I repeated Denise Thorpes question to the pre-war list recently and the
question as to what the G stands for in MOWOG. Following are some of the
comments received, some of you have seen some of this before, sorry about the
repeat. I can now affirmatively answer the above question. Today I pulled
the gearbox cover off my 1937 MG SA Tickford drophead coupe and there in big
letters was '' MOWOG" as big as life on the gearbox casting and on the gear
shift extension casting. So yes MOWOG is cast into prewar MG parts. And I
think the general consensus is that the G stands for Group which is logical
given the changes in the Nuffield group at that time.
Some of the feed back:
>>From: MGTA
To: T A TERRY
I have mowog stamped (raised letters) all over my transmission and bell
housing. Don't know what it stands for but it is there. Maybe I'll try to
photograph it and send you a picture of what it looks like. cheers. Dennis
So Dennis saw it first on his TA gearbox, a Morris item....The SA unit comes
from the Woseley
>>David Macedona asked who or what MOWOG stood for. I replied Morris Wolsley
and
MG. Apparently others felt that it stood for Morris Wolsley Group. I have
no
written authority for this, but Mike Allison, the author of "The Magic of the
Marque" informs me that the G stood for MG. He worked for the factory for
many
years and is a reknown authority on the marque.
He also informs me that the MOWOG designation appeared when the Nufield Group
was formed in 1936-37. The designation was first applied to spares and then
appeared on TA's and TB's. Thus MOWOG did exist on some pre-war cars.
Mike Leckstein
>>This is stolen from an old MG Car Club Northwest Centre (USA) newsletter I
edited a few years back, in a letter to the editor from Doug Beagley. I can
only say that it seems accurate, though research might turn up a few
inconsistant details.
Finally, I know not of specific sightings of MOWOG pre-war, but its origin
was certainly there. A few places I might look would be on the top of the
head casting under the valve cover, the gearbox casing, and the rear axle
casing.
--Roger Los
-----
MOWOG stands for MOrris, WOlseley, and mG.
-----
In the late twenties Sir William Morris (later Lord Nuffield) owned and
controlled Morris Motors, Morris Garages (MG), and acquired in 1927 the
concerns of SU Carburetor Company, and, of interest to us, Wolseley Motors
Ltd. Wolseley was an old and very respected firm, and when it was acquired
Morris was about to introduce a small car to compete with the Austin Seven.
It was found that Wolseley was about to do the same, and in fact had a fine
single overhead camshaft engine designed and running. It may be of interest
to point out that this engine was a direct development of Wolseley V8 engine
that was designed during the Great War and was found in many SE5 and SE5a
aircraft. The engine was based upon the Hispano Suiza V8 which was so
successful in many aircraft including the French Spad Seven and Thirteen.
This small overhead camshaft engine was placed in the Morris Minor and this
led to the introduction of the M-Type Midget, which lead to the whole line of
overhead cam engines found in all MG Sports until the introduction of the
T-Series.
We now come to 1935 and a great upheaval within the realm of Morris and his
companies. In this year he sold the MG Car Company to Morris Motors. Most of
the design crew went from Abingdon up the street to Oxford. Also at this time
the decision was made to rationalize the production of all Morris products.
This led to the end of overhead cam engines for MG.
Morris was about to introduce the Morris 10/4, which had a new four-cylinder,
push-rod, overhead valve engine, aand which was to be the prototype for the
engine found in the TA Midget. Also, the SA and WA series were introduced
with a six-cylinder engine of similar description, based on the Wolseley
Super Six. The whole idea was to do most of the design work at Oxford and use
the parts bins of the three companies to supply what was needed (with some
modification when needed).
Under the regime common engines would be used throughout, though camshafts,
etc., might be different from company to company. Gearboxes would enjoy the
same cases, but might have different internal gears.
The MOWOG thing, in fact, stands for MOrris, WOlseley, and mG. It indicates
that the part you are looking at has a common application in at least two of
the companies.
If you take a look at an engine block from the MOWOG period you will note
some odd lumps on the casting, and you may wonder why they are there. For
example, on the XPAG engines (if my memory serves) you will find a place
where a fuel pump could be mounted--if it were drilled and tapped. This was
because Morris cars did not always carry an electric fuel pump.
Some bright person may point out that Morris subsequently purchased Riley
Motors Ltd., and there you will not find MOWOG used. This is quite correct,
but now we are talking about another period. I cannot recall when Riley came
under the Morris banner, but many Riley 1.5, 2.5, and Pathfinders were built
at Abingdon, in the MG works. Until the very end there was no commonality
between Riley and the rest of the Morris group, and they continued with their
own ideas and designs. Also, much of the design work for MG returned to
Abingdon, but this was until much later.
>>I don't recall ever seeing anything on my J2. I have found numerous MG
octagon symbols on the most unlikely of places, and even a reference or two
to EX-120, but never MOWOG.
But then it's hitting -16 degrees (F) with -50 to -70 wind chill
temperatures here in MinneSNOWta, so I'm not very inclined to go out and lie
on a cold cement floor to look.
Regards,
Lew Palmer
32 J2
>>Hey we're HIBERNATING in Wisconsin!
>" In the furor after I accused Cecil Kimber of being a doodler,
>no one answered my question: has anyone ever seen MOWOG on a pre-war part?"
Well, unlike Lew, I just braved the cold (O.K. it's one degree F or so
here) in the interest of finding the elusive MOWOG on a pre war part.
I had a great idea that I could just pull out the dip stick on the T.B. and
voila there would be MOWOG. Curiously enough, though, I pulled the dipstick
and saw "EMPTY/HALF/FULL" or something like that, and "ENGINE" followed
by another number. No MOWOG. I think I'll crawl back into my cave now.
The search may continue in the spring, if that ever comes.
Bill Putnam
So there you have it Denise, the last word.......MOWOG FOREVER!!!
Now we can get back to the question as to Kimbers doodling :-)
Cheers, Terry
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