Interior Differences Picture Guide: 1963 Duotone Late 948cc vs Early 1098cc

[Chief]

This is something I've meant to do for a while but never managed to get decent enough photographs. Now that I've replaced the camera in my phone (discovered on removing the old one it had exploded with rust! much like a Morris Minor) I find my shaky hands aren't blurring the images quite so much so I'm putting it in concours not because the cars are concours but because there's still enough of the period features left to give people an idea.

As a little bit of background we have two Morris Minors, each one is from '63, a 948cc and a 1098cc (though the 1098 counts as '64 as it was registered in January '64 ). They are both four door saloons painted in Almond Green with Porcelain Green Duotone Interiors which is why it's fun to compare the differences

The '64 has suffered most at loss of originality thanks to us living by the coast (rust and leaky windscreens front and back) which interior wise has led to the loss of the original beige parcel tray and crash pad (well actually it was "lost" when a well known large restoration firm chucked them out and replaced them with standard black ones). The '63 has fared better since it was purchased after moving away from the coast and was a garage find (well, it wasn't found in a barn ).

1964 Interior:

Smith Fresh Air Heater:
The '64 has the rectangular Smith Fresh Air Heater.
Inspite of the rust it has retained the original wording, and the original swirl pattern to the face plate.
Although not easily seen on the photo, the swirl pattern appears to be made of very small white dots.

Heater:

IMG_0133.JPG (1.95 MiB) Viewed 17747 times

Wording:

IMG_0165.JPG (1.51 MiB) Viewed 17747 times

Swirl:

swird.jpg (1.66 MiB) Viewed 17747 times

Dealer Fitted Britax Lyfe-Lok Seat Belts:
The '64 also has original dealer fitted three point seatbelts. As can be seen there is one surviving (barely) BMC branded sticker.

Top of Buckle:

seatbelt_sticker.jpg (1.54 MiB) Viewed 17747 times

Bottom of Buckle:

IMG_0154.JPG (2.28 MiB) Viewed 17747 times

[Chief]

Seatbelt Webbing Holder:

webbing_holder.jpg (2.17 MiB) Viewed 17744 times

Seatbelt Adjustment Bar:

strap_adjuster.jpg (1.59 MiB) Viewed 17744 times

Floor Mounting Point (behind seat):

floor_mounting_point.jpg (1.89 MiB) Viewed 17744 times

Sill Mounting Point:

sill_mounting_point.jpg (2.21 MiB) Viewed 17744 times

[Chief]

Wingaard Interior Light:

Maybe they just grabbed whichever type from the parts bin, but is different to the '63

IMG_0143.JPG (981.38 KiB) Viewed 17743 times

Tudor Washer Pump:

'63 has Wingaard - I'm unsure if this Tudor pump is original or is a replacement by a previous owner.

IMG_0157.JPG (2.18 MiB) Viewed 17743 times

Interior Door Strap:

I believe these may be Newton Commercial remakes and not original based on the ones in the '63

door_strap.jpg (1.5 MiB) Viewed 17743 times

Chrome Rear Arch Covers:

chromed_rear_arch.jpg (2.35 MiB) Viewed 17743 times

Center Horn Push:

horn_push.jpg (1.64 MiB) Viewed 17738 times

[Chief]

'63 Interior.

Now for the interior differences of the '63 car. Sorry for the use of flash but the garage even with lights on is a dark and dingy place. It was also much colder than expected so the photos are more blurry from shivering

Wingaard Interior Light:

63interior_light.jpg (836.97 KiB) Viewed 17733 times

Door Strap:

63door_strap.jpg (1.47 MiB) Viewed 17733 times

Wingaard Washer Pump:

washer_pump.jpg (284.23 KiB) Viewed 17733 times

Smiths Round Heater (with beige covering matching the parcel shelf):

63heater.jpg (1.56 MiB) Viewed 17733 times

Parcel Shelf & Crash Pad:

IMG_0185.JPG (827.05 KiB) Viewed 17731 times

[Chief]

Rear Arch Cover:

Note how unlike the '64 this isn't chrome but just plain steel

63_rear_arch.jpg (1.87 MiB) Viewed 17730 times

Horn Push:

I think this is the wrong type and should be like the '64 since isn't this from a Series II?

IMG_0192.JPG (1.11 MiB) Viewed 17730 times

Toe Mat:

Here you can see the original clutch foot rest (toe mat) and also the heater control switch below the crash pad

toe_mat.jpg (1.34 MiB) Viewed 17730 times

Fitted Mat:

Here you can see an authentic fitted footwell mat by Dunlop which covers the 'chocolate box' BMC footwell mat.

IMG_0188.JPG (2 MiB) Viewed 17730 times

[Chief]

The original carpet which is jute backed, and original underlay:

63carpet.jpg (3.05 MiB) Viewed 17728 times

Now here's one final interesting carpet photo:

edged_carpet.jpg (1.73 MiB) Viewed 17728 times

That's right! Some Morris Minors came with genuine out of the factory edged carpets

The widest part of the carpet on the side with the edging is where the 30cm or so of edging is, the rest is your normal edging-less cut carpeting.

What I believe has happened is that the carpet was delivered in rolls and the edges of the rolls bound with the edging to prevent fraying.
When this carpet was made the person cutting it just cut to the outside edge of the roll leaving the original edging intact.

Well, that's everything interior related that's different between the two cars. Some of the similarities include:

Gold Faced Speedometer
Open flocked Glove Boxes
Banjo Steering Wheel
White Buttoned handbrake
Specific style of draught excluder holders (shown with the seatbelts) which as far as can be ascertained were only used 62-64.

[Mark Wilson]

Sorry - only just seen this. I've not too much originality in my own Traveller, but I do like seeing it in other's cars. You've put a lot of effort into these photos and the differences are fascinating, thanks. Was the seat webbing holder original, and was it ever used on later cars?

Regards

Mark

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Good guide, regarding the door pull straps, on my own duotone November 1962 they are plain brown leather. It has a plain Tudor washer pump but I have seen another 1962 with the Wingard one complete with description tag.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Also on these cars despite plastic covered wiring the headlamp wiring is cloth covered.

[Chief]

Only just seen these replies as I haven't been on the forums in a few months now.

Was the seat webbing holder original, and was it ever used on later cars?

I think the only way of truly knowing this would be to watch out for them in early to end of production cars shown in old films etc. and any other BMC vehicles of the time since according to another post here apparently Britax were the BMC preferred manufacturer so I guess it's possible these holders were a Britax creation designed to go with their webbing.

I do know that like a lot of things with the '64 car, the screw heads holding them on are different sizes, this is why I can never be 100% sure in its' case that things haven't been changed (such as the washer pump). Everything on the '62 has correctly sized screws.

So it's possible that a subsequent owner fitted the webbing holders but the fact they're also chrome does make them look like they could have been made for the seatbelts.