Morris Minor Owners Club

Does anyone else have a two-position sliding switch under their dashboard?
Its right under the speedo binnacle area above where the choke cable mount bolts to the dash.

I can't believe I never spotted it before. Doesn't seem to actually do anything but it does look like an original fit item.

Any ideas?

It is original fit and if you play with it at night with the lights on you'll spot what it's for ;)

It simply turns the speedo lights off to prevent dazzle when driving at night.

yep., mine does the same..... when I bought the car and played, it was in the daytime and I wondered what the switch did too, until it went dark..

It simply turns the speedo lights off to prevent dazzle when driving at night.

Thats right but have you ever heard of anyone being DAZZLED by the Moggies speedo lights at night.

Kevin wrote:but have you ever heard of anyone being DAZZLED by the Moggies speedo lights at night

Why do you think I wear sunglasses at night in Phoebe?

Why do you think I wear sunglasses at night in Phoebe?

To keep the dog fur out of your vision

Removed by moderator (bigginger) for car security reasons, PM me if you want to know - and I'd know who you are

I don't believe it's to cut dazzle; I think it's there so that if you should park on a road at night and need to leave your sidelights on, you don't cause unnecessary drain to the battery or confusion to other motorists seeing the interior of your parked lit up.

I didn't know what it did either when I first hit my head on it... er.. discovered it. Think someone on here pointed me in the right direction, but that was before the servers were moved some years ago, so the post won't be around any more.

Gareth wrote:I didn't know what it did either when I first hit my head on it... er.. discovered it.

You find things the same way I do Gareth.... with your head

and I thought new Saabs were fancy with their black panel button

You see you're all missing out on the glorious fancy posh panel dimmer... How wonderful it is to be able to choose the brightness of the dials with a mere twist of a knob.

Although for some reason, every single one i've ever had as a factory fit on BMC/ BL cars seems to act as a rotary on/ off switch, with on being an nth of a degree between off and off...

When I first found the panel light switch in a loom (wiring up the pickup), I thought it must be some sort of aftermarket strangeness. Was only when I found it on another loom, and found teh little hole for it I realised why it was there!

OOh a dimmer! Mind you, have never used the dimmer on any of my cars, but did use the black panel on a fancy saab once.

Just wondering - will check next time I'm out - does the switch only cut the illumination bulb for the speedo/fuel, or does it also cut out the warning lights??

It cuts out all the back-lighting, not the warning lights.

I go check tomorrow if mine has one too

It should have one. My '55 has one, don't know about the '50

Mine is a '64

Just checked...nope haven't got one...