Morris Minor Owners Club

So yeah I picked up my 1963 Morris Traveller yesterday after a lengthy 7 month resto and experienced my first drive. Initial thought are:

It barks when changing gears which is very entertaining
It manages to keep up with the traffic fairly well
Everyone seems to enjoy seeing it
and...it is surprisingly easy to drive

Just a few questions though,

Can I flash my lights to let traffic in and out of queues etc? I have a dip switch on the floor but is there any way to actually flash my lights?

Should the indicators self cancel?

Is there any way to up the power driving the window wipers? Mine don't fully return to the bottom of the screen.

Hi there Bigal. Your thoughts on what it's like to drive are the same as mine. I cant stop accelerating further in 2nd and 3rd just to hear the exhaust noise. Childish really.
As for flashing the lights, I can't do this on my 1965 salloon and I doubt it ever came in on the Moggies.
The indicators in mine self cancel using a bit of metal or something. It isnt perfect but it works. Not sure if earlier ones self cancelled though.
And I am not that good at electrics so can't help you with the wiper power question.
Hope you have many miles of fun in the traveller. Have you got any pics?
Steve

If you've got the earlier "clap hands" wipers they don't self park as low down the screen as the later style (both parked the same direction) If you want to "flash your lights" simply turn on/off your headlights switch quickly, or press the dipswitch (by clutch) once on/off. You can get a 2 speed wiper motor conversion kit and also there is a flash kit but they are quite expensive and you need to change the wiring to the steering column.

Not questioning what you say Lou, just confirming. If the lights are off and you hit the foot dip switch once, the lights flash.Is that so?

The dip switch doesn't work when the lights are switched off, though its still easy to just flash the lights using the normal toggle on the dashboard.
As for the indicators, they should self-cancel however most are quite tempremental... it's quite hard to accidentally leave them on though with a light that bright on the end of the stalk!

Doh! sorry of course! they can only be dipped if they're one - forgot that bit

Bigal_85 wrote:
Can I flash my lights to let traffic in and out of queues etc? I have a dip switch on the floor but is there any way to actually flash my lights?

.

I'm sure I read on here that you can reverse the connections on the light switch (to the right of the key) so that dipped/main activates first and sidelights second. This would make flashing easy but would also flash the rear lights

If I recall correctly, the front wheel drive cars had a very similar turn signal assembly but also incorporated the dipper switch. Could it flash the lights without them being on? Has anyone installed one of these? Of course some new wires would need to be used. The MG1100 were available here and they had them as well as the Mini. I know the arm is bent differently, but with some modification you could have a factory looking installation, which of course raises the question if the other vehicles had the dipper switch on the steering column, why didn't the Minor get it?

Good question, I guess that ergonomics weren't as developed as they are now.
Don't forget the early Minors didn't even have heaters, let alone air con, power steering etc.
People were happy just to get a car when Minors were first produced.
Unfortunately the management of the British car (and motorcycle) industry didn't realise when this attitude changed.