Morris Minor Owners Club

Could someone please take some pictures of what the underside of the dash is supposed to look like, please?

Under the glove compartments, and the steering column, I have some sort of...a bar? It is kind of wrapped in, what looks like, the same material that is on the headliner.

I am thinking that this can't be correct, but I am having a hard time finding out what the interior is supposed to look like...

I have to confess that there are a couple of knobs under there that I don't know anything about, too... One has arrows that point left and right <- -> but I don't know what it is...and I forget right this second WHAT the other one says or even where exactly it IS

This is NOT one of my finer posts, I'm afraid!

I have to confess that I only just now figured out that I had a wiper washer fluid button... I saw the button but didn't know what it was for...when I pushed it, it made a noise but I drew a blank... My husband, Keith, was the one who caught it...

Also, I got in touch with my British Auto Parts man, Jim, and asked him about mirrors, since my Precious doesn't have any and I rely heavily on my side mirrors when I drive... He said that they didn't come with mirrors...that the dealerships put on whatever they had the most of and put them wherever they wanted to put them...front fender or door... grrrr.... is that accurate?

There was a screw-on mirror in the dash so I put it on, but I think it must not be put on correctly, because I can't see ANYTHING with it...

Lastly (well, for right this minute) I am needing a key blank so that I can have some new ignition keys cut....

My ignition key locks my door, too, so I don't want to change it out...not to mention the fact that there is nothing WRONG with it..I just only have the one key and really need at least one extra...

My lock and key man is having trouble finding a blank for it and Jim (my British Auto Parts man) says that I need a whole series of numbers to figure out which one of 3 blanks that it is... the lock and key man said it was a 62DP but Jim says I need to look around the tumbler for that long number...I can't find anything...

Do y'all have any ideas?

Is it that hard to find blanks for these little sweethearts?

I have been looking through a whole passel of pictures on here of these beauties....

I know it will take me a LONG time to get my Precious back to where she needs to be, but I can look at all of the GORGEOUS vehichles on here and stay hopeful that we can do it right...

Y'all have a glorious weekend!

The bar wrapped in headling material is the front supprt for the parcelshelf made ( I believe!?) of a type of cardboard material known as millboard! Clearly your actual shelf is missing. Keep an eye on the thread immediately before yours on the message board as someone else has just bought that same bar and is asking how best to go about making a shelf to go onto it.
Can't help with much of the other stuff ( I've forgotten what switches are under the dash as I took mine apart some 20 years ago, but as I'm about to start reassembling it I suppose I'd better start finding out!
AS for key blanks, I'd trawl eBay.co.uk as blanks are often available there ( though your 62DP doesn't sound familiar,) or try bullmotif.co.uk or esm.co.uk.
Good luck

By the way, the only other instance I have encountered of someone referring to their "Precious" was a rather strange looking skinny creature who had very little hair loved eating fish and lurked about in flooded caves!

My dash isn't standard anymore so pictures of mine wouldn't help but as for the other points:

Keys here:

http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/adv ... y&x=5&y=10

If there's a number on your key they may be able to pre-cut for you.

If you take a picture of the switches you mean we may be able to help further.

Mirrors: If you on't have mirrors on the wings, there are mirrors out there that mount to the door frame near the quarterlight which are more effective - I can't think of the supplier at the moment but I'm sure someone will in a moment.

It gets less daunting

Coalmossian wrote:The bar wrapped in headling material is the front supprt for the parcelshelf made ( I believe!?) of a type of cardboard material known as millboard! Clearly your actual shelf is missing. Keep an eye on the thread immediately before yours on the message board as someone else has just bought that same bar and is asking how best to go about making a shelf to go onto it.
Good luck

Ok... I just saw a picture that I think is what you are describing on Morris Mania... I still am not real clear on it, but...I will ask Jim... He can only say he has no idea, right?

Coalmossian wrote:By the way, the only other instance I have encountered of someone referring to their "Precious" was a rather strange looking skinny creature who had very little hair loved eating fish and lurked about in flooded caves!

I know it...and he had TERRIBLE teeth, too! I just took one look at her and said "oh how PRECIOUS!" and it stuck...wasn't till later that I thought of Gollum...

dp wrote:If you take a picture of the switches you mean we may be able to help further.

Mirrors: If you on't have mirrors on the wings, there are mirrors out there that mount to the door frame near the quarterlight which are more effective - I can't think of the supplier at the moment but I'm sure someone will in a moment.

It gets less daunting

I will take a picture of under my dash and post it... I spoke to my Key man a few minutes ago and he thinks he has located some blanks on the West Coast...keep your fingers crossed!!!

Yes, I think that I would much rather have mirrors mounted on the door frame rather than on the wings...I would think that would be approximately like setting your compact mirror down then standing 4 feet or so away and trying to pluck your eyebrows... probably not very effective... I certainly hope it DOES get MUCH less daunting.... My brain is tired from trying to absorb so much at once... but I really want to try and keep her like she would have been in 1959...

Y'all REALLY ought to see the looks I get when I drive down the roads in America with the right side steering... It is HILARIOUS! Keith likes to ride behind me JUST so he can see the double and triple takes.... It is high entertainment for us!

Thanks y'all! I will try and get some pictures taken sometime this evening or tomorrow!

The blank depends on the key series, FA, FP, FS etc. Earlier cars had the key number stamped on the top of the ignition barrel. Keys are readily available
Alternatively if you buy a Production Trace Certificate from British Motor Industry Heritage Trust it should give the original key numbers plus other build information about your car.
A photo of your dash area would help identify the switches.
You should have one factory fitted interior mirror. Outside wing mirrors are optional but make sure that you fit convex glass mirrors, preferably on the longest arms that you can find

if yours is a serr11 split screen then the switch marked left and right is probably the trafficator switch,it was under the dash on the right side.

Gatorzilla,

If you google (don't y'all love that verb) 'morris minor dashboard' and select images, there's hundreds to choose from.

The original ones are fairly obvious.

I attach a photo my '64 if its of any help and can take more if you wish.

Pete[frame][/frame]

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... rcel+shelf

If you scroll down on this there are some very good pictures from Declan Burns of his parcel shelf

One has arrows that point left and right <- -> but I don't know what it is...and I forget right this second WHAT the other one says or even where exactly it IS

The first is the heater fan control, from memory it goes from full on to slower as it goes clockwise.
The other is a "fresh" air inlet that lets air in from the back of the engine.
I'm pretty sure it says push on, not push off

Jim sounds like he knows his stuff, and he is right about wing-mirrors being fitted as extras.

[frame][/frame]

This is the button that turns from left to right...I guess the heater? There is still part of the cardboard that is under the dash....it is sagging and falling down.

[frame][/frame]

The other button... under the torn white part...

MarkyB wrote:

One has arrows that point left and right <- -> but I don't know what it is...and I forget right this second WHAT the other one says or even where exactly it IS

The first is the heater fan control, from memory it goes from full on to slower as it goes clockwise.
The other is a "fresh" air inlet that lets air in from the back of the engine.
I'm pretty sure it says push on, not push off

That makes sense, being a '59er it would have the Smiths round heater with the rotary reostat speed control with the left and right markings (did anyone ever use this not at full speed I wonder...).
Also being a '59 car I'd expectthe key number to be FP and three numbers. It should be stamped on the face of the ignition switch (they were hot on security in 1959!)so easy enough to read it off and order a new one from one of the specialists.

Boris64 wrote:Gatorzilla,

If you google (don't y'all love that verb) 'morris minor dashboard' and select images, there's hundreds to choose from.

The original ones are fairly obvious.

I attach a photo my '64 if its of any help and can take more if you wish.

Pete[frame][/frame]

That looks WONDERFUL!!!!!! I wish that the interior on my Precious looked that good!

mike.perry wrote:The blank depends on the key series, FA, FP, FS etc. Earlier cars had the key number stamped on the top of the ignition barrel. Keys are readily available
Alternatively if you buy a Production Trace Certificate from British Motor Industry Heritage Trust it should give the original key numbers plus other build information about your car.
A photo of your dash area would help identify the switches.
You should have one factory fitted interior mirror. Outside wing mirrors are optional but make sure that you fit convex glass mirrors, preferably on the longest arms that you can find

I found on Google a blank marked 62DP and it says Code Series FP626-750.... How does one get in touch with British Industry Herigage Trust for a Production Trace Certificate? I do have an interior mirror (a rear-view mirror) but no side mirrors...but I WILL definitely be looking for ones with long arms

kennatt wrote:if yours is a serr11 split screen then the switch marked left and right is probably the trafficator switch,it was under the dash on the right side.

Mine is a Series III, I am pretty sure...it has the single curved windscreen in place of the two piece split-screen and also a larger rear window. ....

How DOES the trafficators work? Mine are brittle and need to be replaced, but they are still there...

I want them to work, though...

ASL642 wrote:http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... rcel+shelf

If you scroll down on this there are some very good pictures from Declan Burns of his parcel shelf

Awesome! Thanks SO much!

MarkyB wrote:

One has arrows that point left and right <- -> but I don't know what it is...and I forget right this second WHAT the other one says or even where exactly it IS

The first is the heater fan control, from memory it goes from full on to slower as it goes clockwise.
The other is a "fresh" air inlet that lets air in from the back of the engine.
I'm pretty sure it says push on, not push off

My knob, sadly, no longer says anything...but I will be pushing and pulling to see

Wing (fender) mounted mirrors are very effective - they are right in your line of vision and when correctly adjusted give a great view down each side. There is a tiny little slide switch under the dash - which switches the speedo illumination on/off - with the sidelights of course.