Morris Minor Owners Club

Gladys is a March, 1962, 4 door 948cc.

Having thankfully managed to kick cigarettes after decades of being a smoker, I now find I really could do with one of those cigarette/power/charger sockets that are endemic on all modern cars, as I need to use a Satnav and similar devices.


How does one go about fitting one and do I need to check polarity and stuff?
Modern cars have permanently wired and live sockets, is this a good or bad idea in a Moggie?
Would a kit be helpful such as the one, below?

Connector type cigarette lighter socket
Connector socket
Leads 6.3x0.8mm connectors,
cables
Rated voltage 12 V DC
Rated current 10 A
Contact material brass
Contact plating nickel plated
Body material polyamide
Flammability rating UL94V-2

Best wishes

Accessories are generally neg earth so the car will need to be neg earth if it is not already. If you want to use accessories without having to leave the ignition on then wire it up to the permanent live side of the fuse box and fit a 10amp in line fuse

I fitted one of these and they are worth the effort, I used a Draper unit with 3 outlets and a good length of coiled wire attached ,method I used as follows to a negative earth car,note, there are many threads telling you how to convert from positive to negative if necessary.
Basically first disconnect the battery, cut the wiring of your lighter unit close to the connector that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket, it invalidates the warranty but really you have little choice, you should now have two wires, one is live one earth, thread these through to the engine compartment, there is enough space if you follow the existing wiring route towards the fuse board and there are some helpful holes you can use, fit a grommet to prevent chafing
Fit a 10 amp in line fuse to the live wire and connect to a spare feed on the fuse board using a spade connector, there are numerous earth points you can use.I used a ring connector between a nut and bolt. you can site your cigarette lighter accessory to suit anywhere under the dashboard. reconnect the battery and and you should be set.

Very many thanks for the detailed info.
Very helpful indeed.
Best wishes

Useful outlet available in Poundsaver - it comes with two standard outlets and a computer outlet, and of course - only costs one Pound!