Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All,

In place of the drivers side glovebox I've fitted a makeshift 'dashboard' - have put photos on in other threads. Initially with a dual oil/water gauge I've now got a vacuum and a voltmeter to go either side. I know not everyone's cup of tea but it's a bit of fun and learning for me and crucially is completely removable to put the car back to standard very easily if a future owner was so minded.

Anyway, the two latter gauges have both come with what I think are Lucas LLB987 style bulbs with a simple adaptor and single red wire. The dual oil/water gauge has space for a bulb but didn't come with anything. Looking on the Smiths website they say fit with an 'A2' bulb, but I can't find any information about that - just get lots of results for Audi A2s . Because of the dual nature of the gauge, do I need a different bulb or would another 987 do the job? In either case, I'm also struggling to find the wiring adaptor the bulbs use (the single wire with contact at the end for the bulb to mate with) - some links if you guys know where I can find them (or what to call them!) would be appreciated.

Wiring wise, I know power has to be drawn from the red/white area on the back of the speedo. Should I join the three bulb wires together (like putting them all in the same port of a terminal block) and then feed a single wire from the other side to the power for the lights on the back of the speedo? Or do I need to make 3 separate connections?

Usually it's a 2.2w Miniature Edison Screw (MES) bulb these 2" dials take. You are right about wiring, I would join the three into one because you will struggle to fit three wires into the panel lamp switch.

Hi
The usual arrangement is that the gauge lamps are earth returned via the case, so depending on how your panel is fitted and what it's made of, you'll need to run an earth wire from each gauge to a suitable earth connection.

I too have fitted a panel with a couple of gauges and some switches. One of my gauges didn't have a lamp holder when I picked it up at an auto Jumble, but I immediately brought a lamp holder to fit from a nearby stall.
I got what I think takes a T10 capless lamp, complete with 2 cable tails. I've just been searching online to find an example but can't readily see one on places like ebay.
But here's a photo on the one I brought: It just pushes in the back of the gauge like the original, but being plastic it requires the extra earth cable.

I installed a small fuse box behind the panel to provide me with sufficient outputs for my additional items, including the gauge lighting. I also have relays there to enable me to have the trafficators and Indicators working from the same selector.