Morris Minor Owners Club

So I want to add central locking to my 2 door Minor ( when I've finished welding it keeping the original door locks and without adding additional dead bolts etc. Looking at the door lock there is already a hole for a locking pin which is an extension of the hole provided for the door key lock. So if a plunger was installed in this hole ( see the brass rod in the photo) it would lock the door. Unfortunately space is limited above the lock in this position to allow installation of a standard door lock motor (see photo). However if the connection between the lock and motor was provided by a Bowden cable the motor could be remote from the door lock. Anyone else tried anything similar?

Central locking on all 5 doors , with minimal alterations...
full details on the " other side "

John ;-)

Thanks John. Yes I also considered locking the bar as an approach- very interesting thanks. I've started fabricating the door lock modifications so will finish it and see how it works.

Which alarm did you use to control the locks? I'm considering one of the various alarms from Banggood. I've had electronics from them before and been pleased with the quality - just don't expect to get instructions in plain English!

I picked up a couple of remote systems from Maplin in the closing down sale...and a couple of Vellman VM130T remote controllers.

John ;-)

So I've been developing the theme of adding central locking via the standard door locks, and have come up with the solution below. What I've done is make a pin that replaces the original locking pin which is driven by the lock barrel, and drive it by a door motor. Below is an exploded view, with the original pin above. The groves in the pin replicate those in the original pin and hold it in the locked or unlocked position. The advantage of this arrangement is that the original lock barrel can be retained for aesthetics, and no modifications are made to the lock casting. The motor drives via a bowden cable, with the cable wire inner replaced with piano wire ( bought to replace the inner in a heater control cable). So far I've checked it for fit in the door with the window frame installed, still to check with the glass fitted, but all looks ok so far. The mounting for the motor is temporary and the final version will be an aluminium plate with an adjuster for fine tuning the throw on the pin.

Blue Peter badge to that man...Looks good , shame my door locks have a different mechanism ( lock within the handle )...

Keep us updated.

John ;-)