Help for the trafficator switches

[Sandun]

Hi , My friends , Please tell me what is the correct switch originaly come for 1957 Morris Minor 1000 , I see lot of pic on web they have green light lense switch with small handle.

But i think the green light switches for onverds 1959 or 1962 cars.

Please help , what switches use Morris cars for signals How they change with models ?

Regards
Sandun.

[ManyMinors]

My similar age car has a column mounted switch which has the horn button on the end of it ( and just a badge in the centre of the steering wheel). It has a warning light with an orange lens in the switch housing, facing the driver. I have also seen similar switches with no warning light but these cars had a warning light built in to the speedometer instead. I don't know what the significance of these two different designs is though.

[firedrake1942]

The right trafficator switch for a 1957 (October 1956 - October 1957) Minor was steering column mounted and horn push combined, but without a warning light on the assembly. The orange warning light was the top left of the speedometer. . After October 1957 and up to March 1959 the switch had a green light fitted in the assembly and a three light speedometer introduced.

The internals are largely the same. My 1957 's internals have the fitting for the bulb.

[liammonty]

The right trafficator switch for a 1957 (October 1956 - October 1957) Minor was steering column mounted and horn push combined, but without a warning light on the assembly. The orange warning light was the top left of the speedometer. . After October 1957 and up to March 1959 the switch had a green light fitted in the assembly and a three light speedometer introduced.

The internals are largely the same. My 1957 's internals have the fitting for the bulb.

I think the green light came later, i.e. in 1959, with the new type of indicator stalk that Sandun says he's seen a lot of on the internet, that has the green light on the end. The type of switch with the horn push combined had an orange light (with or without a flap to cover it) when there was a light fitted, I believe. So, as per ManyMinors comment, I think the original stalk for 1957, depending on exact date, would have been the earlier type of stalk as you've pictured, but either with or without orange light, depending on exact date/

[myoldjalopy]

Its probably hard to be precise about dates as, during changes, certain earlier components were often fitted if they were at hand until they ran out. For example, I used to have a 1956 1000 which had the SII seats. The other thing is that the early horn pushes we are discussing varied in colour. Some had a black button on the end, mine had a semi-transparent clear one. As discussed before, there were many changes made during production, not all of them easy to document precisely.

[ManyMinors]

Actually, most changes ARE easy to document. And have been. The original factory parts books are pretty precise for a start. You also have to take into account that many old cars are not in such an original form as you might imagine and most will have had parts replaced with what was available at the time. Contrary to what is often believed, BMC did not in most cases have mountains of earlier parts hiding around their factories waiting to be used up. The Series11 style seats were carried over on to the Minor 1000 for some time (although with coloured piping) - although all the cars I have seen fitted with them were 4door models. I believe the 2door cars were fitted with the flatter design from the outset.

The early trafficator switches were, as Liam points out, always fitted with an orange lens. However, replacements when required would generally have been green - as fitted to the later cars. These are interchangeable so it not unknown for early switches to now be fitted with green lenses.

Although you describe your horn button as "semi-transparent", that is a consequence of ageing and exposure. They were all black on colour originally. The black plastic ends of the later switches also fade

[myoldjalopy]

I'm going to have to disagree with you there 'ManyMinors'. I can assure you that the switch on my old 1956 1000 did not have any light bulb/lens incorporated into the switch at all. And I can't believe that the button on the end was ever black on mine, you could pretty much see right through it! The button was a slightly different shape to the black ones too, less flat on the end. Don't forget, this was a very early 1000 - November 1956.

[geoberni]

Dare I suggest that a copy of AKD3541 would give the change points of the different indicator stalks.

You'll find a copy here and can follow the links: http://www.spridgetguru.com/AKD3541.html

[ManyMinors]

I'm going to have to disagree with you there 'ManyMinors'. I can assure you that the switch on my old 1956 1000 did not have any light bulb/lens incorporated into the switch at all. And I can't believe that the button on the end was ever black on mine, you could pretty much see right through it! The button was a slightly different shape to the black ones too, less flat on the end. Don't forget, this was a very early 1000 - November 1956.

You have misunderstood my post I agree that some of those stalks had NO warning light and my earlier post actually states this. However all of those which do have the warning light had an orange lens originally .
The plastic horn push was black to begin with. The material simply loses its colour over time. A bit like our hair!
This is particularly evident in countries like Australia where they have more sun. The switch (and the steering wheel) in my own car has gradually lost its black colour over the years.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

BMC approached component manufacturers and placed large orders, say for a thousand switches at a time. They would have used as many as was necessary on the cars until the type of switch was changed. And if the switch manufacturers were buying in parts from other suppliers, say the knob for instance, this could be slightly different too depending on various factors such as labour issues, material issues, industrial action and so on. You often read in the printed material 'we reserve the right to alter specification without prior notice' or words to that effect. None of the people involved at the time would have thought enthusiasts would be discussing the subject in the 21st Century.

Later in the 1970's there was a brief period when Ducellier distributors were fitted to some BMC/BL engines because of difficulty obtaining Lucas distributors. They still had to make cars so an alternative component was sourced which did the job.

[myoldjalopy]

Well, as my old car was written off by a white van man 21 years ago, I can't prove what I am saying. However, I am adamant that the button was different to the usual type - it was slightly smaller and was rounded at the very end, not flat. Nor do I think it was ever black - it looked more like the transparent plastic on the early steering wheel centre (the one with the 'ox' crossing the 'ford') but which had gone slightly opaque.

[firedrake1942]

Liammonty monty we are at cross purposes. October 1957 the light in the indicator body NOT the end of the stalk and 3 light speedo - 1959 new self-cancelling indicator stalk with light on end / 3 light speedo and horn relocated to the steering wheel centre.