It seems strange that after 7 years of local production they would change the switch to the other side.

So if they changed the switch when they changed to the other wiper motor my "S" would be the second last one built with the switch in the right spot.

Actually it reminds me of a funny story.

Back in the late 80's my girlfriend (wife to be) and I were driving the narrow winding section of Jenolan Caves road in my 1275LS. It was late and no moon so it was pitch black. There was a light frosty drizzle but it had eased slightly so my girlfriend decided to help by reaching over and switching off the wipers for me.

She switched off the lights.

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

I find it doesn't really matter what side they are on, I allways seam to use the wrong one...

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https://t.me/pump_upp

I have my wiper washer button on the left hand side.
To me it makes more sense to put the wiper switch directly next to the washer button, this way I don't get confused.

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Michael Jones
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

Despite forty years of motor vehicle development with wiper, washer, lights, etc. in new cars now close at hand on the steering column I still manage to activate the wipers instead of the turn indicators on the occasions I drive my daughter's European car.

I do the same thing when I drive my partners Aussie car

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'62 Morris 850 (Marion)
'65 Mini Delux - sleeper 1275/S discs (Ms Plum)
'69 Vanden Plas Princess 1300
'71 Wolseley 1300
'74 Austin 1300 Countryman
'94 XJ6 Sport 3.2
'04 Rover 75 CDTi

This is a fascinating thread and one that would never have occurred to me.

It was like reading a detective story and I liked the way the different perspectives all came together to a logical conclusion. So the switch panel layout changed when the 12AUW wiper motor was introduced, but BMC forgot to amend the handbook (now there's a surprise). That one definitely needs to go in the book.

By the way Morris 1100, I take it that your car is 4026, yes? Does that mean you have the 40819H distributor as well as the old DR3 wiper motor fitted?

Nice work!

Regards,

John

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Still learning after all these years...

Yes that seems to be the case, however having said that the hand book I have is not the actual original handbook for my car. It's one for a car that's car no. is only 200 odd after mine and even then I think it was reissued by the dealership when the car was sold to it's second owner.

The Handbook I have is TP 757E

So it would be worth double checking which handbooks where supposed to come with which cars. Maybe it was amended/corrected at some later stage and it would be worth checking with someone who has a collection of the various versions of the Handbooks.

EDIT: just read back through the thread and miniiron states...
"My late 68 build S has the same switch setup as yours. My handbook TP757e 8/68 shows the switches the wrong way for my Cooper S as well."
...so I guess thats a pretty good confirmation.

There's a couple of funny little errors in the Handbooks. For example as you see below mine shows the washer pump in the correct position for my car, but in TP757B shown earlier in the thread by Morris1100 it's way over the other side (on the diagram for Cooper S).

Also how about the mysterious warning light labeled 16 ....and the the key list for the diagram ends at 15.

I'm sure that confused a few new owners!!!

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

Good point.

The handbooks were clearly being printed out of step with the cars they attested to. Things like switch panels only become significant when there is a major change. I guess the dealers just used up the old handbooks before issuing the new ones. Most confusing in such instances as you have pointed out.

All the best,

John

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Still learning after all these years...

Yes, part of it could have been the dealers, but there is certainly errors in the books. I think they have correctly updated the books for the new Aussie wiper motors they have just missed correcting the diagram for the Cooper S.

I have a feeling the TP575E is the final print of the Mk I book and if thats the case then certainly it looks like they made some errors updating the diagrams and switch details.

Out of interest, how different are the English handbooks of the equivalent model period.

I imagine most of the diagrams and text are shared (borrowed from) your local handbooks. I was wondering if thats where some errors crept in.

Another example (going by memory here i don't have my handbook in front of me) is the description of the way the heater knob operates. I'm sure it's describing the operation of the fresh air heater you had in the UK rather than the recirculating type we had here, they just haven't bothered to reword it.

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

Yes John, my car has the 40819H and the DR3 wiper motor.
According to the BMC Body Repair Guide it was built just before the wiper motor changeover which was at car 4028.

A little bit of trivia !!

I had a look at my TP757 books and, whilst it's not the topic of this thread I thought the following differences between versions was interesting:

TP757a (small a) - produced 3/66 - The Langlea Printery P/L, St. Peters, NSW
TP757B - produced 10/66 - Langlea again
TP757C - details too faded to read - can someone supply please?
TP757D - don't have
TP757e (small e) - produced 8/68 - Edgar Bragg & Sons

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

Take a look at Phil Rixon's "Morris 1100 in Australia" website and he has done the research on the Morris 1100 handbooks which probably would have been printed at the same time by the same people.
http://www.elevenhundred.com/handbook.php

Just been reading through the excellent Morris 1100 site, this section http://www.elevenhundred.com/handbook.php covers the handbook for the 1100 and it seems there were similar issues with some details remaining incorrect for quite some time.

Maybe they changed printers because they were making all the bloody mistakes.

What about the Mk II handbook, it has a very different layout doesn't it?

Have the mislabeled controls been corrected by then?

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)

Morris beat me too it

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68 Morris Cooper S Mk1 (*ex 78 1275 LS 4th last built, 70 Morris 1500 OHC & 70 MiniMatic)