I'm about to have my Mk I speedo overhauled. Howard Instruments website shows some mini speedos (120mph) with a warning light set at 12 o'clock, where the "70" should appear.
My speedo has amber lights at 3 and 9 o'clock (I guess for indicator lights) but no sign of ever having globes mounted behind them.
My speedo does not have a globe at 12 o'clock, in the space for "70".
Does anyone know if this is correct for early Mk I?

Here is a photo of my 1964 mk1 850 speedo which is identical to my daughters 1962 850 speedo.

Hi beam at 12:00
Ignition at 4:30
Oil at 7:30
This speedo has 10ths of miles in yellow hidden by needle.

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Find a job you love and you will never have to go to work !

The Howard ad sounds like a UK Mk2 or Mk3 S one.

Here is a Mk1 1275S speedo (image borrowed from Gumtree).

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

The Doc's pic is correct.
The amber lights are: LHS oil filter bypass valve ie oil filter blocked, RHS not used.
The MK 1 uses the green light on the end of the indicator stalk for the indicators.
I'd think twice about Howard Instruments.
They have had my MK1 speedo twice to fix the odometer and it still doesn't work. First time it worked for about 400 miles and second time it worked for about 40 miles. It also took them 3-4 weeks each time although they did indicate that this was the case due to work load etc.
I'm not taking it back a third time.
Its an awkward job to get it out as it has to come out from the engine side of the firewall and be threaded out and in around the wiring loom.
I'll take it somewhere else if I get enthused enough to get it fixed again.

RonR

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68 build Mk1 Cooper S
72 Clubman GT project. Total restoration required

Ron
You can get the speedo out from inside the car. Remove wiring from engine bay side. Remove the binnacle cover. Remove the 4 screws holding the metal panel and the other 2 instrumenst. Undo the 2 srews holding the speedo (careful not to loose the spacers). Turn speedo sideways and manoeuvre speedo out through the white plastic housing. Fts through quite easily.

wild_willy

I'm not sure how that is going to work since the diameter of the speedo bezel is larger than the diameter of the hole in the white plastic housing.
The speedo bezel has a step in it so it has 2 diameters. There is a rubber O ring that fits around the bezel to cushion it where it fits up against the white plastic housing.The smaller diameter fits neatly through the white plastic housing but the larger diameter part presses the rubber O ring against the back of the housing. Even after turning the speedo sideways the bezel still isn't going to fit through the housing. Do you need to distort the housing slightly? Am I missing something here?

RonR

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68 build Mk1 Cooper S
72 Clubman GT project. Total restoration required

The plastic housing is springy enough to let the speedo through. I'm currently repairing a very early fibreboard housing for my Traveller, it shows signs of having had a speedo forced through, unfortunately the fibreboard isn't as forgiving as the plastic...

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

You're quite right Timbo. The cardboard binnacle housing wouldn't allow the speedo through but the white plastic one will flex just enough to let the speedo through without any damage. I have done this many times. Give it a go Ron

Interestingly, I just repaird my 1960 850 cardboard binnacle last week. Was in good order except for the 2 bottom mounting holes which had been broken off. Repaired this with fiberglass, sanded the whole housing and then a new finish of wrinkel black. Looks new again.

Thanks Timbo and willy.

I'll give that a try.
I'm not sure how a 45 year piece of plastic will bend but if it may makes it easier to get the speedo out I'll give it a try.

Regards
RonR

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68 build Mk1 Cooper S
72 Clubman GT project. Total restoration required

Its been a while ... but don't you just remove the four screws holding the plastic bowl to the firewall and then pull the speedo out the back????

Cheers, Ian

Ian, that's exactly what I did with my 850 in the photo above.
Remove the 4 screws that retain the plastic housing to the fire wall, then pull it forward into the car and remove the two speedo retaining screws.
Remove the speedo cable first.
Unplug the connectors and it's done.
My plastic cowl is VERY fragile and I refuse to flex it at all as it has cracked easily on previous occasions.

Phil

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Find a job you love and you will never have to go to work !

No you don't JUST remove the four screws. First you remove the pieces of trim that fit either side of the housing. If the trim is in good condition the backing boards will be quite stiff. The boards will need to be gently bent down to get them out from behind the top lip of the upper dash rail so that the sharp metal lip doesn't cut the vinyl covering. It is quite awkward and takes a great deal of patience and gentle persuasion to get them out undamaged. Once they're out you then attempt to undo the 4 screws, but the lower pair are difficult to access so you will also need to lift out the trim that lines the dash shelf, that usually comes out fairly easily. Finally you can undo the 4 screws, if they haven't seized in.

Thats the way I prefer to do it too, but its not quick and easy by anyone's measure.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Hi Ron,
We aim to please and if you are having trouble removing the speedo i will do it for you.
Bagging us on a forum doesn't achieve anything except getting the shite off your liver.
Sometimes 50 year old parts can be temperamental. It is not through lack of skill or commitment as i am as committed to the mini as anyone else.

Regards rodger howard

The speedo that Bill B referred to in the original post before it was hijacked is the speedo that caerbont (smiths) manufactures today which is not the same as many early speedos. I have asked them to make one without this crystal at 12 o'clock but they cant/ wont .
If anyone has a question about mini speed's please pose them here or email /pm me; i have a personal interest and a pretty broad collection but i like everyone learns something new every day.

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1960 Morris Mini Minor

Thanks to all respondees...
Drmini's photo shows the same speedo I have sent to Howard's to be tidied-up.
Other people on this site have had good things to say about Howards' work & service so I'm using them as they have an interest in Smiths equipment.
I know from past experience that odometers are a problem if they seize/break when turning over multiple zeros and the load on the cogs can snap them.
As my speedo was stored and not in the car, the removal issues were not a problem for me this time.
Thanks again for all comments.
Bill.