Thanks guys! I talked to the owner... he said it was sent for scrap! I emailed and suggested he set it aside, and of course he agreed... a fellow from UK had already contacted him. I'll me making a new post for him on this forum as he is willing to part out the rest of the shell... door hinges forward.

If anyone knows where I can find a new chrome bezel for the Mk1 Speedo, and the switches and light plugs for the paper board binnacle I'd like to know.. I'm going to restore it eventually and would love to complete it with all the parts.

I also need to know the paint colour, or a similar match. Cheers. Rich

I'll add a few parts worth saving and/or selling. The high beam switch and the windshield washer if it's in good shape. Both inner fender panels, cut generously saving the complete panel. The MkI inner fender (wing) panels are NLA. The two master cylinders if they are original, it's hard to tell from the picture.

Kelley

Hi Rich,

Chassis number Austin 46728 is from early August 1960. the FE number confirms the shell is (was) the original one.

 Binnacle looks in good condition and speedo not too bad either.

The brass dash pot damper on the HS2 is worth keeping.

 

Bill

 

 

 

 

 

Ok guys... here is the link to the pics of what I found. As I said its a compressed cardboard Mk1 Speedo binnacle with Speedo. The housind is intact and all the holes are in proper shape. Let me know what you think!

//www.flickr.com/photos/mini-man/sets/72157629920555824/

Rich

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mini-man/sets/72157629920555824/

Here are the pictures of the Mini that my Speedo came out of. More pics of the actual speedo and housing perhaps tonight.

//www.flickr.com/photos/mini-man/sets/72157629920555824/

It is located in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada

Anyone interested in this Mini should contact Gary at [email protected]

Rich

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mini-man/sets/72157629920555824/

Smurf gave me one for my '59 as the original had been painted black and had large portions torn off.  I used fiberglass cloth and white Gorrila Glue to reinforce all the stress points on the inside of the pod.  These points are the extreme top of the pod where it is the thinnest and all the holes.  The paint is invariably cracked on the outside, but with careful sanding and filling with body filler it can be made smooth again.  Prime and paint.  The paint color is not OEW but a more cream color.  I found the correct color in a rattle can but can't remember what it was.  Match it up before sanding.

If the speed has only 5 digits and no tenths it the earliest Mk1 for '59 and '60.  It would also have no voltage stabizer as they were not used on the earliest cars.

Rich, it's possible that what you or the owner think is worthless may, to someone trying to restore a '59-'60 Mini, be very desireable. I'm sure Bill would like to see pictures if possible.

Kelley

Bill;

Thanks for the info.  I'm going to try to post some pics of what I have for you all to see.  The screw holes are all intact as far as I can tell.  No switches on the housing, all the small lights on the speedo are there.

The car it came off is really only the front half, and is pretty mangled.  However the data plate in the picture he sent me shows the body number A-A257L-46728.  He will likely scrap the rest of it as there isn't anything useable, but I'll have him undo the data plate and hold on to it.

Rich

Hi Rich,

As both Chuck and Doug expertly say, the compressed cardboard housings are rare in good condition, the key is the mounting points in the corners. Because they are cardboard and the screws holding them in for 50 years are sometimes reluctant to let go, many are simply torn out thus destroying the corners where they attach to the car. Does it have the small switches and light lenses in too? Does the Austin speedo have the tenth's of a mile on or not?

 

Date between 59 and 61, if you're luck there will be a date on the inner surface but it might be too faint to see if it's been left out side. If you could get a chassis or body or FE number off the wrecked shell I could date it with in a few weeks.

 

As for restoring the housing, just clean and paint OEW. The speedo, you'd need to strip down (not easy to get the chrome ring off but they do come off with some persuasion) the speedo, re chrome the ring and just clean the rest up.

A restored early Austin speedo and fibre housing could make over £100. Speedos alone fetch £60-70.

Sorry the housing is missing off the interior changes, we really need to go through the website again as we've learnt so much more in the last few years! Sorry

 

Bill

1959 Mini Register

As suggested, contact the '59 registry about the housing. Bill and Trevor are very helpful. Also, they can help you find out more about how rare that speedometer it.

If the car you got the housing and speedometer from still has a chassis number (VIN) they would like to know about it, even if the car will never see the road again.

And if you find out that your car is later than the correct vintage for the housing and/or speedometer, consider trading to someone looking to restore a very early car. Bill and Trevor may be able to help.

The paper housings are early and rare.  Chuck is definitely right.  You could probably trade that paper housing for two or more of the plastic ones.

I'm curious then... is this "paper" version an early housing?  I was told it was off of a '60's Mini but the the wreckage was too hard to tell from the pictures. 

If this paper housing is more rare, I'd be interested to know that, and of course how to restore it properly.  I checked out the 1959 registry but it doesn't mention anything about housing that are other than plastic. 

The guage is cream with a red needle, is definitley Austin rather than Morris... The face looks great but the rest of it is rusty... its worth a restore though.

Rich

Rich, You might want to shop the housing around a bit. I bet you could get a couple of the plastic ones for it! Not many of them about and those wanting to restore the very early Minis might be interested.

Earliest speedometers: Austin, cream face. Morris, silver face. No 10ths on either. Later, both went to silver.

I suggest you contact the 1959 Mini Register ( //www.1959miniregister.com/the-1959-mini/interior-changes/ -- that's also a link to a section with speedo photos) about the housing and more speedometer details.

 

Hello all.  I recently bought a rather rough looking Mk1 Speedo housing (single guage type) and the speedo with it.  The face of the guage is actually ok, I just need to restore the rest of the chrome etc...

What I need to know is How do I best restore the housing it self??  I always thought they were plastic, but this one is made of some kind of pressed paper/board product.  It looks rough, as it was outside for a while, but its not rotten, cracked or broken... just all the paint is peeling off.  Can I give it a light sanding??  What would I paint it with?  What colour were the original MK1 speedos?

I'm sure this has been done by someone before... looking for some good advice.

Rich