Early single speedo housing - cardboard?

[sandman]

Was the early speedo housings for single speedos made of "cardboard"?

If so - when did they switch over to plastic? Is the speedo illumination switch the same?

Just fond one of these in a pile of parts...

[norway_triumph]

Was the early speedo housings for single speedos made of "cardboard"? .

yes

Is the speedo illumination switch the same?

There are different types of switches but i dont't think the changedates are the same for the housing and the switches

[814CWE]

switched to plastic in 1961

[814CWE]

switches varied lots depending on supplier,,some had flat toggle some had round toggle,,seen some original cars with mis-matched switches each side..even on a 1960 press shot it had odd switches,,
seems austin (ruff-arse buggers) were more guilty of mis matching switches than morris.¬

[62Countryman]

I have an early 62 (registered in Jan 1962) AUSTIN Seven Countryman that has a cardboard speedo housing with FLAT toggle switches.

[814CWE]

the mould machine for cardboard/papier mache amalgam pod housings was disused in sep 61-the plastic ones were done on a different machine .
ive never ever had a car BUILT (not registered) AFTER sep 61 with a card pod,but obviously some were fitted as they used up stock,,or if it could have been replaced at some time.

bmc were good at fitting old stock to current models,as we well know

[62Countryman]

My 62 Countryman is as original as it gets (that is the reason that I purchased it). I believe Austin used parts that they still had in stock. All of the glass (Triplex) have a date code of December 61. My Turn Signal Lever has a date of December 61.

[814CWE]

yes,,austin always had much more back stock than morris,,,morris seemed to use stuff as it came,,austin were reknown for havin plenty of back up stock!!
my old nov 61 seven and my dec 61 smoke grey had plastic pods tho,,the smoke grey one i know its full history but is a morris,,the green nov 61 seven was totally original owned by an old duffer ,so it shows the change points were deffo only approximate,,,that buggers it up for the purists,,haaa