Wiper Holes on the Skuttle Panel -- Mk 3

Buried in another thread is the issue of which scuttle panel is correct for the Mk 3 wiper wheel boxes: the 2-holer or the 4-holer.
I've been in touch with Ryno Verster. He didn't have the answer but put together some photos and information he had about the Mk 3s. For the most part there seems to be a pattern emerging where the answer is both 2- and 4-hole panels are correct. The earlier cars had the 2-hole panel and the later had the 4-hole. (That follows the English built Minis, as well.) A date hasn't been figured out and Ryno's list and photos have a couple that seem to break the 2-early, 4-late pattern. We're working on that!

interesting

On a related subject, what is the proper side for the wipers to park on? My 1968 Elf MKIII was right hand drive with the wipers parking on the right, but was changed to left hand park (the shop did this without okaying it with me first, and proceeded to lose the original arms) when the steering was swapped to the left. Having the centrally located holes on the scuttle, one would assume that simply swapping to the proper oriented wiper arms would result in the wipers sweeping the same, albeit in reverse, but I've never been happy with the way they sweep the screen after the swap. The right hand wiper comes down onto the bottom edge of the windscreen at an odd angle and hits the seal at the bottom. Do the 2-hole scuttles use the same wiper arms as the 4-hole ones? Logically, one would think they are different.

For cars we on this forum would be concerned with:

Two hole wipers. Holes centered on the car's centerline. Wiper blades park in front of the driver.

Four hole wiper. Wipers park in front of the passenger. Holes used are biased towards the driver. Note that the two center-most holes in a 4-hole set up are in the same places as the 2 holes in the 2-hole set up, and the earlier 2-hole wiper motor, wheel boxes, etc. can be used in a 4-hole scuttle.

In general, the arms for both 2- and 4-hole set ups are the same and interchangable with the only requirement that they park on the correct side. Do read the fine print when buying arms, however. Some arms require special blades.

(Can someone enlighten me on 2/4 hole wipers? What/where are the holes we are speaking of? Two for the wiper arms and two for the washer fluid nozzles? Thanks.) Ignore all that... I found a photo of the four hole panel. So some poor cars have extra holes and blanking plates.

You have it. On English built cars, the 2-hole set ups, like on your car, were used on Mk I and II cars. Starting with the Mk III, the panel had four wiper wheel box holes.

Your car is one of the cars in the list Ryno compiled that doesn't fit the pattern for the South African Mk 3s that I mentioned above. Your 2-hole panel indicates that the manufacture date of your car should be earlier than you have listed. There are lots of possibilities. My theory could be wrong, for instance! Or, maybe the car was made early but not registered for the road until much later. Or maybe...a lot of other things.

An update.

Ryno's list and photos was of 12 cars built starting in 1969. Seven are Mk 3s. The other 5 are standard saloons.

Ten of the twelve cars follow the pattern that pre-70 = 2 holes. Post-70 = 4 holes. And the change from 2 to 4 took place sometime during 1970.

One of the two cars that does not follow that pattern is a 4 hole car dated 1969; however, a closer look shows that the wipers are using the center two holes. Although there could be many explanations for such a set up, since the car does not look original I would lean heavily towards the explanation that the panel has been changed and the original wiper set up was reused.

The other car of the 12 that does not follow the pattern is a 2-holer that is dated 1971. I'm betting that car will be found to be a 1970, not a 1971, once the owner gets to do a thorough examination of the car.

To add to this discussion, I noticed a similar pattern regarding the bonnet badges. Those cars that are earlier (i.e., 2-hole) have the English Mk II round Austin bonnet badge. Those cars that are later (4-hole) have English Mk III type bonnet badges. It seems like the South African cars follow the same pattern as the Engish cars with the relationship of bonnet badges and wiper holes.

With the badge discovery in mind and looking back at the two cars listed above that do not follow the early = 2 hole/late = 4 hole pattern:

The 69 with 4 holes has the early bonnet badge supporting the theory that the 2-hole panel was replaced.

The 71 with the 2 holes has the early bonnet badge supporting the theory that the car is more likely a 70 than a 71.

There can be other explantions and theories, but I think we're on to something!

That is something very interesting and not often thought about or looked at. It seems that the information you have there does support your theory. I know my car has the two hole panel and is registered as a 1970, but whether it was built then or not, I can't say. There is a dymo label on the inner with a mid 1970 date on it. I still don't know if this is date collection or dispatch or what. The cars that had these were sent to the dealership Kingsley & Marais in Gauteng, as stated by the letters K & M on the label itself.