What is this push valve thing for, it's in my drivers footwell on my 2a 109 diesel, thanks

It is the dip switch, to change the headlights from high beam to low beam, and back.
It may be rusted solid, and not move.
It may move but not pass electricity.

Regards

It does push down and release freely but won't be able to test it for a while as I am going to change all my wiring, seems a strange place to have it, thanks

Same place throughout the 2 / 2A era. Same on early Minis and I'm sure lots of other vehicles of that era.

Tis the dip switch, you can see the wires going to it.

Yours looks like it's not going to be dipping again

It is in fact in a great place place for foot operation.
When back in the day, all dip switches were placed in that sort of position for the left foot.
These days we now have steering column mounted switches, though many drivers don't bother and just leave their lights on main beam all the time 

Perfect, love this forum 👍

I have always found it satisfying to be able to dip/undip the lights without taking eyes off the road or hand off the wheel.

Quote from: martinthefirst on Aug 06, 2023, 04:27 PMI have always found it satisfying to be able to dip/undip the lights without taking eyes off the road or hand off the wheel.

I agree, safer & probably quicker 

Mind you, with sealed beams its akin to blowing out one of two candles...

Quote from: martinthefirst on Aug 06, 2023, 04:27 PMI have always found it satisfying to be able to dip/undip the lights without taking eyes off the road or hand off the wheel.

That statement suggests you haven't tried changing down only to have a car appear round the corner in front of you. Typically when driving through Mid Wales with no external lighting, and on less than the standard bulb power we take for granted nowadays.
You find the need for two left feet.

Regards.

The original one in my 1967 vehicle is still working fine, you may get lucky with a clean.

I still have the original sealed beam headlight units in my one too and find I don't need the dip switch, just leave them on full beam all the time and no one seems to flash me coming the other way!

Craig.

I have the original style lights on my 66 too, the full beam does make a big difference in the pitch black. but compared to some cars these days, full beam is nothing, I can't tell if most modern vehicles with the LED lights are full beam or not, since they blind you either way