Rich,
One thing I have wondered about for a long time concerns the stamped
VIN/chassis number in the right front shock tower of BJ8s (and maybe BJ7s?
Earlier models?).
I would assume that this number would have been stamped into the shock tower
at Jensens before the chassis was painted to avoid the need to touch up any
paint damage from the stamping, as well as the fact that frequently the
number is not visible until the paint is stripped.
If the number was stamped before the chassis was painted, then Jensens
obviously knew what the number was going to be, which means they would also
know if the car was going to be LH drive or RH drive (and which also means
that it had been determined by that point which color a particular chassis
number would be. I would love to know more about how this was done).
If the above is true, then I would also think that such non-integral chassis
items as the steering column bracing would have been left out merely to make
the painting easier and later assembly simpler.
Do you have any wisdom to share concerning the shock tower numbers?
Thanks,
Steve Byers
HBJ8L/36666
BJ8 Registry
Havelock, NC USA
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-healeys@Autox.Team.Net
[mailto:owner-healeys@Autox.Team.Net]On Behalf Of Rich C
Sent: Sunday, December 10, 2006 8:07 AM
To: Josef.Eckert@t-systems.com; healeys@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Parts in black, not in body colour
Hello Josef,
Many people are confused by this subject....what gets painted body colour
vs. what gets painted black, stays plated, etc.
It's really quite simple if you realize that at Jensen Bros. the body shell
was completely fitted up and adjusted prior to spraying the paint colour.
Only such items as were necessary for the fitting up and fastening of the
body parts were in place.
Therefore all the brackets, braces, hinges, valance plates, and body
fasteners, etc. were already in place and received the body colour. They had
not fitted any parts that had to do with mechanical assemblies. These would
be installed later.
Because at the painting point, it had not been determined whether the car as
to be a right or left hand drive spec car, none of the steering column
bracing had yet been installed. None of the other mechanical items had been
installed yet either, therefore everything installed after that point would
be black, or have plated fasteners, etc.
For the purpose of it being easier to install the rear axle later, the bump
stop boxes were not installed yet, therefore are black with plated
fasteners. The dash board would come much later, often colour keyed to the
exterior paint, and often not. That would depend on the exterior vs.
interior colour scheme.
Bonnet latching mechanism parts would come later, therfore plated and black
pieces, but the basic mounting bracket on the bulkhead was already in place,
so it was body colour. The split riveted inner front wing to fender rubbers
were preinstalled so the faces visible in the front wheel well had body
colour paint on them.
There are many many pieces that could be listed, but suffice it to say that
anything needed to be in place for the complete fitting up of all body
panels got painted body colour.
Hope this helps.
Rich Chrysler
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