In article <20010417174749762.AAA236@mail.141.com>, Laura Gharazeddine
<Laura.G@141.com> writes
>She also has a boot light, which
>> also works (well, some of the time). There is a little switch built into
>the
>> left hand boot hinge - the hinge presses it, disconnecting the switch, when
>> closed. Wires lead from a live supply (from who knows where) to the light,
>> then from the light to the switch, which completes the circuit to earth when
>> the boot is opened.
>
>I was searching for this in the dark last night! Now that I have a better
>idea,
>Nige just might joint the ranks of "Spitfires with working bool lights"!
The mounting bracket is a vertical piece of steel directly forward (i.e.
behind, as you examine it from the rear of the car) of a striker plate
on the left-hand boot hinge. It is visible next to the hinge if you
put your eyes level with the boot lip.
>
>> Wipers and wing mirrors should be black. The flaking paint on the wiper arms
>> may be Triumphs fault not necessarily the DPO, as Daffys are similarly
>flaky.
>
>I touch mine up twice a year (well, I drive a lot!) with a flat, black engine
>spray paint I get at the local auto supply store. I buy those cheap make up
>brushes, spray a bit of paint into the cap and have a go! It must look ok,
>because I've had neighbours ask me to touch up theirs!
If you're ever in Bedford with a can of spray-paint...
>I thought that all o/d gear knobs for 1500s were created equal! As for a
>regular
>gear shift-I found an exact reproduction in the Roadster Factory catalog at
>Christmas time. And then I found it cheaper on eBay! I have probably 4 other
>gear shift knobs, none of which I was ever thrilled with because I remembered
>what the original looked like on my first 1977 spit. And now I have it!
You can't seriously mean that you *like* that nasty fake wood, can you?
<g>
>It seems to me that the pre-76 have the split spokes, while the 77,78 and some
>79s have solid spokes.
Yes, but the logo in the middle and the rims are different for UK cars.
It went something like this (as far as I can gather):
FH75001-FH100020 (Nov 1974 - March 1977) - Split Spokes, Triumph Name
logo, vinyl rim (25,020 cars, 28 months)
pre-"mid-1978" (say about FH118000) - Solid spokes, Triumph Name logo,
vinyl rim (about 17980 cars, 15 months)
pre-FH130000 (Jan 1979) - Solid spokes, BL logo, leather rim (about
12000 cars, 7 months)
pre-TFWAD5AT 009898 (Aug 1980) - Solid spokes covered in vinyl, Triumph
name logo, vinyl rim. (Using Thomason's figures of total production of
95829, this means that *40829* cars were produced in the seventeen
months between FH130000 and the end of production. I don't believe
it... Graham Robson gives a total production figure of 75,032, but
ignores 1974 production altogether, then quotes two completely different
figures provided by BL at different times: 95,829 and 91,137. Hang on
a minute. Some of these commission numbers and dates appear rather
unnaturally fortuitous. How come the FH80XXX sequence *happened* to
start in January, 1976? And the FH130XXX in January 1979? Folks, the
commission numbers were not a complete sequence! Ignore everything I
said above about numbers of cars produced with particular steering
wheels.)
> I have solid spokes-as did the two '77s I had previously.
>And the center on all three of these wheels had (have, in the case of Nigel),
>a
>black plastic 'disc', underneath is a nice little place to stash something! In
>the middle of this flat sort of hard plastic disc, is a plastic button-about
>the
>size of a nickel, foil backed and stamped "BL".
I think this must have been for Federal spec cars only - the British
Leyland badge seems not to have been very popular over here. I wonder
why? <g>. (Just in case you don't know, BL was almost permanently on
strike during the 70's, and had a reputation for building the worst cars
in the world...).
> Mine came off and was lost. Last
>year when I decided I wasn't going to find the same wheel, and that I really
>didn't like any of the new wheels (or the price tags on designs I didn't
>like!),
>I had the spokes polished-under that ugly grey-ish paint are beautiful, shiny
>metal spokes! In the center of the black plastic center disc, I couldn't find
>another "BL" button, so I put one of those lapel buttons that the dealers used
>to give out that's a rondel with "SPITFIRE" across it-it looks super!
Sounds excellent.
>
>The leather is shot-I had it filled and re-dyed, but it's 23+ year old
>leather,
>so I'm going to take measurements and have Wheelskins make a leather cover for
>it that I can stitch on.
Wow. Nigel gets even more TLC than Carly!
>
>Oh-and the shiny spokes look great with the new chrome bezels on the gauges.
>And
>the 4 screws on the fascia? I found almost exact replacements for them at Pep
>Boys-and chromed-like to match the bezels and spokes!
Interesting to note that the sales literature from December '78 shows
these screws as satin black. Not a good move, in my opinion, but
consistent with changing the wipers, mirrors and door-handle escutcheons
to black.
(You can tell I have spent far too much time poring over the various
photographs of '70s Spitfires that I have managed to obtain, can't you?)
ATB
Mike
--
Michael Hargreave Mawson, author of "Eyewitness in the Crimea,"
published by Greenhill Books on 28th March, 2001:
http://www.greenhillbooks.com/booksheets/eyewitness_in_the_crimea.html
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