Lauri Lehtinen wrote:
>
> I am sorry, but I did not notice if your car is a GT, not a roadster?
> Single downpipe exthaust manifold may be from a Rapier, as it was used in
> MK III GT. Reason is, steel pipe banana manifold was too noisy when using
> hardtop. Later a new cast manifold with twin downpipes was introduced (as I
> have in my MK IV).
>
> Personally I don't dig very very accurate originality. At 50's and 60's
> cars, specially british cars and bikes were often put together from parts
> and paints available at that moment. It may be that just that afternoon
> your car was completed, WIP's were in a truck which was in a traffic jam
> and...
>
> In your situation I would say THIS CAR WAS MADE WITH THESE CARBS, AND IT
> MAY BE THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS SPEC.
>
> By the way, Rapier used WIA's, and if you have a Rapier exthause manifold...
>
> Larry Leaflet
>
> >Lauri,
> >I'm still in the dark. The people at the Sunbeam Club here aren't too
> >convincing when they say the WIA's are original. Everything I've read so
> >far says I should have WIP's on my car. My car also has a single
> >downpipe exhaust manifold, so I suspect it's not original.
> >
> >I suggest you take this question to the list, I'm too new at Alpines to
> >be much help. Sorry...
> >
> >Cheers,
> >Paul.
> >
> Lauri Lehtinen wrote:
> > My MK IV had WIA:s when I got it 1990. No idea if they are original, but
> > all components (manifold, cleaner etc.) were such as they are in photos of
> > earlier series cars. I can not check if both originally imported finnish
> > MKIV cars were fitted with WIAs, that other one did not survive.
> >
> > The real question is: Did factory tailor cars for customers
> > spesifications? Was it common to order a MK IV car with a hotter cam or WIA
> > / Stromberg CD150 carbs? I need this info for getting my car registered as
> > a "historic" vehicle (with minimal insurance fee and no "car users tax").
> >
> > Larry
> > Finland
Larry:
According to an original 1966 parts manual, Series III cars had 36 WIP
3s except for GT which had 36 WIA 3s (I mentioned this to Paul before).
However, late Series III and IV also used several models of the single
Solex 2-barrell with both standard and automatic, so it looks as though
Zenith WIPs or WIAs weren't original on the Series IV.
(Strombergs were standard in the Series V onward)
It may have been possible to special-order cars as you suggest, but as
far as supplying standard cars to Australia or other places with special
parts - I think this would be mentioned in the parts manual (as it is)
Hope this helps.
Ron Tebo - Series I - B9000627
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 09:50:14 CDT