Questions to ask the engineers before they all pass

[sydney.wedgehead]

I often wonder about why the engineers made particular design decisions for the Wedge and think it may be a good idea to get answers to these questions before all the key people have passed-on.

The thought that prompted this post was why the crank snout and Woodruff key are so short? This limits options for hanging ancillary parts and is demonstrated in the following picture.


Another question is why the 85" wheelbase was selected, which was much shorter compared to most other sports cars.

In analysing the Wedge there are many other questions that fans would like to know the answers too.

Surely, these would make interesting reading, and IMHO, more worthy of publication than "owner's stories."

[John_C]

Harris has answered the wheelbase question many times but I think he does it best in Still Sporty At Forty so give that another spin. Disc 2 has the complete Harris question and answer session I think. With regards to the engine questions that sort of detail goes way back and whilst I have covered most of the fundamentals that's not the sort of detail I've gone into. We can blame Saab for the biggest design eccentriticy of the angled studs.

[sydney.wedgehead]

Thanks John_C for the reply.

I am not a fan of optical media. Is there a way I can buy a licence to download "Still Sporty At Forty" or obtain a transcript?

I haven't heard Harris' answer to the wheelbase question and assume there is also much on record that answers other things I've wondered about.

I imagined this thread to be a location for such Q&A.

[Maxwell]

I believe most of the answers you seek are already available in other, more learned publications, as well as on the Clancy DVDs.

'A Celebration of All Things Seven' and 'A Celebration of More Things Seven' [due to be launched at the NEC in November] were never conceived as being Technical Manuals or even a potted history of British Leyland, but rather about the enjoyment that Wedge Ownership has brought to a lot of people on a number of different levels.

I'm guessing these are the publications you are referring to! Maybe Steve Jackson's excellent book - The Bullet that Backfired on British Leyland - will fulfil your requirement more fully.

Maxwell

[paulheritage]

And there's me thinking this was an information sharing forum rather than a sales platform

[Clara]

You have to remember that the TR7 engine is a derivative of the Triumph 3 lt V8 designed for the STAG.

[Henry]

Clara, I think you'll find the Stag engine was developed from the 4 pot engine that was designed sometime in the mid 60's, initially for SAAB...

[jeffremj]

Clara, I think you'll find the Stag engine was developed from the 4 pot engine that was designed sometime in the mid 60's, initially for SAAB...

That is what I have heard over the years.

My question is, did they design a 32V Stag engine - 2 handed 16V Sprint heads.

[Clara]

Not wanting to start a fight here!:
My reference source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Stag

"The initial Stag design was based around the saloon's 2.5-litre six cylinder engine, but Harry Webster intended the Stag, large saloons and estate cars to use a new Triumph-designed overhead cam (OHC) 2.5-litre fuel injected (PI) V8. Under the direction of Harry Webster's successor, Spen King in 1968, the new Triumph OHC 2.5 PI V8 was enlarged to 2997 cc (3.0 litres) to increase torque. To meet emission standards in the USA, a key target market, the troublesome mechanical fuel injection was dropped in favour of dual Zenith-Stromberg 175 CDSE carburettors. A key aim of Triumph's engineering strategy at the time was to create a family of engines of different size around a common crankshaft. This would enable the production of power plants of capacity between 1.5 and 4 litres, sharing many parts, and hence offering economies of manufacturing scale and of mechanic training. A number of iterations of this design went into production, notably a slant four-cylinder engine used in the later Triumph Dolomite and Triumph TR7, and a variant manufactured by StanPart that was initially used in the Saab 99. The Stag's V8 was the first of these engines into production. Sometimes described as two four-cylinder engines Siamesed together, it is more correct to say that the later four-cylinder versions were half a Stag engine (the left half)."

I learned a long time ago that you have to have your ducks in a row before you post anything on this forum.

[FI Spyder]

What Clara posted is what I've read from a number of different sources. Not that the fuzziness of BL/BMC et al doesn't make for some interesting discussions and theories and recalls of long distant memories. Personally I've found hunting ducks in the wild is more interesting than having them in a row (carnival shooting galleries).