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silent member speaks

Posted: 29 Apr 2009 20:09
by Roy Hankins
Hello everyone,
I've been a silent member of the forum for a while now often logging on and having a good read but posting very little.

I'm not new to the TR7 owning a fair few in my time.
I'm particularly fond of the early Speke cars and some of you may remember me suggesting the Speke day for the TR drivers national a couple of years back.

Having said that I now own a couple of Canley built cars a Inca DHC and a Premium FHC which leads me into a couple of questions I'd like to ask the experts on this forum.

Does anyone actually now how many DHC where built in Inca yellow.
The general consensus is three press cars but I see another member of this forum has one as well which got me thinking are there more out there.

My second question.

I was tinkering under the bonnet of the Premium amd noticed stamped into the bonnet near the right hand edge where the figures 79 353.
This number is also stamped on the inside of both doors under the trim.
I was wondering if this meant my car was built in 79 and was the 353rd one built out of the 400 made.

Perhaps some of you who own a Premium could have a look.
I'd be interested to know.

Roy

Posted: 29 Apr 2009 20:37
by Beans
79 is probably the production year. Not sure about the 353, could be production day maybe?
I am in the proces of restoring my DHC at the moment and found different numbers on the cars body (80 QQQ 1)

Image

<center>Image
<font color="blue"><i>1981 TR7 FHC Sprint (better known as 't Kreng)
1981 TR7 DHC (now completely dismantled)
Also a 1980 TR7 DHC, 1980 TR7 DHC FI, 1981 TR7 FHC</font id="blue">
<font color="red">http://tr7beans.blogspot.com/</i></font id="red"></center>

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 08:36
by Dave Dyer
Hi Roy,

I have a Premium, but I can't check the doors and bonnet because the cars is in bits and they're stored! But I can tell you I had a certificate done from the British motor heritage (I think it was £25?) which told me exactly when it was built and at the time I asked if they knew what number my car was out of the 400, but they said there was no numbering done. In a perfect world if the 400 were still around and you could get all the Vin numbers, then you could work it out!

I'm not 100% (my certificate is in the attic) but I'm pretty sure my car was built on the 27th Dec 1979 and finished on the 29th Dec 1979. So it was built by a hungover workforce!!! [:D]

Dave

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 15:21
by Rblackadar
Wow! Look at those welds....I wish my Speke build had welds like that....mine looks like it was welded by a drunk.

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 15:45
by Mowog73
I was amazed at the number of body panels that were lacking welds on our Speke project car. I felt like I was on the asembly line, or QC at the end of the line.

Mark

<font size="1">1973 MGBGT Teal Blue
1976 TR7 Mimosa
1980 Spitfire 1500 Vermillion</font id="size1">

ImageImageImageImageImage

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 16:14
by Roy Hankins
Thanks guys,

I agree and think the 79 must be the year but it looks like the other numbers meaning must be lost in the mists of time.

I would think all of the Premiums would of been built together in December 79.
I must get a heritage certificate!

It would of been great to of been a fly on the wall and to of seen the great BL workforce coming in after the christmas holiday to build our great car.

It's a wonder any Premiums have survived at all.

Roy

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 17:38
by Chris Turner
Roy, hope youre bringing the Premium to Billing for Jims limited edition display.

www.triumphtrs.co.uk
TR8 FHC
TR7 Sprint
TR7V8 rally car

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 18:41
by tr7jim
Roy,

I second chris's comment about hope you can make it to billing for the Limited edition display or maybe your Yellow dhc is also a option.

On the subject of Inca Yellow dropheads I am sure there are more than just three canley dhc made. One owners is a regular one on this forum. The printer of the TR Drivers club mag also owns one of press cars for starters.

Jim
Limited edition Display organisor, Billing 2009.

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 18:41
by Odd
Istr I read somewhere in American papers that it is the year, the week and the day the piece was stamped at Pressed Steel...
Some cars have stamping dates that vary so it's not to do with the car manufacturing date (that can only be found via a
Heritage certificate search - and since they weren't built in strict VIN order two cars with adjacent VINs could have been
finished days or even weeks apart, unfortunately).

In your case it would have been (19)79 (week)35 (day)3 or: on Wednesday, August 29th 1979
/Odd

(Unneeded trivia: That's just two days after the IRA assassination of Lord Mountbatten among others...)

Image <font color="red"><b>My two 1980 Wedges...</b></font id="red">
Image

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 18:46
by tr7jim
Beans,

Is your picture 'guess what part of your car is' give us a glue.

Jim

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 20:24
by Beans
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Rblackadar</i>

Wow! Look at those welds....<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
It's an early Solihull car [:I]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by tr7jim</i>

Beans, Is your picture 'guess what part of your car is' give us a glue...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Outside of rear LH bumper mount [;)]
B.t.w. no number on the RH side ...

<center>Image
<font color="blue"><i>1981 TR7 FHC Sprint (better known as 't Kreng)
1981 TR7 DHC (now completely dismantled)
Also a 1980 TR7 DHC, 1980 TR7 DHC FI, 1981 TR7 FHC</font id="blue">
<font color="red">http://tr7beans.blogspot.com/</i></font id="red"></center>

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 20:42
by Roy Hankins
Thanks for the info guys what a clever lot you are.

I will be at Billing hopefully with the Premium though i do have a few issues to sort out with it. ie MOT etc.
If not it will have to be the Inca DHC which is a sort of ltd edition dont you think !!

ROY

Posted: 30 Apr 2009 20:54
by tr7jim
Roy,

Excellant news see you and your Limited edition car at Billing for the display on sunday.

Jim

Posted: 01 May 2009 01:09
by FI Spyder
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Roy Hankins</i>


Does anyone actually now how many DHC where built in Inca yellow.
The general consensus is three press cars but I see another member of this forum has one as well which got me thinking are there more out there.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Don't know about Inca DHC, I know there where a lot of Spitfires in Inca. My TCT DHC is Tumeric Yellow. I didn't even know that was a Triumph Colour.


TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra
Image

Posted: 01 May 2009 14:58
by Billy2
I have a Inca Yellow DHC Canley car built Dec/79 but I've not seen any others around the Toronto area.
Billy2