Guess the part.

[Bobbieslandy]

Hi all,

I've no doubt most of you know what this is for, the trouble is previous owners didn't and have used it as a jacking point. I'm going to remove / straighten / weld it back on, it'd just be nice to know why it's there.



Thankyou

Rob.

[1powerrack]

I think it was to tie down cars on, roll on / roll off transporters to countries like the USA

[stevie_a]

Looks like where the trailing arm bolts to the body.

[Rich K]

I think they may have been something to do with holding/locating the bodies on the track during production in the factory. The ones on my car were similarly bent and I drilled out the spot welds and took them off. I didn't see the point in retaining extra pieces of metal on the car that don't perform any function.
Rich.

[John_C]

I agree - for strapping the car down onto the production line. Every TR7 had them.

[Clara]

Strapping loops for shipping across the sea by boat to keep them from moving in ruff seas.

[1powerrack]

if the cars were strapped down on the production line, then every time you wanted to remove a car from the production line, the line would have to be halted to untie the car, a friend who worked at Solihull does not remember fixing down the bodies using those fixings in the photo.

[Bobbieslandy]

Cheers for the answers. As to them being lashing points, are these guesses or are they facts? The reason i ask is because there's only two, they're both at the back of the car which isn't ideal and they look like a right bugger to use quickly.

Rob.

[1powerrack]

That's the reason given to me, by an ex worker at the plant, but always open to other suggestions

[busheytrader]

Hi Rob,

IMHO those welded on underside straps add strength to the radius arm's mounting point. The steel used is fairly thick and has a central ridge pressed into it for extra rigidity.

Many years back I welded in Robsport's floor repair sections around the mounting points. I removed the straps with a spot weld cutter to gain all around access, cut out the rot, butt welded in new steel and then welded the straps back on afterwards. My view was that the V8's torque was well above the original 4 pot's and I wanted all the strength around the mounting points I could get. I'd previously had stress cracks at the bottom of the rear bulkhead thanks to corrosion and V8 torque.

I spoke to a couple of wedge specialists at the time. One said that they always refitted them or fabricated new ones, the other that they never refitted them even for a V8 car.......... I took the belt and braces view so welded them back on.

Adam

[John_C]

Interesting replies. But these straps certainly appear superfluous and serve no purpose other than to quickly bolt the car to something. Surely if they had have been to add strength something more professional would have been added to the design... then again! Production line always seemed like the obvious answer otherwise why would UK cars all have them?

Mine went years ago and despite having more power than a standard V8 my car has held together. I'd have been surprised if it had have fallen apart though!

[seven]

Any one got close up pictures of the production line conveyor belt mechanicals when the 7/8's were being built?
You will most likely find that these extra welded on bits were for lifting floor pan sections from one stage to another during the assembly stages, and for ease of lining up with other floor bits to be welded.
There are loads of unexplained round, square and oblong holes (not to mention extra welded bits) pressed into floor pans and chassis rails in all cars and vans, which are requirements for all vehicle measuring systems when on the designers board.
Vehicles do get into unruly confrontations once out in the big bad wide world of poor drivers. These holes help to assist the repairers line up chassis straightening jigs and extra welded on tags can sometimes be a guide point for part of the jig repair systems. When I used to work for Audi/VW, the panelshop often had smash cars in various states of repair up on car chassis straightening benches and the jigs that would be used actually fitted into some of these factory made holes. If the whole front had to be removed from the bulkheads, these jigs were bolted to the car bench and the new panels and chassis rails were then bolted to the jig and the body pulled back into shape to meet up with the new parts I wonder if all those jigs still exist. I remember that the big car bench chassis straighter was sold separately (basically a 4 poster) and all the jig bit for different makes and models that were bolted to the 4 poster and car body were only available to hire.
Just thought I would had my two pence worth

[FI Spyder]

Production line always seemed like the obvious answer otherwise why would UK cars all have them?

You have to remember most TR7's were shipped to North America. North america bodies also have them. When the bodies were welded together there was no difference from UK or N/A bodies so all had to have the tie downs. Did the car haulers at the time have them tied down as well? Seems they wouldn't just rely on the hand brake being pulled up.

[tr8]

I thought that the shipping lugs which are very heavy did the job of holding the car in shipment.

[John_C]

Fair point, there wouldn't have been a difference between the shells. Quite likely overseas shipping then and may have also been used on car transporters over here but that seems to be particularly unlikely given the way transporters are loaded and the cars strapped down.

But as Seven says, they may have been there to assist production when lifting the floor pan. What we need is the help of a few production line workers to see if they can shed some light... then again, I don't suppose it's that important really but does give us anoraks something to wonder about.