Larry,
I will try to answer these to the best of my ability, -tricarbs are somewhat
tricky and obscure. I asked a lot of the same questions, and some of the
responses never felt "rock solid" to me, but I did the best I could for my car
which is a very early tricarb. some changes occurred even within the short
production run of tricarb cars.
The metal of the heat shield is engine color. On my car, the correct asbestos
fitment is to the underside only, fixed with copper split rivets and washers.
I have seen tricarbs with asbestos on both sides, and do not know if this is
correct for any later tricarbs -though I think it is generally accepted that
it is not correct. I have left the asbestos white, since it is considered
correct unpainted. -Though I am not sure how this makes total sense, as the
engines were supposedly painted with the carbs mounted, but bagged for
painting. (The mounting flanges on the carbs themselves may supposedly have
been exposed and may be engine green also). Perhaps the asbestos was installed
after the engine and metal shield were painted? Perhaps this is the reason for
the use of the soft copper split rivets for mounting.
The heat shields on the engine compartment walls and under the car are
installed AFTER paint and left white (natural).
The horns are Lucas 9H horns and are black. They mount to the shroud support
struts on each side of the engine compartment and are attached to the main
wiring harness by extensions, unlike the Lucas HF1748 horns which were mounted
behind the grille and were beige/gold tone. -The HF1748 horn was discontinued
with the MK I.
The seat frames are black, and mostly covered by vinyl same color as the seat
cushions and seat back.
I'll send you a digital photo of the carb/heatshield/insulator/gasket
arrangement off list.
-Actually, just got back from the garage w/ my camera, -it is hard to get a
photo of the above arrangement, but I will send pics anyway, along with horn,
seat frame, and heat shield(s).
It is manifold, insulator, heat shield, gasket, carb.
I have always found Bill Bolton to be an excellent resource (when he can be
reached) for the obscure details on tricarbs, and have double-checked as much
as I can with him on most of those peculiarities. Even the excellent Anderson
Moment book has a couple of very minor tricarb detail issues in the applicable
photos. IE: the secondary choke cable sheaths should be black plastic coated,
and the cable terminators should be small plugs cast onto the ends, rather
than crimped on lead fittings. My point being that the tricarb, which on the
face of it, seems a fairly simple variation on the big Healey, does have a lot
of relatively unknown and finicky details.
I'll get those photos off right away.
David W. Jones
'62 Mk II BT7 tricarb
Cumberland, RI USA
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