At the BMIHT archives in Gaydon, the records are in two formats: the
microfiche of the original build cards used by the archive staff to produce
the certificates, and in "ledger books". The microfiche is available only
to the staff, but if prior arrangements are made the public is given access
to the ledger books. As I understand it, the ledger books were transcribed
by hand from the build cards at some later date after production. I am
personally only familiar with the records for BJ8s, but the data given in
the ledger books is not always the same as what is in the microfiche
records. For example, in the ledger books are recorded milestone dates in
the production process for each car: Off Trim Line, Off Body Line, Off
Test, Off Rectification, Off Finishing, and Date Advised. The build dates
given on the certificates are only from Off Trim Line to Off Finishing.
"Destination" in the ledger books for cars shipped to the USA is frequently
only given as "USA" or "East Coast USA", while the certificates for the same
cars usually give the actual Port of Entry: Philadelphia, Jacksonville,
etc.
I was only able to spend one day in the archives, but I went prepared with
forms that I spent eight full hours filling in from the ledger books for
BJ8s. I also have a friend in England who researches for me there several
times a year. The data we have collected on thousands of cars over the last
8 years also serves as a check against the data on certificates, which
frequently have mistakes on them.
Steve Byers
HBJ8L/36666
BJ8 Registry
Havelock, NC USA
Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2011 12:20 PM
To: richchrysler@quickclic.net; healeys@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Car Numbers and body numbers
Rich, Geno,
If you ever have the chance to visit BMIHT at Gaydon/UK you can have a look
in
the production book for the 100s to see at which place it came out of the
production line. But I think you need to go there and can`t get this
information by phone or mail.
Josef Eckert
Konigswinter/Germany
PS: I have spent hours to brouse through the books as I thought I could find
more information to my cars as stated in the Heritage Certificate. But
what`s
stated in the Certificate is all they have.
_______________________________________________
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