On Sun, 5 Dec 1999, Jeff McNeal wrote:
> ...I was the winning bidder of the '69 Mk3 on eBay...
> Now, my question. I noticed after lightening up the photos of the car I
> purchased on eBay, that there doesn't appear to be any heater or fan
> controls above the two center-mounted guages. Not even the slots for them!
> I know that on earlier Mk3's the heater was an OPTION. Could it be that in
> '69, the heaters were still an option and the original purchaser opted NOT
> to get the heater? Or is it more likely that the dash is not original and
> someone arbitrarily decided to do something else with the sliders altogether
> (like omit them!)? Any ideas?
On Mon, 6 Dec 1999 SJagGo@aol.com wrote:
>
> 69 heater controls are not like the Mk IV's and 1500's. There is a knob on
> the dash you pull for heat, and another knob for the fan motor. There are
> also little handles on spring-loaded doors on the heater box which permits
> hot air into the cabin, otherwise it all goes to the dash windshield vents.
> Bill B
Bill, that is true in markets other than the US. But the 1969 "Federal"
Spitfire did have the later-style "slider" heat controls and two-speed
blower motor. Note that the Mk.3 temp. control slider function is reversed
from the later Mk.IV and 1500.
As for why the eBay car doesn't have these, several possibilities come to
mind:
1. It's really a '68 with a different (Mk.1 GT6, perhaps) dashboard, or
2. It's really a '69 with a different (Mk.1 GT6, perhaps) dashboard, and
some creative restructuring of the heater controls.
3. It's really a '69 built for other than a North American market, and
someone added a different (see above) dashboard.
Yes, it's also possible that it was delivered new without a heater, but
that was somewhat rare in other than truly "tropical" markets (such as
Puerto Rico or Hawaii).
--Andy
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* Andrew Mace, President and *
* 10/Herald/Vitesse (Sports 6) Consultant *
* Vintage Triumph Register <www.vtr.org> *
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