> The TRA concours manual describes the instrument layout of a TR3A as
> [Speedo - Tach] (i.e. Speedo on left).
I believe that is wrong for a LHD TR3A. Can't quote the change-over point, but
the speedo was moved to the right on LHD cars, so the passenger could keep an
eye on it easier during TSD rallies.
> For the center panel they show:
> [Oil..........Fuel]
> [Temp.........Amps]
I believe that is correct, for a LHD TR3A. Don't know why it was reversed from
a RHD, but I'm fairly confident it was.
> Also, the switches in the center panel... Piggott book says panel switch
> at the top and wipers below it but some wiring diagrams reverse these
> two (possibly when the rheostat panel switch was introduced?).
That's right. There is not room for the rheostat in the top position, so it was
moved to the center. AFAIK cars with dash light switches always had them in the
top hole.
> Finally, any notion of when that rheostat first appeared? (Piggott just
> sez 'late TR3As').
I'm not certain either, but ISTR Piggott says somewhere that it was phased in
gradually, starting at around TS43000 but not fitted to all cars until TS60001.
However, there's an easy way to tell, the center panel itself is different for
cars fitted with the rheostat. The rheostat requires a larger hole than the
switch does, so for panels with the rheostat, the center hole is larger than the
top one. 'Switch' panels have both holes the same size.
> Looking for concensus on what TS47905L would have probably looked like
> originally. I realize there may have never been 100% consistency in many
> fittings but would like to be in the majority. Thanks for any help.
For the rheostat, I'd go with the panel that came off the car. If you don't
know which panel came off, then I'd probably go without the rheostat, as I think
most cars in your range did not have it. All of the rheostat panels that I have
seen came off of post-60K cars, and I'm pretty sure my Dad's car is in the 50K
range and has a switch. Doesn't prove anything of course, as it no longer has
it's original commission plate and had definitely been molested before we got
it, but there you go.
YMMV of course
Randall
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