Greetings Triumph Listers!
It seems just a few days ago that I asked questions about a BMIHT Heritage
Certificate. There were lots of responses and even one attachment with the
application forms.
Today my certificate arrived. Quick turn around time!
I had some surprises, although I should not be surprised given the
discussions of the Hert. Certs. of late. The engine I'm about to remove
and overhaul apparently is not the original. My car is a TR2, #TS7690 and
my engine is TS 15848E. The Trace Cert. says it (the engine) should be
TS/8007-E. That is probably good news as I was concerned that my camshaft
journals might have been machined into the block. What I have is probably
a much later engine with the camshaft journal inserts. DOES ANYONE KNOW
THE APPROXIMATE YEAR OF THE ENGINE I HAVE? If the engine numbers remain
close to the build numbers, where (in years) would 15848-E put this
engine? (Guess I'll know about the camshaft journals soon enough when I
finish the engine removal and open it up.)
The body number for my car (840966) was correct, but I provided that
information on the application. I sent them the numbers from a second
brass tag which is just above the body number. It was a shorter number
beginning with letters (EB 7862). The certificate sheds no light on the
meaning of this number. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THIS MIGHT BE?
The "birthday" for my car is 18, August 1955. I guessed it would be August
or September given 7690 of 86xx TR2 models having been built. It Cert also
says the car had a black "hood" and blue leather interior (it now has cheap
brown vinyl imitation leather - no surprise there). Here is my surprise:
my car is Signal Red but the original colour was BLACK. Sure, my car has
had a paint job, poor quality that it is, it does cover the waves of the
extensive bondo sculpting. I cannot find a hint of black anywhere.
Surely, under a hinge, behind some carpet, under a removed bolt, SOMEWHERE,
I think I would see some of the original paint. I even removed the brass
body plate from the firewall and scratched lightly with a screw driver and
some sand paper until I saw base metal (the middle of the firewall is one
place where there is some original metal left) and I didn't find any black
paint. I can remove what looks like really old undercoating and I find
RED, not black paint. I know that over the span of forty-five years
someone could have dipped, stripped and repainted EVERYTHING, but what a
shame then in the following years to have allowed the overall deteoriation
that has occurred.
I hope and I actually do belive that the folks doing the factory archive
work are more honest and thorough than some British Genealogists I
encountered. During one of the years I lived in London (the year when we
lived near Earl's Court) I paid my fees to join "The" Society of
Genealogists so that I could use their library to do familly history
research. My mother was a war bride from Davy Hulm near Irlam, near
Manchester, Lancashire. We knew nothing of her family history and I wanted
to trace some ancestory on my father's side as well. One evening while
quietly pouring over some records at a table in the "parlour" of the house
which houses the collections, I overheard a conversation between two
"proper" English gentlemen who were "genealogists for hire." One was
saying to the other that he could not find any family connection based on
information provided by some American clients. The others reply was
something to this effect: "Just pick a family line and fabricate a
plausible connection. The Yanks will pay for anything!" ...... They were
not joking, I KNOW dry humor, they were full serious. Needless to say, I
decided then and there not to retain the services of any "genealogists for
hire" with "THE" Society. I should have reported on their gross
misconduct, but those were very busy times. Now, when it comes to family
history matters, I turst only that which I can find and verify for myself
or from people I know well and trust completely.
All in all I am happy with the BMIHT certificate I have received. I have
it framed (although it does have LOTS of blank "white" space). Oh, by
chance, it is mounted in a "black" frame trimmed in gold. Seems
appropriate since the car is suposed to be of that "colour."
Wishing everyone on the list "All the Best!"
Happy Holidays,
Rob Blubaugh
Rensselaer, IN
TR2 - 18 August 1955 - TS7690
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