[TR] Narrowing in on a lost commission number

[nwolf at u.washington.edu]

Hi Jonmac
   Why the smile after "rustproofing"?  Did I miss something funny?  ;)

   Seriously though, that is a great explanation of why the body-in-white numbers exist.  Now, can you tell us anything about what they mean?  Were they sequential, or do they carry a date code, or... maybe just a string of random digits?  Do you know the meaning of the "ZS" prefix on the TR4 body-in-white numbers?
   Are there any records of these numbers?  (Piggott says no)

Cheers
-Nick Wolf
'62 TR4  ZS 010966  (missing commission number and body number)


> From: "John Macartney" <standardtriumph at btinternet.com>
> Raymond Hatfield wrote:
> 
> > Out of curiosity, what is the significance of the "body-in-white"
> number?  And
> > why is it called that?
> > Inquiring minds want to know :)
> 
> As this relates to Standard-Triumph (though its the same for many
> other mftrs) after the body was 
> made, dipped for rustproofing :) and passed off for manufacturing of
> the rest of the car, it was 
> sprayed an 'off-white' colour. This was mainly to protect it from the
> elements as it was transported 
> from the body plant to the main assembly plant. For Herald / Spitfire
> / GT6 this was about 2 miles, 
> for TR about 130 miles and for all other saloons made by Pressed
> Steel, about 70 miles. At that 
> point, the only identifier for the car was the body number and this
> was only superceded when the 
> commission plate was fixed to the body. Thus the term 'body in white'
> describes a car that is just a 
> painted shell, full of sharp jagged edges and the doors held shut with 
> bits of twisted wire.
> 
> Jonmac