[TR] What do you think is painted on the side of TSF52E block?

[John Macartney]

The issue of mysterious ad-hoc codes painted on cylinder blocks has arisen on
many occasions over the years since I've been on this list. Usually, they were
of very short run duration - sometimes just days or a week or two and were
mainly marshalling marks to ensure each assembly line got the right block in
times of shortages when the unit came out of machining and after being
painted. In this instance, I'd suggest that painting TR3 on this unbuilt block
was to differentiate it from other wet liner four cylinders being built at the
time. Standard had two engine assembly lines for the Big 4 Pot. One was used
for TR, the other assembled power units for the Vanguard in 2088cc, the later
Ensign in 2138cc, the Leyland 15 and Leyland 20 light trucks and vans. All of
them had variations configurations of camshaft, compression ratio and
carburation. In this instance, identifying it as a TR3 may have been nothing
more than ensuring engine assembly had
 sufficient blocks available per model. To add to this general scenario, it's
important not to forget the company also sold a large number of these base
engine units with even further technical variations as static power units in
industrial applications.
You'll also find similar ad-hoc codes on the small
block engines for Standard Ten vans and pick ups with the 1147cc engine for
Spitfire and earlier versions of the SC engine in 948cc guise for Standard 
Ten, Herald single carb and Herald twin carb.

Jonmac
     
________________________________
 From: Keith Stewart
<keithstewart at execulink.com>
To: triumphs at autox.team.net 
Sent: Saturday, 3
March 2012, 2:18
Subject: [TR] What do you think is painted on the side of
TSF52E  block?


>On Fri, 2 Mar 2012, at 18:39:5, Don Hiscock wrote:
>>
>> Did
TR4s also have orange paint on the block?  Does anyone else think
>> that the
painting on my block looks almost like it had something else
>> beneath the
"TR", alongside the "3"?
>>
>My 1962 TR4 that I bought in 1966 with 17 000
miles did not have any such
>markings.
>
>Keith R. Stewart
>75 Camden Road
>London, Ontario
>N5X 2K2
>Home: (519) 660-1916
>E-Mail:
keithstewart at execulink.com
>
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