[TR] Engine colours

[DAVE HOGYE]

I believe all TR blocks came from the same foundry, with the cast-in embossed Bilchrome. I also believe that all engines had "TR" plus a number brush painted on the side, to easily pull the correct engine after it's assembly and install it in the correct car.  Morgan engines were also being assembled on the same assembly line, as far as I know.  Maybe they had an "M" painted on the side, but I don't have direct knowledge of this.  All TR3-4 engines that I have seen with the original black engine paint, have the TR plus a number, brush painted on the manifold side.  Kind of neat stuff to find all these years later. I guess that for a correct concourse restoration, the block paint marks should be replicated.
Dave H.  
> On 06/16/2023 6:13 PM PDT dave northrup <dave at ranteer.com> wrote:
> 
>  
> Here are some closeups showing first the TR painted letters, then the engine "part number."  These both must be reconditioned/warranty?  Would not a normal factory engine say Stanpart?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Triumphs <triumphs-bounces at autox.team.net> On Behalf Of John Macartney
> Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2023 5:46 PM
> To: triumphs at autox.team.net
> Subject: [TR] Engine colours
> 
> It must be more than twenty years back when this topic on reconditioned engines was aired and I remember contributing to it.
> One of the major issues in unit reconditioning is getting the old units (aka in the U.K. as corps or cores) and it would be tedious and cost prohibitive in the extreme to ship worn engines, gearboxes and other electrical items across the Atlantic or more oceans if you include Australia and the Far East. All unit recon work on engines and gearboxes for the U.K. and Europe was undertaken by a Standard-Triumph subsidiary called Beans Industries. In my day, a Beans rebuilt engine was painted an unattractive shade of blue and the engine number was ground off and replaced by a totally different number stamped in place.
> George Durand who was the company’s Parts Director was very proud of the unit recon and service exchange programmes he had established in a number of major markets and there was definitely one for the US and another for Canada. Basically, Standard-Triumph North America in Leonia, NJ together with their opposite numbers in Toronto, contracted two local companies to do their recon work as genuine factory replacements using parts supplied by STNA and STC parts divisions. It can’t be ruled out that some blue Beans recon units arrived stateside as part of regular parts shipments from the factory but it makes economic sense for the import company to set up this sort of arrangement on a local basis but what colours that might have been used is anyone’s guess.
> It’s all rather like the Triumph branded radios sold as genuine factory approved units. The Acclaim was the first car to have a radio as standard fit but cars that went for export were usually radio-less and had a locally supplied unit fitted before delivery.
> Lucas had a different arrangement and usually supplied a new unit in a service exchange packaging identity at a slightly lower retail price.
> 
> Jonmac
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