~ >> The model year code begins in 1970 with A and proceeds down the
~ >> alphabet.
~ >Huh? My Midget is GAN6UL212492G. So by this scheme it's an '81 Midget?
~ > ^
~ >The sources I've read state that digit 6 of my VIN is L or H for high
~ >or low compression. Did the numbering scheme change when they went to
~ >Triumph engines?
Ah -- yes, it did, and I've always ignored it, never having owned a
Spitfidget. I'd forgotten that Midget 1500s also got the type upgraded
to GAN6. Sorry -- apply the preceding only to vehicles made before the
end of August 1974.
H and L, by the way, were used on the engine ID for BMC-powered M.G.s.
The original engine out of the '71 B is an 18GKxxxxxH (no, I haven't
memorized the engine number, sorry :-); the engine that's in the car
now (should I walk out and look it up? No, I'd only want to drive it
away to see how it sounds... :-) started life as an 18VxxxxxL.
H and L, for both Spridgets and Bs, are 8.8:1 and 8.0:1, respectively.
I seem to recall that the low-compression 1500s are 7.5:1, but as I
said, I've never had reason to get into the details of the 1500-powered
cars. (Nice enough cars to drive, for the short period of time I spent
in one; the engine is just torquey enough to be pleasant while bowling
along in traffic, and the extra ride height plus the heavier sprung weight
makes them more comfortable over railroad tracks and the like.)
~ Rich Hill
~ (The car turns 15 in less than a week - what kind of cake do you think
~ it would like?)
Something full of nuts, obviously, just like our cars. :-)
--Scott
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