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Spitfire bumpers, wiring & the demise of BL

To: ALESiegel@aol.com
Subject: Spitfire bumpers, wiring & the demise of BL
From: Andy Mace <AMACE@unix2.nysed.gov>
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 1994 10:22:42 PST

On Wed, 14 Dec 1994 ALESiegel@aol.com wrote:

> 2. Re: Spitfire Bumpers - The uncertainty about the '73 and '74 bumpers may
> be grounded in troubles atthe change of model year. I understand from my
> mechanic that there was a strike at BL during that model year changeover, and
> some of the cars were put together with mixed components. I found him the
> other day working on a '74 with electrical woes. He discovered that the car
> was wired differently than the owner's manual and workshop manual for a '74
> indicated. In fact, it was wired differently than the '73 - but had some
> hybrid arrangement. This sort of craziness had something to do with the
> demise of BL. 

There are a number of possible explanations here: 1) the dreaded PO. 2) 
Depending on the edition and origin of owner's or workshop manual used, 
said book might not contain the correct wiring diagram for a particular 
version/year of car. 1973 and 1974 U.S. models are wired somewhat 
differently, especially as concerns the infamous seatbelt interlock 
circuit. 3) The book might be correct, but the car was not originally a 
U.S.-spec vehicle. 4) The car might have been rewired years before with a 
harness from a different year car. 5) The car possibly could have had the 
wrong harness installed at the factory (I have a U.S.-spec 1970 GT6+ with 
a RHD dimmer switch installed at the factory -- works fine but it's 
upside down in its action, if the wires are connected properly.) 6) 
Although less common in the 1970s under U.S. regulations, running changes 
may have been made that are not well documented in contemporary editions 
of manuals, or such changes occured closer to the calendar year rather 
than the model year.



Or maybe the car really WAS an MG. ;-)

Andy Mace


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