Octagonal centre lock nuts were termed "safety nuts" It was illegal to fit
them to any U.S. car as a result of the NMVSA after 2/67. Germany and
Switzerland had already outlawed the deadly knock-offs, so it was easy enough
to start fitting the ones already in production to U.S. bound cars. I wonder
if anyone had actually been injured by a knock-off (other than trying to get a
seized one off)? Why the Philly cars got them? Just a guess, but like a lot
of BMC stuff, when they ran out of parts, they fit whatever happened to be
lying around the factory.
Rick
Follow My Nasty Boy Build: http://tinyurl.com/yj52fwo
--- On Sat, 3/26/11, BJ8 Healeys <sbyers at ec.rr.com> wrote:
From: BJ8 Healeys <sbyers at ec.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Seat belt what?
To: healeys at autox.team.net
Date: Saturday, March 26, 2011, 10:40 AM
"Earless" knockoffs were available as early as BJ7s, according to the BMC
parts manual, and so were not produced in response to the USA NTMVSA.
HBJ8L/25316 (built 6 - 13 Dec 63) and despatched to Germany, and HBJ8L/26359
(built 15 - 23 Apr 64 and despatched to Switzerland) are just two examples
of early BJ8s with octagonal knockoffs. Although it isn't possible to
determine it from the parts manual, registry evidence suggests that all cars
for (at least) Germany and Switzerland had such knockoffs from the beginning
of BJ8 production.
One very interesting thing I have noticed from the mass of BMIHT data in the
BJ8 registry: "Wire wheels (w/octagonal nuts)" were on cars for the USA
built as early as December 1964 - but ONLY on those that were dispatched to
Philadelphia. Anybody have a clue why that should be?
Steve Byers
HBJ8L/36666
BJ8 Registry
Havelock, NC USA
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