On Fri, 11 Dec 1998 Sqpegged@aol.com wrote:
> can someone give me an idea in what ways a british spit of this era would be
> different from it's american counterpart.
> TIA, Kenneth R.
There are the obvious differences due to RHD v. LHD, including a
different steering rack, arrangement of items such as pedals and battery
on the bulkhead (firewall), wipers parking on the opposite side, etc., etc.
In addition to those, lighting is different. Headlamps dip the other way,
of course, but also the front and rear flasher lamps were different on
North American cars -- rear flasher lamps on NA cars were always larger
than the home market cars, as were the front ones sometime after FC40xxx
(somewhere in that area). Front flasher lamps on U.S.-spec. cars were
white through the Mk.2.
The lighting switches worked differently on the two cars. The master
lighting switch on NA cars was the column switch, with a floor-mounted
dimmer switch and a switch on the dash that worked only dash lights.
Windshield glass on a home market car of that age might not be laminated,
while it would have been here. And some "accessories" might be different
(radio, optional wheel covers or trim rings, seat belts, etc., which were
usually sourced locally).
Those are the major ones that come to mind at the moment. Differences
became much MORE apparent after about 1967, when Federal safety and
emission standards dictated a lot of changes unique to North American
cars.
--Andy
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