To: Triumphs List, Inet
On Wed. Andrew Mace
Well, yesterday I went to "informally" appraise a late 1979
Spitfire 1500 -- "rubber" bumpers, 5.0" wheels, etc. Original
owner, supposedly all original, save for newer top and much
older (Lucas points) distributor. Two possibly related questions
arose as I looked at the car. 1. The engine had a red valve
cover; definitely original paint on it. I'm wondering if perhaps
the blue valve cover might have appeared on California-spec.
engines only? Any thoughts on that? 2. The car had a VIN in the
97000 range; the engine number was 120,xxxUE. I was surprised to
see the engine number so much higher than the VIN. Does that, in
fact, jive with other late Spitfire 1500s? Or was this perhaps a
still-later engine -- say, 1980?
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Andy -- are you sure of the VIN number relative to the date?
Triumph production break points for the 1500s are listed as
FH80,000 - Jan '76; FH100,020 - Mar '77; FH105734 - Jan '78;
FH130,001 - Jan '79; and TFWAD1AT000001 - Oct '79. Sounds like
it is a 76 Spit, not a 79. Anyways, my 2 cents FWIW.
Have Fun!! : ^ )
Ross D. Vincenti
64 Spitfire 4 (undergoing surgery)
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