RandallD Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 A friend of mine here in the US is restoring a relatively early TR3 (Nov 55 build date) - he has just started on the engine and discovered an aluminum plate attached to the block. The plate apparently is just a date: 23.1.56 . This appears to be something that occurred before the car was exported to the US because of the date convention. Does anyone recognize it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 Interesting date plate. I have not seen one here in UK. Maybe others in the US can shed light on it. Cheers. Peter W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RandallD Posted March 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 Thank you Peter- We will keep investigating. The style of DD-MM made me think this was done before entering the US but that may not be the case - unfortunately the Heritage certificate does not list a shipping date. Its location behind where the coil would mount suggests it was not a simple addition with the engine installed in the car. Cheers Randy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 Randy, your friend is sure the plate is mounted separately to the block, I guess -- and not a replica of a tag attached to the original foundry pattern that was cast into the metal? I suspect when John W. catches up with this thread he'll be able to add something useful. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RandallD Posted March 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 Don- Good thought and not sure at this point - he did say aluminum so at this point I think it is a separately attached plate. I'm not familiar with early blocks, but the TS number certainly looks like it was made a little rougher than I'd expect a factory stamping. Perhaps this is a replacement block to fix something that happened right after assembly? Randy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alec Pringle Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 I have seen something similar, although too long ago to recall the fine detail, just an alloy strip tag affixed, stamped date. At the time I was told this was a factory tag relating to a rebuild/repair of some description to a new or nearly new engine, as opposed to a reconditioned engine. I understood that to mean an engine out job rather than an in situ repair, the tag giving completion date - which would have been some time after the car production date, days or even weeks. That related to a Vanguard, but I'd guess that pretty similar principles applied to Standard and Triumph alike. The date convention suggests UK rather than USA, but did the North American importers use a British date convention ? It may have been a repair by the importers ? So they'd use a similar system to factory ? Cheers Alec Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted March 26, 2014 Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 If the heritage certificate doesnt list a shipping date then it may not have been exported when new and may have been supplied to service personnel over here for personal export later hence a service repair on the engine before leaving these shores. I have never seen that style of plate used as the normal FRE type of plate covers the original engine number stamping. Does that engine number appear correct from heritage certificate. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RandallD Posted March 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 That could very well be, Stuart. The certificate lists the destination as 'USA' only. And yes, the engine number matches the heritage certificate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vivdownunder Posted March 27, 2014 Report Share Posted March 27, 2014 The engine number sequence is correct for November 1955 and it would have been fitted with a low port LeMans head.carrying 1.75" SU's. If engines didn't make specified HP on the test bench they were reworked, then after passing muster, stamped with their engine number and sent to the assembly line. The plate tends to indicate later work on the block, as the coil needed to be off to affix it. The mismatched.font size for the engine number is unusual. Another clue with the plate is the dots beween numbers which didn't appear on other stampings. As Don said, over to you John W. Viv Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Hold on chaps.... Are we sure this is a TR cylinder block? - What diameter are the head studs? I have just looked at my blocks and none have the 'step out' at the cyl head mounting face, which is clearly visible in the photo. Mine are radiussed and do not seem to protrude as far. My blocks are later TR3A and TR4. Cheers Peter W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 I had three spare TR blocks and none of them had that 'step out' at the top. They were radiussed. The engine block number looks suspicious ~ especially the "E" which looks to have been created with a chisel? I've never come across block numbers with different sized fonts? Cheers ~ Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RandallD Posted March 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 Interesting- I'm not familiar with TR2 blocks, do early blocks have this feature? I believe this is an engine with a LeMans head, it is low port with H6's attached. My friend is an experienced rebuilder but most engines he works on are later 3As. I would think though that he'd notice the head bolts if they were different. I will check and report back if anything else crops up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted March 30, 2014 Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 over to you John W. John and I exchanged several pm's about this, and although he's not a date tag like that before it doesn't get him overly excited. He does note, as does Tom, that the "E" seems to have been done with a straight chisel rather than the normal letter punch. The fact that the numbers are a smaller size than normal (and yet the "TS" is normal) is another unexplained bit on this one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RandallD Posted March 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2014 And I just confirmed the head bolts are 1/2", normal TR style. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted March 31, 2014 Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 I would question if the "T" was not also done with a chisel, also the "S" seems to be a rather fancy font. All sugesting non original stampings Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted March 31, 2014 Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 The "E" definitely looks like it was made with a cold chisel. The "T" and the "S" both look off a little bit, as Bob notes. See my later car's stamping: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Down Posted March 31, 2014 Report Share Posted March 31, 2014 Have just checked my two 1955 TR2 engines and both have a radiussed step out the same as Peter and Toms. Maybe not a TR block! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
vivdownunder Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Looking at the swirl marks on the flat, it wouldn't be the first block with the original number allegedly ground off and replaced. The plate could be something to do with a block allocated for marine conversion. There were some really lovely wooden hulled speed/ski boats fitted with marinised TR engines. That's one of the reasons engines soon went out of sequence with commission numbers. Viv Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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