Middle7 Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 Hello, My mate has just bought a 1980 Sprint TR7 DHC. The vendor claims that it is a factory built 16V and not a later conversion. The Motor Heritage Certificate is a bit inconclusive on this, but it does say that it was registered by the factory and prepared for exhibition purposes, so there could be some truth in his claims. Has anyone heard of factory built 16V DHC? I thought all the 16V were made at Speke and the project was dropped when production was moved to Canley. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alec Pringle Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 Hi Middle7, Unlikely, but anything was possible with BL . . . . Two members who will doubtless be able to give you chapter and verse on the subject - tr7jim and chris turner. Suggest you contact both Jim and Chris by PM, and they'll be pleased to assist you I'm sure. Cheers, Alec Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnwood Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 If it is genuine, which I doubt, It will state 4-valve engine on the heritage certificate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alec Pringle Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 "It will state 4-valve engine on the heritage certificate" 4-valve ? V-twin ? Cheers, Alec Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tr7jim Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 (edited) "It will state 4-valve engine on the heritage certificate" 4-valve ? V-twin ? Cheers, Alec Alec, It's what the factory called this engine, based on 4-valve per cylinder so 4 x 4 = 16. If you look at the 1978 BL Manaul is got two parts one for the 2-valve and one for the 4-valve. Jim Edited July 26, 2009 by tr7jim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alec Pringle Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 Hi Jim, and you're right at that ! All these years of thinking 8 and 16 as you do, but then the factory lads used to refer to 4-valvers, and I'd forgotten that . . . . thanks for the correction Cheers, Alec Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chris turner Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 All the factory built Sprints were fixed heads. As Jim says all cars fitted with the sprint engine will have 4 valve on the Heritage certificate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Middle7 Posted July 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Thanks for the replies. My mate is going to double check that the engine number matches the one given on the heritage certificate. If this is a match would it be safe to assume that it is a factory built Sprint? It is a Canley car (registered in May 1980), but built to the Solihull spec (enamel badge, 2.0 litre side badges). I realise that this could have been altered at sometime in the past, restoration photo's show it in Solihull spec. I will post more information when I get it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tr7jim Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Thanks for the replies. My mate is going to double check that the engine number matches the one given on the heritage certificate. If this is a match would it be safe to assume that it is a factory built Sprint? It is a Canley car (registered in May 1980), but built to the Solihull spec (enamel badge, 2.0 litre side badges). I realise that this could have been altered at sometime in the past, restoration photo's show it in Solihull spec. I will post more information when I get it. The engine number to be a genuine TR7 Sprint will start off with prefixed with CH and suffixed with HE and the engine number would be very low e.g. 2 digits. If its a Dolomite Sprint engine its starts with VA and suffixed with HE. Lastly the only chance maybe is to contact Gaydon and see if they can pull up any pictures of your friends car from the factory, most importantly showing the engine bay. Failing this I can't see it been a genuine Factory Sprint. All the hertiage certificates I have seen on these cars always mention the 4 valve engine including it was one of the press launch vehicle. Hope this helps Jim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chris turner Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 There were absolutely no cars fitted with Sprint engines at the factory after production moved from Speke. If it was built in 1980 someone else has changed the engine. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Middle7 Posted July 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 There were absolutely no cars fitted with Sprint engines at the factory after production moved from Speke. If it was built in 1980 someone else has changed the engine. It appears that the engine number matches that on the heritage certificate. It begins with CG and ends with HE. This doesn't fit with the information given by tr7jim for the Sprint engines (either Dolomite or TR7). I do not know the engine number ranges for the 8-valve (or is that 2-valve) engines, but I guess it is possible that someone has fitted a Sprint head to an 8-vlave block in the dim and distant past. What I can say is that it gives the car a nice performance boost. I always thought that it was a lot of effort to swap to the 16V and if you were going to the lengths of an engine swap then you might as well put in a V8, but this car has made me think again, as the performance is very respectable. From the comments it looks like this is not a factory built Sprint. The hertiage certificate says that it was built for a show (doesn't say which one), so it will make an interesting task trawling through old magazines and press releases from 1980-81 to see if there are any photographs of the car. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Middle7 Posted July 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Does anyone know the significance of the HE suffix on the Sprint engines mentioned by tr7jim? I ask because I have just checked the engine number on my August 1980 8 valve TR7 and it begins with CG and ends with H not HE as with my mates 16-valve engined car which was registered a few months earlier. Do all 8-valve car engine numbers end with H or do some end with HE? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gordon kerr Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Does anyone know the significance of the HE suffix on the Sprint engines mentioned by tr7jim? I ask because I have just checked the engine number on my August 1980 8 valve TR7 and it begins with CG and ends with H not HE as with my mates 16-valve engined car which was registered a few months earlier. Do all 8-valve car engine numbers end with H or do some end with HE? No idea of the significance I'm afraid but my 1980 (1979 built) 8 valve has an engine with a number that ends in HE so it's not an 8V/16V thing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Middle7 Posted July 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 No idea of the significance I'm afraid but my 1980 (1979 built) 8 valve has an engine with a number that ends in HE so it's not an 8V/16V thing. Thanks for clearing that one up Gordon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnwood Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Thanks for clearing that one up Gordon. Another point of note also is the V5, When i owned a Genuine Sprint it stated Make-Triumph, Model-2 axle, rigid body. No reference at all to the car as a TR7, it is assumed this is because it was a prototype and not a production model. Chris is correct, all the sprints were FHC built at Speke I would love to find a 7 with a O-Series engine fitted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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