Late Indicator Lights / Early car

[JPSPRINT]

Evening folks. I found out from British Motor Museum my car was born in November '75. Yet I have late indicators, could it have left the factory this way. There's no indication of accident damage etc.

A mate's dad said his family's Triumph (when new) went through x3 Lucas 75 lamp in 2 years... wonder if that explains a General Electric headlamp (replacement?) on mine !

[sprint95m]

This is an Australian specification Sprint?

The Sprints sold in Australia differed in a number of ways from the UK models, so the early and late references
don't really apply in the same way.
All of them were Mimosa yellow (early colour) and the ones I have seen had the early style front indicator units.

It is simple to replace they units so after 40 odd years some changes are quite possible.
Have a look at page four here on Stu's thread
https://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/vie ... nt#p243429
his Sprint definitely has early spec. indicators but the red 1850 (spares car) has what looks like late ones.
Stu's first restoration thread is a brilliant read. He used to be a regular contributor here but has since left, sadly.
https://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/vie ... =pic+heavy
Unfortunately the photos have gone.



Ian.

[JPSPRINT]

Thanks for the great info Ian and links Ian, I look forward to reading it..

Mine's definitely Australian delivered, BMIHT certificate says 'Destination Australia' plus has the compliance plate which new cars get here (dated 4/76).

Factory fitted equipment listed: "Overdrive, Laminated windscreen, Headrests, Dip left lights, 175 tyres". I know other Australian Sprints (and I think NZ?) had Overdrive as standard, unsure about the dip light.

I would gladly have swapped that and the headrest for a Limited Slip Diff though

[Carledo]

It's hard to be definitive without a VA number as 75 is the year the series 1 cars (up to VA 15000, though effectively only a little under 11,000 were built) gave way to the short lived series 2 model (VA 15001- circa 18000.) I THINK the later sidelights are a 76> series 3 upgrade which would mean they are incorrect for your Nov 75 built car, but who knows what they did for the Aussie market? And series 2 cars are a law unto themselves, with a mix and match bag of early and later features that sometimes varied from car to car. Sanity and standardisation returned with the series 3 (VA 20,001>) upgrade of 76 which, amongst other detail differences, brought O/D, tinted glass and Headrests into standard equipment.

L/H dip headlights is no more than distinguishing Oz as a RHD market, most (effectively all) other Sprint export markets were LHD!

Hope this helps, Steve

[JPSPRINT]

Mine's in the early VA17100s (and so was a previously owned one in our family, still have the rego papers there!)

Would the early lens fit on this bracket ? It seems early in all other aspects (chrome mirrors etc),'longhorn' headlining, felt /suede bit on the rear and centre etc (compared details with that great 'spotting an early one' thread) https://forum.triumphdolomite.co.uk/vie ... hp?t=21814

Weirdly mine had blackened wipers (paint was flaking off, maybe painted?) of later cars but the box of parts received had silver Can accept an owner doing it but I'm amazing BL / Triumph could have simply mixed parts.. informative and colourful post mate, much appreciated Carledo..

[soe8m]

Unfortunately you can't just change lenses as these are completely different units. I can't see it that clear in your pics but it seems you have also the later type of frontbumper/overriders.

Jeroen

[Carledo]

VA 171xx would make it a series 2 as I suspected. Which means the later under-riders are probably correct and the car won't have the holes in the front valance for the under-rider support brackets. May or may not have the rocker hazard switch, I believe the headrests were an option on UK series 2s, as was overdrive and tinted Sundym glass. These features didn't transfer to the standard equipment list till the series 3 upgrade of 76.

Crucially though, and to answer your original question as best I can, I don't think the later spec side/indicator lamps are correct for your car. It's easy enough to swap back, the holes in the car and screw spacing is identical, but you do need to swap out the entire lamp as Jeroen says. I'm not sure whether there is a wiring plug mismatch or not, the early lights on series 1 cars had "bullet" connectors and the later light on series 3 car had a 3 pin Rists plug. You'd have to check the connections yourself, to see what has been done (if anything) to get over this. When I was going to fit the early lights to my late loomed car I swapped the Rists plugs onto them. I've not seen another set of early lights so fitted, but i've not had much to do with the relatively rare series 2 cars. They MAY have made an interim Rists plugged early lamp and i've just not seen one!

Oh, one last thing, blacked wiper arms and blades, NO, in fact, HELL NO! I did think for a moment that the very last Series 4 vin numbered cars MIGHT have them (they did have black mirrors) but no, I checked Murdo's resto thread and his fanatically correct, low mile, VERY late car has chrome wipers, that's good enough for me! Here in the UK, it has become very difficult to get chrome blades for any sensible price (or at all) so people who use their cars a lot have got into the habit of using the readily available black finished ones. To avoid the glaring mismatch of black blades on chrome arms, some have taken a rattle can of satin black to the arms! But it's not factory, just owner convenience. And it doesn't stick well to the shiny arms, as you have discovered!

Steve

[soe8m]

Never seen bullet connectors on a Sprint, only very early 1850's. I have a Sprint just over VA2000 and these have different rubber connectors for the dash and column switches but no bullets. There are two types of plastic connectors. The lucas ristst type and very late Dolomites had a different type.

Jeroen

[Carledo]

Never seen bullet connectors on a Sprint, only very early 1850's. I have a Sprint just over VA2000 and these have different rubber connectors for the dash and column switches but no bullets. There are two types of plastic connectors. The lucas ristst type and very late Dolomites had a different type.

Jeroen

All the early type sidelight/indicators I have, have bullet connectors on them, though most came from Toledos I think, which may make a difference. Must check the series 1 Sprint in the garden tomorrow. I know that one (VA 10xxx) has Rists on the column cos i've changed the indicator switch.

Steve

[gmsclassics]

The Mimosa Sprint I own in NZ originated from Australia and shows all the tell tale signs of being sold there new - it has the Australian compliance plate on the nearside inner wing and the chassis number stamped on top of the nearside suspension turret. In addition it had the fuel overflow/return system fitted, which I gather was a compliance requirement at that time.

Chassis number is a few months later VA 17814 so early 76, but within the same series as JPSPRINT's.

It was and is Mimosa, has the same later front indicator/sidelight units along with the same bumper overriders as shown in the photos in this thread. It had (worn out and badly recovered) seats with headrests. Original BL chassis plate ends in DLO so originally was a manual plus overdrive. Wiper assemblies are usual chrome ones.

I was once told that it originated in NSW but I know no more details, not even rego plate until it came to NZ and was first registered 26 Feb 1996. I understand it was only used on the road for a couple of years in Auckland and then not used until I bought it as a ‘rolling shell’ in 2010.

I would be interested in finding out more about its history in Australia if anyone has any ideas how that can be done.

Geoff

[JPSPRINT]

Geoff, in NSW a history will be hard without a rego plate. There are sites that will take your money for a VIN search and give you an empty report (ask me how I know!)

Whereas other sites like REVS are mainly for searching stolen / written off vehicles, loan checks against the car etc. Most states are similar in this regard. Some sites won't even let you search (eg NRMA) for pre 1989 at all as current VINs use a 17 digit number..sorry the news isn't more positive..

PS round hazard and a different 'Smiths' heater decal on mine..

[Carledo]

A little more info i've garnered, courtesy of Ronald's (TahitiSPRINT) research, I can't take the credit.

Series 2 cars like yours were built from comm number VA 15001 in May of 75 to the last series 2 car VA18278 which rolled off the line in Feb/March of 76. Which would make your November 75 build date spot on.

As I said earlier, the series 2 was a bit of an interim update with a short run and a bit of a mishmash of bits.

Besdides the hazard light switch, another known variable on series 2 cars is the speedo trip recorder, series 1 cars had remote cable actuation and series 3 had a button in the bottom of the instrument face. This change also seems to have taken place outside the parameters of the series definitions, during the series 2 period. All these cars had a 140mph speedo marked in 10mph increments. series 4 cars still went to 140 but in 20mph increments with alternating 10s just having a line and the last number being 130.

Still nothing definitive on your original question, but the balance of probability seems to suggest that the early lights are correct!

Steve

PS, if you can't find any better ones, I now have a pair of early lights available. the lenses aren't perfect but usable, the bulbholders and frames are good and critically the rubber backing boots are in good order. They have been converted by me to use the Rists 3 pin plugs, so there are joins in some of the wires. I was going to use them on my series 3 modified car, but have changed my mind since Ian's recent post on doing it the other way round! I'm willing to ship to Oz, i'll take some pics and post them when I get a minute!

[JPSPRINT]

Steve, I've been away and have just seen this, I'd love those indicators ! Thanks a ton mate ! You have PM..

[triumphtoledo]

Sorry to butt in on the indicator front but I suspect that the later indicators are correct for your car. I have a November '75 build Toledo and it has the late indicators.

R