Re: Dip Stick filler Tube, other (mis)fitments

[Glenn Merrell <gmerrel@domain.elided>]

Hello Ian and All,
    Unfortunately, very early changes were not very well documented, if
at all.  The first Triumph Stag Graphics Catalog, Graphic publication
number 519579 used with the microfiche was actually produced and
published after the first off production Stags, and many small changes
made on the early production Stags were never documented at all, as some
parts were immediately superseeded.  Remember that the Stag was
assembled at two locations, Coventry and Speke, and trying to keep track
of production changes between two facilities must have been a
nightmare.   Example, my early Stag Parts Catalogue is one of the first
printed sets that have no commission numbers or engine numbers written
into the blank spaces for clarifying the commission/engine nuumber
split, and the subsequent three revisions (current revision is "D") only
made a guess in some cases as to the actual production breaks for
changeovers.  Mechanics at the US dealership where I worked very often
complained about changes on a Stag or TR6 that had no documentation, and
when ordering parts from the factory, frequently were delivered the
wrong part that had no accompanying documentation pointing out the
change.  A Technical Service Bulletin only sometimes followed, and
sometimes were just a copy of a sketch made from someone in engineering
with some notes.
    Here in the US for example, we find various superseeded parts
installed in chassis numbers that the later Parts Cataloges  indicate
were superseeded, or installed into much earlier commission numbers.  It
very much appears that if production parts got short that marginal or
superceeded quality parts were used.  The 4 bolt to 6 bolt
flywheel/crankshaft change point is a prime example, there is only a
best guess as to where the changeover occured as both types are listed
in the very first parts catalogue.  Case in point, I have a 4 bolt
crank/flywheel in my engine number LE20996-UE, whereby engine number
LE20671-UE, an earlier engine and block I have, has the updated 6 bolt
crank/flywheel.  The 6 bolt changeover was supposedly applied to all
engines in the LE10xxx engines and later, but this shows differently.
Another bit of mis-information is that the OD was a standard fitment on
USA Stags with the 4 speed.  From my experience working at a BL
dealership in Pennsylvania in the early '70's, the dealer charged the OD
as an expensive option, and OD's on 4 speed transmissions in the US are
the exception rather than the standard. BL focused on automatics in the
US market, but the straight manual also popular.  In my visit in the UK
this past May, I found that the OD was however a standard fitment on UK
4 speed transmissions after the initial Mark I and are fairly common.
    With the destruction of the old Coventry factory containing some of
the old files, tooling and parts, and the pile of Stag documentation and
drawings that still requires sorting in the BMIHT vaults, we may really
never know all these little missed details.  Those people actually
involved with the production and engineering on the Stag are aging along
with the car, and details are being missed.   This is one reason why I
am still pressing for some type of external support of suppliers and
owners toward having BMIHT begin cataloging all of the available
information, and, making the details accessable to owners and suppliers.

Regards,
Glenn  Merrell

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