To be able to add data as and when, the format of each item is important as most items are a mixture of numbers and letters.
Take the engines fitted to our JB vans, various versions fitted and now many vans have had updated items fitted, reconditioned items and totally non original items fitted.
Thankfully Standard JB van engines are easy to track.
BMC 'B' Series, 1947 to 1981.( First real 'B' series was in 1953.)
BP, at the front of a JB engine number denotes 'B' series, 'P'ush rod ohv.
The first car to use the 'B' series was the M.G. Magnette ZA, in 1489cc form.
Based on the earlier Austin A40 Devon 1200cc unit.
Engine codes.
Engine codes.
ie. BP15M was a 1489cc Morris Oxford.
BP15GA was the ZA Magnette of 1489cc.
BP15GC an improved ZA Magnette, with full flow oil filter.
BP15GB was the first MGA 1489cc engine,
BP 15GD followed it.
BC16GB was the MGA Twin Cam, 'B' series, 'C' camshaft.
1956 to 1970 'A', 'B', engine Prefix.
The 'BP' prefix was dropped once BMC had its three engine types, A, B, and C.
Again, there is a prefix, consisting of a number, then letter/letter/letter, then the
engine number.
Cubic capacity Make Compression
8 803cc B BMC Industrial H high comp
9 948cc G M.G. L low comp
10 1098cc A Austin
12 1200cc W Wolseley
12 1275cc H miscellaneous
15 1489cc J Commercial
16 1588cc V Van den Plas
16 1622cc M Morris
18 1798cc R Riley
ie, 15W / U / H 1234 1489cc Wolseley 15/50, central gear change, high comp.
15GE / U / H 1234 1489cc M.G. Magnette Mk3, central gearchange, high comp.
16AMW / U / H 1234 1622cc Austin, Morris Wolseley Farina, central gear, high c.
16GA / U / H 1234 1588cc MGA 1600,central gear change, high comp.
15AC / N / L 1234 1489cc Austin 15cwt van, column change, low comp. If any one out knows of an engine production list thats shows production dates, please let me know.
So the numbers I'm after for this list is engine,gearbox,front and rear axles, chassis, body and a new one, the triplex glass code as this could give an indication of when the body was made. Remember chassis and body numbers are different and the van bodies were made in another part of the factory and delivered in batches.
Triplex Glass date code.
Remember you are only dating the glass of the vehicle and it is best to check as many of the pieces of glass as you can.
First you need to have an idea what age the vehicle might be, well to the nearest 10 years at least.
You now need to look for two dots, one dot will be above the letters T,R,E, or X
(in TRIPLEX) and gives the quarter of the year the glass was manufactured.
T=Jan,Feb,March
R=April,May,June
E=July,Aug,Sept,
X=Oct,Nov,Dec.
The second dot to look out for is below one of the letters in the word TOUGHENED.
T=1, O=2 etc (if no dot the year is zero).
Therefore a July 1955 J type should have glass with a dot above the letter "E" in TRIPLEX and a dot below the letter "H" in TOUGHENED.
This is only a rough guide but might be of interest to you all.
