Found another number on my frame [BJ8]

[CLEAH]

I found this number stamped on the top right hand side of the suspension housing support (this is the perforated beam above the front crossmember) . This number (7728) does not correspond to the VIN or the body numbers on my numbers-matching car. I also have the VIN stamped in the right hand shock mount, but this one is new to me. Wondering if anyone else has seen this number? (By the way, the black thing in the top of the photo is part of my rotisserie.)

 

[bighealeysource]

Hopefully Steve Byers, BJ8 Registrar, will weigh in on this as he probably knows what it signifies.

 

[Randy Forbes]

Yes, on mine it closely matches the body number on the firewall tag; "469" on the XMBR versus "4690" stamped on the aluminum tag.

I've posted up my thoughts on this before, but they get swept under the rug. I propose that there was an initial chassis identification number (469), then a body number upon completion of "the unit." The aluminum tag on my car (BN6L 942) has the afforementioned chassis number (469/4690) and body numbers (437/0437). In both cases, the succeeding and preceeding "zeroes" added to the aluminum firewall tag, but not stamped on the panels.

The final VIN being assigned upon receiving "the unit" (partially completed & trimmed) at Abingdon. Hence the screwed up sequencing when loading the units into/out of the transporters (lowest numbers in first, but pulled out last). Given that mine was relatively early in the sequence of BN6 production, the numbers aren't all that far off (production started at VIN BN6L-501__a frequently chosen number, as it was Abingdon's office phone number__501).

 

[Deleted member 8987]

Actually, I read once on the Internet that they had a guy whose only job was to stamp random numbers on random parts, but ALWAYS the frames, just to confuse future generations.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

As far as I know, there is no way now to relate that number to either the VIN or the body number of a car so at this point the number has no significance. Some kind of cross reference would be needed, which may have existed at one time but as far as I know it has not turned up.
My guess is that it is a number that was significant only to John Thompson Motor Pressings, who built the frame and/or to Jensen Motors who took the frames and built the chassis and body. When Jensen built the chassis/body they assigned a unique number to that body which we know as the body number. It is stamped on a plain aluminum tag that is normally attached to the top center of the firewall. However, that tag also has a top line of numbers on it that (for BJ8s) always (with only one exception found so far) begins with 3XXX BJ8. This is the "batch number", and they run from 3171 to 3240 (but not continuously -- some numbers are skipped). There are 41 separate batches for BJ8s. A batch number was common to a whole series of bodies, and I believe they correspond to a purchase order from BMC to Jensen for a certain quantity of bodies. It would be Jensen's way of tracking and accounting for all of the bodies in a purchase order.
Similarly, I believe the number that CLEAH is asking about is somebody's method of tracking production of that frame.
For many years, I have been collecting batch and body numbers from BJ8s in an effort to determine exactly how many bodies were included in each batch. As of now, I have batch/body combinations for 2,240 cars so some patterns are beginning to emerge. After production became stable, it appears that a typical batch would include 500 bodies.
My BJ8 has chassis 36666 and batch/body 3223 BJ8 81544. On my car, the equivalent to CLEAH's number is 212 or 219 (the last digits are struck over each other so I don't know whether it should be 212 or 219). A Canadian friend who is also interested in these numbers believes that they were always four digits. If so, the first digit of my number has been obliterated by the weld bead.

I suspect there are quite a few members of the Forum who own BJ8s but have not allowed me to account for them in the BJ8 Registry. If they are interested in helping the BJ8 world learn more about how the cars were produced, I would appreciate the opportunity to record the applicable numbers of their cars. There is a convenient BJ8 Registry button at the top of the A-H page that will take you to a questionnaire where you can input the data.

Thanks

 

[CLEAH]

Actually, I read once on the Internet that they had a guy whose only job was to stamp random numbers on random parts, but ALWAYS the frames, just to confuse future generations.

Well, it worked!

 

[CLEAH]

Thanks, Steve, for your thorough response, as usual. If you are tracking this curious number, do add mine (my car is in your database--34305).