BJ8 Body Parts Code

[BJ8Healeys]

Hello, Healeyphiles --

I am trying to respond to a request from a BJ8 owner and I need some data to do it. I am asking all BJ8s owners to tell me the "body parts code" for their car. This is the number stamped on the fixed part of the bonnet latch in front of the radiator, the driver's side (LHD) bonnet hinge, and the bracket attaching the prop rod to the boot lid. In order to verify the possibility of correlation to the chassis number, I also will need your car's chassis number. Examples of the body parts code are attached.


Until recently, I was not recording body parts codes in the registry so I do not have a lot of data. However, the data I do have shows that there is a pattern to the numbers and it might be possible to relate a given code to an unknown chassis number and vice versa. The person who requested this information is restoring chassis 41212 and has a new bonnet latch, bonnet hinges, and boot lid. He wants to determine the original body parts code so he can stamp them into the appropriate parts.

You can send the information to sbyers@ec.rr.com

I will report the results of this study. Thanks for your help.

 

[Randy Forbes]

Far be it for me to approve/disapprove, but the re-stamping of body parts can be interpreted as a deception.

I have a lot of respect for you and your dedication to the Marque Steve, so please help me to understand why this would be a good thing, and your willingness to accomplish it.

Conversely, you can tell me to mind my own business!

 

[BN6]

Until recently, I was not recording body parts codes in the registry so I do not have a lot of data. However, the data I do have shows that there is a pattern to the numbers and it might be possible to relate a given code to an unknown chassis number and vice versa. The person who requested this information is restoring chassis 41212 and has a new bonnet latch, bonnet hinges, and boot lid. He wants to determine the original body parts code so he can stamp them into the appropriate parts.

Got to agree with Randy, so what you end up with is in future is someone trying to sell a matching numbers car for a fortune, when in fact it will be a clone.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

Far be it for me to approve/disapprove, but the re-stamping of body parts can be interpreted as a deception.

I have a lot of respect for you and your dedication to the Marque Steve, so please help me to understand why this would be a good thing, and your willingness to accomplish it.

Conversely, you can tell me to mind my own business!

[FONT=&quot]Well, Randy, it is not my practice to use the BJ8 Registry data to help someone counterfeit a car. In this case, the body parts code numbers are not and cannot be used to identify a car. They are not recorded in the build data at BMIHT and there is no cross-reference to relate them to a chassis number. They are not included when people claim "matching numbers". M[/FONT]ost people don't even know they are there or what they are for. Current wisdom says that they were stamped on the parts to ensure that the parts stay on the car they were installed on during production assembly because they were fitted to it. Once that function was done, the numbers had served their purpose. Your radiator has a number on it, too. If you change your radiator, is the car no longer "matching numbers"?

[FONT=&quot]The owner I'm trying to help has owned the car since 1974, when he retrieved it from a salvage yard after an accident. The bonnet, latch, hinges and boot lid were missing and have been replaced during the restoration. He would like to determine what those numbers were and stamp them, not to deceive anyone but because the numbers are missing and should be there. I saw this car with my own eyes on Monday, and I can verify that it has the original VIN and body plates and the correct number stamped on the shock tower. The original engine is still with the car. Since there is no cross-reference available to relate the body parts code numbers to the original VIN or body, no one could tell if they were correct or not anyway. If the owner wanted to deceive someone with these numbers he could stamp the parts with whatever number he wants and no one would ever be the wiser. He just wants the numbers to be the same as when his car was new.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]
I have refused to provide the correct "batch" number for a new body plate to a well-known restorer because he would not provide photos to prove the car he was restoring was actually the car he claimed it to be. I have also declined to provide the engine serial number to someone who wanted to stamp a new plate and I try to discourage owners from doing that, since once the original plate is gone there is no way to verify the original identity of an engine. I see an incredible number of BJ8s that have had their body and VIN plates recreated to make a car appear to be one thing when it is actually another and I do not support or participate in that. I consider re-stamping new body parts code items as something entirely different.[/FONT]

 

[Randy Forbes]

I expected your reason(s) to be pure, and I didn't mean to come off as being critical, just curious. I apologize if it came off otherwise.

We collectively (myself, Jim, aka healeyblue & LS) agree, thus it was very important to remove and retain the original engine # tag when I had Clarke (sp?) redo one for us.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

I expected your reason(s) to be pure, and I didn't mean to come off as being critical, just curious. I apologize if it came off otherwise.

We collectively (myself, Jim, aka healeyblue & LS) agree, thus it was very important to remove and retain the original engine # tag when I had Clarke (sp?) redo one for us.UNQUOTE]

No offense taken by any questions about the ethics of reproducing the body parts code. I expected that someone would raise the issue. I also have no problem with reproduction of an original identity tag as long as there is a legitimate reason to do so. I had Clarke make me a new VIN plate for my BJ8 because the old one was rather tired, with one torn-out screw hole. I retained the original and mounted the repro on my car. Todd Clarke does a better job than anybody in making a new plate, and you have to look very closely to see any difference to original. Fortunately for me, most people who reproduce a plate don't make too much effort to make it look original, and those are easy to spot, being one clue that a car is not what it claims to be.

I have facilitated reproduction of several BJ8 VIN and body number plates via Clarke, especially for non-USA owners, after they have satisfied me of the correct identity of their cars.

So far, I have received quite a few responses to my request for the body parts code; but it seems that most of those come from BJ8 owners on the healeys e-mail list who do not use pseudonyms. My impression is that there are a lot of owners using the BCF who have not responded. If that's true, I hope that some of them will let me know why they wouldn't want to contribute to some original research to help us learn more about how the cars were built. Thanks!