Thread: Series 1 identification

Originally Posted by gromit

Arthur,
My 1956 86" has the horn in this position. Looks original but who knows after all these years.
Would each State agent have assembled them slightly differently.
Mine also has a green chassis which I've been told is incorrect.

Hi Colin

If the horn is the original fitment position, the chassis wouldn't have the tapped hole in the blanking plate where the steering relay would have been fitted if it was a left hand drive and there wouldn't be any remnants of the horn wiring in that area either.

The wiring loom for the horn position near the LHS hinge has the two wires for the horn at the firewall.

.

Originally Posted by wrinklearthur

Hi Colin

If the horn is the original fitment position, the chassis wouldn't have the tapped hole in the blanking plate where the steering relay would have been fitted if it was a left hand drive and there wouldn't be any remnants of the horn wiring in that area either.

The wiring loom for the horn position near the LHS hinge has the two wires for the horn at the firewall.

.

Arthur,
Just put it away in the shed, will take a good look next weekend.
Harness is the original and the horn wires exit the harness close to where the horn is mounted. Don't remember any wiring near the LH relay position or whether it's tapped.


Colin

I found this info interesting:
The engine bays are longer on 88/109 models, have a look at the bonnet hinges, on the early ones the hinge bends straight up after the rear mounting bolts, on the extended wheelbase there is at least an inch of flat before the bend.
88/109 wings also have reinforcement pieces under the bonnet clamps and around where the rubber buffers go in the wings, if its not had a million coats of paint you may see the spot welds but running your fingers inside the arch will quickly find them if present. From there stand back and look if the wheel is central in the arch but if its got parabolics that can screw that up too.

It is quite common to see vehicles with the wrong wings and bonnet and stuff. I've even seen chassis with the wrong dumb irons as people replace them too, usually with S2 versions!

Whilst the wheelbase was changed the total body length was not hence the spring hanger under rather than behind the bumper, also if you look at the front wing the wheel arch is right at the front of an 88/109 where as its slightly further back on an 86/107 so the front edge is noticeably thicker. I think the bonnet and wings got extended an inch and the arch moved forward an inch to make the 2 inch axle movement.

When identifying axles (assuming the body is on) be careful to note what wheels and tyres are on. If its a semi floating axle you can be sure its an S1. Proper fully floating S1 axles aren't that common but you usually find them on LWB models. 90% of them are quite easy to spot now though as they'll have been fitted with S2 halfshafts and will have a spacer behind the drive flange making them look quite odd, if you chop it about a bit though you can fit an S2 shaft without doing this, I've done it on mine (I have FF on one side and SF on the other!) Even on 235/85R16 tyres and LWB rims the proper S1 axle puts the wheels nicely inside the arches, even on 6.5 in rims with a low offset it shouldn't be sticking out the arches much if at all. S2 axles will have the tyres right under the edge of the arches and anything wider than a 5.5F ET 33 (standard LWB rim) will be pushing you into the realm of needing extended arches. A really skinny tyre could hide this a little, your talking 1.5 in increased track so each wheel is 0.75 in further out.

88/109 models should have a square looking steering box with a flat end plate (recirculating ball), horn push on a stalk, dipswitch on the floor and a flat wheel cap (spoked steering wheel, if its a later wheel its had a later box). Worm and nut steering boxes look more curved and have a funny clamp poking out the end which holds the steering boss on a really long tube down the middle of the wheel - the boss itself is worth a fortune if not broken, doesn't turn with the steering and has a horn and dipswitch on it.

88/109 (late 56 MY onward) chassis numbers will always start with a 1, the 2nd digit is the chassis type and the 4th digit will be the model year,
Pre 56MY (86/107) the 1st digit is the model year, the 3rd is the chassis type,
56 model 86/107's the 4th digit is the model year (always a 6) and I think the first digit is the chassis type.
Chassis type is 1=86, 2=107PU, 3=107SW.
1956 model 88/109s are quite rare as they only made them for a month or so right at the end of the model year though they have no unusual features.

• Aeroplanes have wings
• Boats have fenders
• Aussie cars have mudguards!

I think that you will find that the wheel arch moved the full 2" forward on the 88/109. Just look at the position of the bolt for the rear support bracket

86/107 position.


88/109 position.


The reason that it looks to be only an 1" is because a lot of the 109" are now fitted with 7.50 16 when they were originally designed to have 6.00 16 to 6.50 16 with a maximum of 7.00 16 tyres.

But you are quite correct about the: bonnet; front spring hangers; and bumpers.

The mudguard on a 88/109 got extended by 1" at the back, and so did the bonnet, but the front axle was moved forward by 2". .W.

Originally Posted by B.S.F.Nut

The mudguard on a 88/109 got extended by 1" at the back, and so did the bonnet, but the front axle was moved forward by 2". .W.

So what you're saying is that the stay for the rear of the wheel arch was shortened by 1" in the 88/109 so that it is aprox 2 1/2" rearward of the bottom corner of the wheelarch, instead of about 1/2"?

Every one is right to a point, the 88" mudguard has 1" of length added to the rear of it and the wheel arch is further forward by a 1", a total of 2" overall.

The bonnet is longer by 1", with longer hinges, the 1" of extra material being between the last row of rivets and it's back edge. That places the front of the radiator support panel 1" further away from the engine.

A nice addition to the door latch on a 88" is the pressed steel plate cover to stop your clothes getting greasy.
.

Perhaps this helps.The bottom one is a S1 88/109, the top one is a S1 86/107. .W.