Cantilever Update

[Limey]

Just got back from examining the Cantilever HA in an attempt to discover if the lack of the tonneau panel (the crossmember behind the rear seat) is Harrintons work or a later effort. I found evidence that proves that it is Harrington's work. Being a newby HA owner i have only been able to do cursory research but have only seen harringtons with a crossmember. Please tell me if this is not a regular thing. I offer these observations in the hope that the Jodas can guide this young Jedi ;-)

1)The back seat is a hinged 3 piece construction that folds out to effectively extend the trunk floor. On examination my restorer said unequivocably that it was the work of profesional fabricators.


2) The 2 piece panel trim on removal had 'RED' in faded crayon on the back of each piece indicating the vinyl that should be used. No one-off owner mod would have this, only a production line would, and significantly, all pieces had this, meaning that they were made at the same time. The resto company's interior bloke confirmed that such a large side panel in compressed fibre would have been done in two pieces not one hence the join.

3) Lastly the capping trim that runs the entire length bridging the 2 piece side trim is of one piece fibre glass and very nicely made (see pics 3 & 5.) confirming this of Harrington manufacture
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I am chuffed BUT! I cannot do this resto without your feed back and advice. If anything said here needs discussion or correction please do not hesitate! These are my observations but peer review is essential and welcome. I have no archival resources other than the pics on the usual sites. the only real accesable knowledge is yours.

Many thanks in advance for any and all comments.

Oliver

 

[jumpinjan]

That looks just like a Lemans interior.
Jan

 

[65beam]

cantilever

you're right about the interior being very close to the lemans interior. neither of my cars had a separate cap on the side panels. what type of cover is over the spare tire? is it the original steel or a piece of plywood or fiber board cut to fill the area back to the trunk lid? are those courtesy lights on each side at the B post? they appear to be the same as the roof light on the lemans. show some more photos of the trunk (boot) area. did they use the original door windows or did the change the contour? photos!!!!!

 

[napa 1]

Similar to a Le Mans interior... LeMans side panels do not have a joint, regular Harrington interiors do. Le Mans do not have the lights on these side panels, Harringtons do. Looks to be complete and unaltered Harrington factory work from what I can see.

 

[Harrington Jan]

Olivers car is a very late HA, the last in the registry of true HA. It started its life as an Alpine Aug 25th -61 then converted to a HA and registered Oct 27th -61.
At this time both HA and HLM were produced. HLM in a production line and HA by private orders. I see the mix of interiors not so special since the cars were manufactured side by side. At the same time more than 12 HLM's had been produced.
The red car on the front page of the H-site carries the VIN just after Olivers car.
BTW, cantilever boot hinges are found on cars before the HLM were introduced.

 

[Limey]

Hi All,

Pardon my ignorance but am I right in thinking that only the Le Manns did not have a cross bar as per this pic of someone elses LM

View attachment 2799

Therefore is it resonable to state that my HA is a cross-over in that Harrington removed its cross bar as per LMs and fitted a LM folding seat?

Do all HA's have folding seats or just me? Did Early HAs just have small cushions or one long cushion? Mine has 2 small cushions attached to the remains of carpet
View attachment 2800

The windows are different shape to answer 65Beam. and the rear trunk has a door as per other HAs (this is someone elses HA)
View attachment 2801

It appears all complete except for
1) The courtesy light behind the seat Any sources for the courtesy light out there?

2) The Harrington Script (I have only half of it).I can have these made by the truck load using a water cutter but I just need an original. Could anybody lend me one. I am happy to leave a big deposit as they are so rare.

3) The quarter lights glasses and hinges and 1 'over centre closure'. The glass is easy to make, I just need a template. The hinges, I guess are the same as period cars so easy enough I hope. But I only have one over centre closure. Anybody know a source for these? Special HA or a standard period bit?

Many thanks!

Oliver

 

[65beam]

update

was this car originally painted moonstone?

 

[Harrington Jan]

Oliver,
Harrington Alpine series 'C' and 'D' have almost the same construction as HLM. As mentioned earlier your car was made during the production of the HLM model so therefore your car has some of the HLM interior features. Just yours has folding seats (at present). A “normal” HA had no cushions at all just a soft carpet. HLM’s have also two small cushions.
The boot lid of your car is not like the one on the pic. Yours is constructed as a cantilevered boot lid. The courtesy light like that can be found on other UK-made cars.
I will send you more pics and explanations in an Email and also answer your questions #3 and 4.
Yes the car has paint code 19 which is also mentioned in the registry at the H-site.

 

[napa 1]

Always great to hear from Jan, our Harrington historian. So Limey it looks like your Harrington is complete and original and the good news is it shares many features of the Le Mans interior. I think a while back we discovered that those interior lights were found to be the same ones that are used in other rootes cars such as Singer, and I believe they are available on line somewhere...just can't recall exactly where...but I'll let you know if it comes to mind. Keep the questions and pictures coming.

John.

 

[bernd_st]

very interesting and at least for me the first ever evidence that there was a kind of "crossover" model between HA & HLM. From useability point of view also better since the folding seat offers more luggage space than the rather tiny normal HA boot. The interior lights are offered from time to time as already mentioned . Would be really interested to see more pictures from the cantilever construction...

 

[Limey]

Thanks John, that is encouraging. I was dreading that they where Unobtanium.

I'd be very gratefull if you remember the online source. Was it UK; USA or Europe?

Ta!

Oliver

 

[Limey]

Would be really interested to see more pictures from the cantilever construction...

I take some next time I go to the bodyshop. Be a pleasure.

Oliver

 

[Limey]

Hi All,

It appears all complete except for
3) The quarter lights glasses and hinges and 1 'over centre closure'. Oliver

To update my missing quarter lights request, Harrington Jan tipped me off about a restored pair on eBay. Many thanks Jan!

I bought them and on speaking to the vender he turned out to be a previous owner of the car I bought and that these are the original quarterlights from it!! He took them off and sold it without them. So now glass and car are reunited!! Happily, he is a vintage car and Bently enthusiast and had them restored by a Bentley specialist and they are spot on perfect
View attachment 2816



It's a small world (but I wouldn't want to paint it)

Laters

Oliver

 

[65beam]

cantilever

what was their reason for doing the trunk lid this way?? was there a problem with the hinges on earlier cars or possibly keeping the lid open?

 

[Harrington Jan]

Bob
As you know, in the Harrington world are plenty of blank spots and we can never fill them in. The main reason is that there are no documents left after a fire at an ex-employees house which occurred soon after the factory was closed. Some of what is written in the H-site are words from old employees I have communicated with. Most of them are between 70-85 and their memory is maybe not so good anymore, but some words are facts not written anywhere else.
I double checked my registry and found that I was mistaken by the numbers of cars with cantilevered boot lids. One had a normal lid and another was scrapped years ago, so Olivers car is the only living cantilevered boot lid car. I also noted that the scrapped car wasn’t registered until Dec -61, but left Rootes as an Alpine in March -61. So Olivers car and the scrapped one were at Harrington at the same time which also means that this kind of boot lid only existed on very late conversions. Until we know better.
Why this kind of boot lid? A normal boot lid of a HA has only one “stay up” at the right which is maybe the reason they were trying to find a steadier lid when it was open??
Merry Christmas

 

[AlpineIan]

From my experience from owing a Harrington Alpine I can point out some of the problems with the early boot lid design that may have cause them to look for a new design such as the cantelever.

1.) The curve of the short boot lid was more drastic which created the need for the hinges to be altered. It appeares as if they reshaped the hinge by bending it.

2.) The approach angle of the striker to the latch assembly changes drastically when you shorten the boot lid. This causes slight body modification to the lower rain channel and major alteration of the latch assembly. I'm sure the latch alteration was done by hand.

3.) The shape of the boot lid also causes stress on the hinges as you open the boot lid fully upward.

4.) They had to custom make a prop to hold it in the upward position.

In my opinion, the early design was pretty crude and I think the canteliver design only proves that the Harrington people were unhappy with the quality of the previous version.

 

[barringtonderby]

Oliver

Where are you based?

Andrew

 

[atallamcs]

Harrington Script

Hey There,

Did you ever get the Harrington Script I mailed you?

Bill

 

[Limey]

Hi Bill,

Yes I did. I sent an email. Many thanks to you! If I can repay in any way just let me know

All the best

Oliver

 

[atallamcs]

Harrington

Glad you got it, worried about our mail system. No repayment necessary, well maybe a few progress pictures for everyone's benefit.
Bill