1975 Steel ?

[Mrs hoskins]

Sorry nothing deeply technical about this one but did BL change their steel supplier in 74/75 ?

[HersnotHis]

Sorry nothing deeply technical about this one but did BL change their steel supplier in 74/75 ?

In this era not entirely sure about this but as I remember all steel strip for cars and white goods came from Port Talbot. Strip for other purposes originated in Ravenscraig.

As various Japanese/German and latterly Indian and Chinese manufacturers mopped up the British car industry Port Talbot always stepped up to their quality specifications to match ever increasing demands.

Personally before retirement with some 35 + years as a supplier to this industry I cannot see why the same problem is not aflicting German or other continental steelworks.

H

[flying farmer]

I seem to remember in the dim and distant past, reading that BL swapped to Spanish steel around 1975 as a result of industrial action at British Steel.

IIRC this was a few thou thinner as it was the nearest metric thickness, and the quality was apparently not as good as it was more prone to rust.

Whether or not this is true, I am certain that the Dolomite range of cars were appreciably worse for rust after i974, the 76 and 77 models being particularly bad and my 1972 Toledo deteriorated at a much slower rate in the early 80s, certainly until I rolled it in 1984!

What may well be hugely significant though is that the early shells must have been dipped in red primer as it was inside the chassis legs when I cut the front off the 72 Toledo to remove the V8 it was fitted with. I replaced it with a cheap 1980 Dolomite 1850, and the chassis legs were rusting through. No primer inside these, but I have no idea when they stopped dipping the shells.
Maybe something similar happened with other Triumph models.

Neil

[mjheathcote]

I also recall documentation in publications stating a change in steel supplier post 74/75 and the quality was not as good, more susceptible to rust.

[mole42]

When I was playing with the big Triumph saloons back in the 1980's we always used to prefer the pre-'73 cars because they were built of better steel. The Spanish steel was made to a different recipe and wasn't as resistant to rust as the earlier British steel.

Richard

[dasadrew]

..... I cannot see why the same problem is not aflicting German ..... steelworks.

H

It does, it is and it will. The BRIC countries are more or less unstoppable. Steelmaking in Germany will surely decline steeply over the next 20 years and end up being niche production of specialist steels. Germany's strategy is to become largely independent of as many imports as possible to still be able to pay for the imports which you need (e.g. steel), hence enormous drives for independence from imported energy. If the added value of the goods you export which are made from imported raw materials exceeds the cost of the imports you still have a positive trade balance. The next step is the TTIP between EU and USA to increase the market for export of "value-added" products.

[Pete]

I can't remember where I read it, but I thought the change came around the time of the introduction of the Mk 2 so that would be end of 1972 beginning of 1973?

[Bob Heritage]

Wonder what the truth is, I was told by a worker in the Triumph factory that the steel was imported from Russia and the rusty sheets of steel were collected from a hanger at Liverpool Airport as required. This was around 76-77

[stagmuffin]

Russia was a major player in the steel sector during the seventies and early eighties at the height of the red robbo era , i also was told this many years back by a driver for a support company of BL . the Italians even used rusky steel lancia and fiat were supposed to have imported cheap Russian steel for some time remember the lancias of the day you could see through them at 12mths old lol

[Motorsport Micky]

The Seventies and eighties also saw the early developments of phosphating and electro magnetic paint processes which were blithely practiced upon the Public.
Whereas now it's decidedly unusual to see a car with a rotten panel upon them the replacement of "old fashioned" primed Steel panels ( when that was done, quite a few Triumph models of earlier years were only painted where you could see from the pavement !) with phosphated panels which they hadn't quite gote the hang of doing correctly in the seventies meant you could "hear" some cars rusting as they sat at traffic lights !

Micky

[dasadrew]

My brother owned an Austin Maxi when they were new and, after a few years, rust started bubbling through on the doors. As the guarantee had run out he decided to sand them down himself and repaint them. When the paint and primer was removed, he found that the doors were completely and uniformly rusted over their entire surface. Presumably they'd been outside in the rain during a strike and thereafter were primed and painted over the surface rust!

[jakesmig]

Russia was a major player in the steel sector during the seventies and early eighties at the height of the red robbo era , i also was told this many years back by a driver for a support company of BL . the Italians even used rusky steel lancia and fiat were supposed to have imported cheap Russian steel for some time remember the lancias of the day you could see through them at 12mths old lol

I seem to recall the Italians built a steel mill for the Russians and some of the quid pro quo was, as you say, cheap steel in return