Black Jacks
by John Warfield
Most of us are fairly familiar with the types of jacks issued during the four-cylinder TR production run, and to some extent, the chronology of the changes made to these jacks. In the case of the most common type of jack (Part Number 110774) introduced at TS5469, the exact sequence and timing of design changes has never been firmly nailed down, and though there is a rough understanding of the succession of these changes, even in this there are supportable opposing views. Concours judges have been wise to avoid being too particular in judging jacks, as it is also highly likely that the issue of one type might have been running simultaneously with that of another, and they function the same.
Through the years, a number of undisturbed TR jacks have been recovered that were clearly painted black when new. As these were far less common than those painted orange-red, the prevailing wisdom has always been to paint these jacks range-red when restoring them to avoid potential controversy and deductions during concours events. I’ve done it any number of times. This, however, might have been unnecessary in some cases. Having been through a concours restoration of an XK150 some years ago (an unmitigated long-term nightmare), I was well aware that some of the jacks issued with these cars had been painted black. Little was known about them except that they were manufactured by Prima Industries Limited and had a transfer that very seldom survived beyond a few traces of glue. Having seen traces of glue on undisturbed black-painted TR jacks, I was of course intrigued. Did any of our jacks have Prima labels?
A few years ago, an article appeared in the XK Club’s XK Gazette by Roger Payne, a very well-respected Jaguar tool authority. In the article, the various XK jacks were sequentially described. In the XK150 section, there it was – a photo of a black-painted jack with a vertically oriented black label with large yellow letters spelling ‘PRIMA’. This jack was apparently introduced in April 1960, although earlier red-painted Prima jacks with horizontally oriented labels (also black and yellow) had been issued to these cars since mid-1958. All of the Prima jacks lacked the stamped manufacturer’s name and patent numbers present on earlier Smiths’ and B.T.C jacks and all of them possessed the separate beveled washer at the top of the tube to support the drive head rather than the Smiths’ patented annular groove that held the drive screw’s upper race to the tube. The black-painted TR jacks that I’ve encountered through the years all shared this later configuration. There had to be a connection.
The smoking gun appeared on eBay. A black-painted NOS TR jack was offered with a complete horizontally oriented PRIMA label. I didn’t hesitate to buy it. When it arrived, the jack was confirmed as undisturbed, and was sent to a graphics outfit for the purpose of reproducing the label. This has been done, and the reproductions are excellent. One is actually used on the jack in the photo, as the original was lost after the reproductions were made. As seen in Figure 1, the jack is painted black all over, has the beveled washer supporting the drive head, and the horizontal label featuring the manufacturer’s name, ‘PRIMA’ in plain yellow letters, along with ‘GUARANTEED’ and ‘BRITISH PRODUCT’ in smaller yellow letters above and below the manufacturer’s name. There were no patent numbers.
Clearly, Prima manufactured jacks for Standard-Triumph, and the evidence suggests they were introduced during the mid to late TR3A run. What we don’t know for certain is how long these black jacks were issued with TRs. We also don’t know whether Prima jacks were issued exclusively during the period they were supplied to Standard-Triumph, or whether some of these Prima jacks might have been painted red. Undisturbed red-painted jacks TR with the beveled washers have been discovered over the years (some with cast lifting hooks), and though I’ve yet to see a Prima label on one of these jacks, the survival rate of these labels is extremely low, and some had residue that might have been traces of glue. There might also have been TR jacks with vertical transfers, but I’ve yet to encounter any evidence that there were.
Clearly, we have enough information to answer one question, but in so doing, we’ve raised others. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of the above possibilities panned out, and wouldn’t deduct for either a red or black-painted Prima jack in a late TR3A and perhaps even 4-cylinder TRs of later vintage. We simply haven’t nailed all of this down. So those of you with late TR3As, 3Bs, and 4s, with jacks of known provenance, check them out closely, and if they are black, don’t be in a rush for a Chevy Engine Red spray-bomb.
