Were all of the Cape hatteras Limited editions (Molds 1&2)produced with lightning rods? I have two books that state all Hatteras limited editions were produced with rods but thought I would ask here on the forums for additional info.

I'm pretty sure all HL102 and HL102R have lightning rods. My HL102R has one and the Greenbook Guide for Harbour Lights (1998-1999) states they all had lightning rods.

There always a chance that a lightning rod could break off or fall out I guess, but I think they all originally had rods.

Bob

Everything that I have ever heard and seen is that all #102's have a rod. A good question would be is this the only HL that all produced have a rod.

For what it is worth, one of the Rutherford books I have says that most, but not all of 102R had rods.

There is a secret page that provides some insight into which countries and pieces had rods:

http://www.harbourlights.com/modifications/pages/countries_rods.htm

This indicates that all the Coquilles also had rods.

BTW, I found a dealer who had some of Jim Rutherford's books on the shelf. I think the last year that was produced was 1998 or 1999. If you want to pick one up as part of the Harbour Lights history and mystique, email me and I'll tell you which dealer it is.

Bryan I am glad you brought that up. I knew that I read somewhere that not all Cape Hatteras had a rod, but couldn’t remember where. Rutherford is the only source that states that. All other sources support that all Cape Hatteras has a rod.
A survey was held in the past on this forum with the collectors. All the Collectors that participated had lighting rods on their Cape Hatteras.

But there has been two Cape Hatteras this year on ebay without rods. Both were in the high production number. 5,000 something. I did check with the seller on one of them and found out that his had a hole that was painted over. He is Original owner and said that the dealer had one still in the box unopened. Either the rod broke or fell out and the dealer painted over it. Or it came that way from the factory.

Thanks for your replies.

On the subject of the Jim Rutherford books the 5th edition from 1999 ( I think the last one he did) states that all Cape hatteras had lighting rods. This statement can be found on page 50 column 2 second paragraph. I do not have any other editions of the rutherford books but there appears to be a contradiction.

John thanks for the link.

According to the seller of the Cape Hatteras #5333 that was just sold on this Forum, it had no rod and no hole.
The 1997 Rutherford book states that most Cape Hatteras had Rods.

For whatever its worth, my CH102 has it!

Again, for what's it's worth, my Hatteras Flag #3910 is Malaysian & DOES have a rod.