Meet Patches, the 1965 Austin Healey 3000

In reply to MyMiatas :

Thank you for  following along.  For the most part, I do not follow the factory stich weld method for welding panels.  I actually think that where they did not use spot welds was because it was inconvenient.  Under the same premise, I use a LOT of seam sealer to seal the new panels both on top and under the car. Due to the sheer number of panels used to assemble one of these cars, I am over 20 tubes of seam sealer and counting. At $20 each!!! 

Today was a mile- marker day. I have been working front-to-back and today was the last day in the passenger compartment.  The tub is looking pretty solid with doors that open and close on the latches. Not a single piece of the structural tin remains from what arrived.

From here I move to the trunk area.

In reply to NOHOME :

What an accomplishment! Congratulations!!!

I have pictures of what was done to my Healey (58 BN4) in the early 80's when there were "no parts".

It wasn't too bad really, but enough where I'd like to tear it down and bring it back like this. 

At least I won't have many surprises.... :)

In reply to a_florida_man :

I have sworn to never do another one.

It was a long day, but the goal was to get the junk in the trunk welded in place and off the list of stuff to do.

Until you do one of these cars, it is hard to believe how bad both the original and aftermarket build quality is; it is like nailing Jello to a tree. Not a single panel could even remotely be used as delivered and the cost in hours to modify often exceeded the cost of the actual panel. 

Meet Patches the dog.

In reply to AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) :

Is he called that because of all the brown patches he has made in your grass? 

In reply to NOHOME :

He had that name long before we lived here.  The grass has grown in much better now.  That photo was from April when we closed on the house.  

This certainly qualifies as a ground up restoration in my book.

I found two of these one is in a garage and the other is sitting buried in the dirt. Both are owned by the same man. Now I know why he is hanging on to them.  Maybe I'm glad he said no to selling the one sitting in the dirt.

In reply to MyMiatas :

I will echo what was said earlier in the thread:These cars are not for the unexperienced restorer unless you really like learning to swim in the shark-infested deep end. 

With the bulk of the tub repairs done, and in preparation for the tub to go to paint, todays task was to pull off the front suspension/steering. 

My God there are a lot of parts for what is now done with a rack and pinion. I swear healey engineers were paid by the part drawing with bonuses for high component count.

NONE of the parts in the linkage were deemed reusable. The added stack-up play had to be near 1/2". Throw in feedback from wonky wire wheels and kingpin wear, and it is a miracle that Healeys do not use the steering wheel like a trebuchet to launch the driver out of the car.

OK, so after clearing all of the stuff from the picture above. I managed to get the rest of the supension parts off the tub.

Since spring compressors are not a thing with Brit cars, the main concern was to not end up looking like this when the spring let loose:

The good news is that my carefully contrived plan to release spring load worked and I eventually had this huge mess in front of the car:

For those keeping count, I stopped counting after 240 distinct parts to the front suspension/steering linkage. This thing is nuts.

In reply to NOHOME :

I love that phrase" nailing Jello to a tree". 

One of the last few task before the tub goes out for paint was to create a brace structure for the scuttle. It seems that Healey have a tendency to shake like a Harley at idle, difference being that the Healey shake comes on at around 50 to 60 mph and can be quite severe.

Not entirely sold that this is a cure, but it might move the magic harmonic to above 65 mph where nobody ever goes with these cars anyways,

In situ minus a bit of welding

It is done.  74 spot weld yoga positions, a lot of awkward grinding and some seam seal and I don't have to go back in the hole any more. Working in this space was marginally better than working under the hole in the outhouse, but not by much. I should have charged $1 for every time I had to crawl in and out of the engine bay.

Also got some work done on the Hot Rod. Felt good to get back on that for a change. If the plan works out, the Healey goes  away to get the tub painted and while it is gone I have some room to paint more bits of the Hot Rod. Going to have to focus in the project if it is to leave "Red and Running" before the snow flies.

This morning's driveway population fell under the heading of "Eclectic" and hence worth a picture. The Healey chassis is out for a coat of black paint and then it will return for mechanical assembly. Be interesting to see how long to turn around at the paint shop.

And it is back!

I was expecting black but it came back in gray. Go figure.

I now have two cars that in in post paint assembly mode. No significant metal fabrication in sight. In theory that will make for a cleaner shop. Maybe.

Starting at the back and working my way forward.

The good thing about this build is that it is being done in parallel. The front and rear and gearbox were sent out to be restored by one supplier, the engine by another and I am doing the chassis tin and component assembly. This should save a lot of calendar days over one person doing all of the task. 

The first chunk to go back on the chassis was the rear end. As with all things, Healey has to turn the simplest of task into an ordeal and this took most of five hours to get the 4 U bolts installed. Cause Healey.

What a great driveway shot. I know its the wrong thread, but man the Molvo is slick.

Shavarsh said:

What a great driveway shot. I know its the wrong thread, but man the Molvo is slick.

Thank you. 

The front suspension is starting to go on the car.  Note that I take no credit for the refurbishment of the front or rear suspension components. The work is being done by a friend who just won top honors for the retstoration work he did on his own Healey and his work is impeccable.

Regardless, the front suspension is on after some cussing and learning.

Had this been a Japanese car, this is what the above pic would have looked like:

Anyone here familiar with this brand?

Clutch line, heat shields and the rest of the front suspension/steering bits are all in place.

Austin Healey BN4 - BT7 original factory hardtop 
Including: toggle clamps, securing plates, hooks and wing nuts
In good condition

Call or text (706) 418 1128

Started running lines for the new brake system. going to get it to where nothing leaks and evaluate what we get at that point. The no-fun bit is that if future mods are required to mitigate pedal effort, they will be no fun to do with the engine in place.

In reply to NOHOME :

I really need to clean up the Rube Goldberg throttle linkage in the Healey to get rid of the slop and have just avoided it because getting at it with the engine in place seems nearly impossible.

In reply to AxeHealey :

No E36 M3!

After the 100-4 that I did a while back, I just want to bin the whole Healy contraption and use a proper cable linkage. The cumulative slop that develops in the entire system never ends well. 

Since the owner is not a purist, I might convert every one of the ball/socket linkage points to a Heim since they have a more positive locating design. That cross-bar that runs under the cowl is another aberration that needs to be in pristine condition and yet seems to come in "wallered out" condition more often than not. Not a good place for rubber bushing. A consumable that is impossible to service without removing the engine.