While this Healey has been waiting on it’s rebuilt distributor, we have tended to some other odds and ends.  There is refinished wood to go on the dash, and shiny chrome mirrors to mount on the fenders.  Measure twice, drill through your valuable metal fender once.

New Dash Piece

Marking The Fender For Hole Drilling

Austin Healey 3000 Mirror Installed

We conferred with the owner about mirror placement prior to drilling the holes.  Do-overs are quite time-consuming after you put a hole in the fender, so we do what we can to avoid them.

The Healey in the shop at this time needs some repair to the control head that contains the turn signal switch and the horn.  3000’s use an arrangement in which a stator tube runs through the center of the steering column and carries the wiring for the turn signals and horn.  It makes a pretty steering column and an arduous fix.  Take a look at the below pictures for more information…

Here is our patient.  It’s a looker.

Here is the front of the control head that mounts in the center of the steering wheel.  The wire running out the bottom goes through the tube that runs through the steering column.

View from the back.

Here is the stator tube lying on the workbench.  It’s the silver tube that goes all the way from the left of the picture to the right of the picture in the middle of the page.  Double click any of these images for a larger view.  I will try to get a photograph of the assembly once it’s back on the car.

We finished up the green Healey so we could bring in the next one.  Here is another 3000 on which Chip will wield the UK Motorsports tools.  The car is in good shape, so the list is mainly on-going maintenance.  We’ll fill in the specifics once the wrenches start turning.

When we last left the Healey, Chip was mired under the dash fooling with the Heater Control Valve.  That task is all complete and the interior is all back together.  Once we get the distributor back from Jeff Schlemmer’s Advanced Distributors, we’ll bolt it on and it will be ready to go.  As a recap, we have done the following for the Healey:  adjust the tappets and replace the valve cover gasket, check the compression and replace the plugs, install a spin-on oil filter adapter, change the oil and filter, replace the battery and terminals, replace the shifter boot, replace the transmission fluid with MTL, replace missing intake manifold nuts, install missing fender hardware to eliminate a fender squeak, the aforementioned heater control valve and new coolant, remove and replace speedo cable and clean the angle drive, fix a seized door striker and replace some missing door hardware, new tie rods, and replace the transmission check cover.  Pictures?  Glad you asked.

New Block Water Coolant Outlet Valve

Spin-On Oil Filter Adapter

Old Tie Rods (Seals were Dry-Rotted)

New Battery Terminal

New Fender Hardware

Anyone who’s been under the dash to replace anything can appreciate paying someone else to handle it.  Dash work is best performed by those 12 year old world class gymnast types who can bend in half.  When I walked into the shop yesterday and saw Chip contorted underneath the dash of this big Healey, I knew he was earning his keep.  The heater control valve on this car was quite corroded and plugged, so he was installing a new one to eliminate the leak emptying into the footwell of this car.  Another look at the overall scene:

A leak-free car is worth it!

We’re set to do some freshening on an Austin Healey that was restored somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 years ago.  Maintenance items include securing a banging exhaust, flushing the brake lines and replacing the fluid, replacing the oil with Brad Penn oil that contains ZDDP, pondering the pros and cons of electronic ignition, adjusting the valves, and checking the suspension and greasing the tie rods.

I’d like to elaborate on the Brad Penn oil (full disclosure: we sell it).  Years ago, most oils had zinc in them.  Some current oils don’t, which doesn’t have much effect on newer engines.  But, in old engines with flat tappets, the zinc protects the tappets from wear.

We see it as cheap insurance and that’s why we use it.  Stay tuned as we log improvements on the Healey.