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i went to look at a 1960 mark1 today. nice car and an older restoration. looking for some help and advice on what i saw. below are notes from the went for my test ride today.
owner: really nice guy but either does not know anything about cars or does not want to talk about it. i got the impression he does not know much. i asked him about things like paint codes, info from earlier owner. he said he had paperwork but did not offer to go get it while i was there. sort of felt like he was not sure where it was. So a face to face was only moderately helpful.
first impression: car looks nice for an older restoration. yes there are a number of paint chips. but mostly the paint looks good. it would look better if it were cleaned and polished. same with the chrome. just needs to be cleaned up. door gaps and panel gaps looked good to me. did not notice any sags. rocker panels and and inside the arches showed no signs of rust. no signs of rust at the fender seams. not sure why a guy trying to sell his car would not have cleaned it up first....
under the car:
all the frame rails and beads on them looked straight. the cross members and one other rail had some denting on the bottom from what looked like a jack. not bad but bent a little.
then, as the third picture shows, i found rust on the one back member. in fact it is rusted thru outside where the rear of the leaf spring attaches. everything else looked pretty good as far as i could see.
interior:
other than needing a good cleaning, looked pretty good. now this was my first time in a healey. if you look at the first pic, is that how the door jambs should be done or was something covered over? everything seemed to work in there except the blinker light indicator.
noticed the tach had a red line painted in it. have seem that on other cars but this was was at about 4700 and others i have seen looked like they were around 5200. just different model year?
engine bay:
well there was no tag for the engine serial number. i could see the rivets but the tag was gone. i did check the head casting number and it wwas correct. but no way to know on the motor.
rest of the bay looks ok. the guy had taken it to a shop to get worked on. he said there were issues with the engine and they rebuilt it. new rings, timing chain, cam, and gaskets to stop all the leaks. (after the test drive i looked where the car was sitting and it still leaks some.)
in the second picture up there you see what looks like an electrical connection for a temp gauge but this car has a mechanical one... so wondering what that is for?
when the owner had the engine rebuilt they could not get it running right. so they pulled off the SU carbs and built a little piece to attach a 2 brl single carb. runs well now but i would want to put that back. he still has the original carbs. so just a rebuild there i think.
test drive:
the car started and idled well. sat at 700 RPM and smooth. oil pressure at idle was 25psi. the car showed a temp of 190 the whole time we were out riding. clutch seemed to engauge late for my taste but that could be an adjustment? car went thru the gears nicely. first gear had a whine but the rest were pretty quiet. the car did not jump out of any gear and 2nd gear was not notchy. of course my first time so i was not real smooth either. only thing i did notice was the OD. i was going about 45mph and flipped the switch. backed off the gas a little and felt it kick right in. but if i gave it some gas, it would kick back out. could have been my speed or lack of use?
all in, i like the car but a few things worry me a little and why i could use your help.
1) what is it going to take to fix that one rust area on the frame? and does that likely mean more even though i could not see or feel any.
2) i think the owner is just one of those guys who buys a car and is not interested in what makes it work. it either goes or it doesn't. So he is not much help. he said he has only driven the car 300 miles since he had the engine done. he said it does not leak... but we now know it does some.
3) is the overdrive not having enough speed or is this something that needs to be fixed?
4) original engine or correct engine?
any help would be appreciated
owner: really nice guy but either does not know anything about cars or does not want to talk about it. i got the impression he does not know much. i asked him about things like paint codes, info from earlier owner. he said he had paperwork but did not offer to go get it while i was there. sort of felt like he was not sure where it was. So a face to face was only moderately helpful.
first impression: car looks nice for an older restoration. yes there are a number of paint chips. but mostly the paint looks good. it would look better if it were cleaned and polished. same with the chrome. just needs to be cleaned up. door gaps and panel gaps looked good to me. did not notice any sags. rocker panels and and inside the arches showed no signs of rust. no signs of rust at the fender seams. not sure why a guy trying to sell his car would not have cleaned it up first....
under the car:
all the frame rails and beads on them looked straight. the cross members and one other rail had some denting on the bottom from what looked like a jack. not bad but bent a little.
then, as the third picture shows, i found rust on the one back member. in fact it is rusted thru outside where the rear of the leaf spring attaches. everything else looked pretty good as far as i could see.
interior:
other than needing a good cleaning, looked pretty good. now this was my first time in a healey. if you look at the first pic, is that how the door jambs should be done or was something covered over? everything seemed to work in there except the blinker light indicator.
noticed the tach had a red line painted in it. have seem that on other cars but this was was at about 4700 and others i have seen looked like they were around 5200. just different model year?
engine bay:
well there was no tag for the engine serial number. i could see the rivets but the tag was gone. i did check the head casting number and it wwas correct. but no way to know on the motor.
rest of the bay looks ok. the guy had taken it to a shop to get worked on. he said there were issues with the engine and they rebuilt it. new rings, timing chain, cam, and gaskets to stop all the leaks. (after the test drive i looked where the car was sitting and it still leaks some.)
in the second picture up there you see what looks like an electrical connection for a temp gauge but this car has a mechanical one... so wondering what that is for?
when the owner had the engine rebuilt they could not get it running right. so they pulled off the SU carbs and built a little piece to attach a 2 brl single carb. runs well now but i would want to put that back. he still has the original carbs. so just a rebuild there i think.
test drive:
the car started and idled well. sat at 700 RPM and smooth. oil pressure at idle was 25psi. the car showed a temp of 190 the whole time we were out riding. clutch seemed to engauge late for my taste but that could be an adjustment? car went thru the gears nicely. first gear had a whine but the rest were pretty quiet. the car did not jump out of any gear and 2nd gear was not notchy. of course my first time so i was not real smooth either. only thing i did notice was the OD. i was going about 45mph and flipped the switch. backed off the gas a little and felt it kick right in. but if i gave it some gas, it would kick back out. could have been my speed or lack of use?
all in, i like the car but a few things worry me a little and why i could use your help.
1) what is it going to take to fix that one rust area on the frame? and does that likely mean more even though i could not see or feel any.
2) i think the owner is just one of those guys who buys a car and is not interested in what makes it work. it either goes or it doesn't. So he is not much help. he said he has only driven the car 300 miles since he had the engine done. he said it does not leak... but we now know it does some.
3) is the overdrive not having enough speed or is this something that needs to be fixed?
4) original engine or correct engine?
any help would be appreciated