1961 3000 Restoration

[christophe]

Here is some more of the quality work i discovered on the car. Tin was riveted in place over the support rail and then caulked to cover up rot.







The trunk support rails were cut, but never replaced.





Why take the time to repair something correctly when you can just do this?



Prepping for the new replacement metal.

 

[Healey Nut]

No, there isn't more to the story. Some people will do anything to earn a few dollars.

The story I heard was about a KT car crossing the block at Barrett Jackson , the car got damaged either going to or leaving the block and was hurriedly covered up and whisked away as all kinds of bondo was falling off the damaged areas of the car .
Didn't see it so cant verify it but wheres theres smoke theres usually fire ?

 

[nevets]

FWIW, the auction bulletin says the car was restored in the mid 90's (15 -20 years ago) and more recently re-commissioned and fully detailed by KT.
So the car was not restored by KT, only fully detailed by KT...whatever that means.

 

[christophe]

FWIW, the auction bulletin says the car was restored in the mid 90's (15 -20 years ago) and more recently re-commissioned and fully detailed by KT.
So the car was not restored by KT, only fully detailed by KT...whatever that means.

That's correct, but he represented it as his own restoration at the auction. He knew what the car was, purchased it as a quick flip, polished it up, then took it to the auction looking to score some quick cash due to his name and the fact that he is exclusively an austin healey restorer. That's even more deceitful in my opinion.

 

[Brinkerhoff]

Yes you are in a bad situation with that car. A rust hole in the center of the bonnet? Now that's a rusty Austin Healey! Be careful about what you say in regards to the seller's intent . You are defaming his character , therefore guilty of libel by its definition. I wouldn't want my character and reputation defamed in a public forum and I doubt your would either.

 

[jcsb]

It's hard judging a restoration without knowing a person or companies character and plenty of in process pictures. I bought a 60 3000 BN7 that was "restored" a few years previous and on the outside it appear nice. Wanting to do a few mods I needed to cut the front outrigger to accept a BJ8 style exhaust. That was where the trouble started and ended. I used a hole saw to make a nice radius before cutting the rest. I came out with what looked like a bunch of red mud. So I continued to cut away at the outrigger. I guess whoever did the restoration decided that a good fix for a rusted out outrigger was to take a new one and weld it over the old one. Not knowing what else was repaired utilizing the same decision process I needed to make a decision. I could just weld in a cover over the outrigger like I was going to do before I knew of the rust and just say good enough or I could do the right thing. While someone else could live with the first option I can't.

So off with body parts and it will be going north in a couple of weeks for a new chassis. Since this was going to be a resto-mod anyway I'm not worried about proper frame considerations (seams). I have taken extensive pictures of every part and a detailed list of everything that I've purchased and what work was done.

I would approach the person who is representing the car and see what they had to say first. If they dismiss you I would say that was an indication of their character. I don't think your guilty of libel until you have been found guilty in a court of law, but I would try to resolve this by contacting them first. I believe the guy who did mine probably thought he was fixing a problem rather than hiding one. Just not the type of repair I would do and I would like assume many of you would do either.

John

 

[christophe]

Yes you are in a bad situation with that car. A rust hole in the center of the bonnet? Now that's a rusty Austin Healey! Be careful about what you say in regards to the seller's intent . You are defaming his character , therefore guilty of libel by its definition. I wouldn't want my character and reputation defamed in a public forum and I doubt your would either.

I'm just telling the truth...you know, freedom of speech and all, if that still exists. I don't think one can get in trouble for stating facts. I don't know what his builds are like, I only know how he represented this car. His other builds might be nice. Regardless, it doesn't much matter now. All that can be done now is to move forward and fix the car, so let's stick to the restoration from here on out.

 

[Brinkerhoff]

Best of luck then!

 

[jcsb]

It's a good thing your taking so many pictures. It appears your taking the time to do it right and for me the best way to prove it is with the pictures and detailed information on what was done. Good luck I'm working on mine and thinking the same thing.

John

 

[christophe]

It's a good thing your taking so many pictures. It appears your taking the time to do it right and for me the best way to prove it is with the pictures and detailed information on what was done. Good luck I'm working on mine and thinking the same thing.

John

I agree. All of these cars will change hands someday and having the restoration documented is a must for when that day comes.

I dropped by the paint shop today to pick up another car and they had made a little bit of progress on the Healey. It has been fully blasted(minus the interior section), they put a few of the panels in epoxy primer and they are starting to fit the drivers side panels.

 

[DerekJ]

So I guess we can conclude that it wasn't one of his 'Gold level' restorations then.

 

[59BT7]

Not unusual for British Cars to be titled the year they were sold, not necessarily the year of manufacture. My "1960" 100-6 (BT7 so early 3000) was manufactured in April of 1959 so by all rights, is a 1959. Also, are we sure Tanner did the current restoration? Or did he do the original resto and someone else botched it up since. Or, did he do it at all. No dog in the fight, just curious. (OK, read the rest of the posts, question on the "restoration" answered.)

Thanks for the pics and please do keep them coming. Gives people like me that is just getting started some motivation.
Cheers,
Dave

 

[Healey Nut]

So I guess we can conclude that it wasn't one of his 'Gold level' restorations then.

I looked at Home Depot paint counter sample wall for ages and could for the life of me find "polished turd brown" any ideas ??

 

[christophe]

Body work is progressing pretty well now.

 

[christophe]

Not sure why this extra hole was created.

 

[bighealeysource]

Hey Chris,
Been a year since you first posted this horror story. Just out of curiosity , have you ever heard anything from BJ or KT about this car ? Glad to see you are making so much progress and sure your folks really appreciate you trying to polish their "turd" for them !
Regards
Mike

 

[christophe]

No, I never heard anything nor would I expect to. Any auction is a caveat emptor situation. There are a lot of great cars at auction, whether it be barrett-jackson, mecum, Cruise, etc. but there are also usually cars like this mixed in with the bunch. Generally the owners of the cars that have issues or are polished turds aren't anywhere near the car because they don't want to be forced to answer a lot of questions. That was what made this situation different, but again, nothing we can do now except move forward.
Other good news is that the engine is in good shape and looks to have been rebuilt sometime recently. We are installing fresh bearings, piston rings, and gaskets and then re-assembling the motor.

 

[John Turney]

Not sure why this extra hole was created.

I'm sure you mean the jagged hole beneath the round hole for the battery cable.

BTW, I'm impressed with the sheet medal welding!

 

[christophe]

I finally got the superstructure back from the body shop. She's back in black! Single stage SPI Black. Overall it looks good, but I am not happy with some areas and will need to address them...drips, grinding marks, etc. Once that is taken care of i will start cleaning up the suspension parts and making the car into a roller.

 

[DerekJ]

Very nice.

Don't go for the 100% anally perfect concours look. They don't look right.