Another car may get back on the road

[Jerry]

I was contacted this week by a person who is inheriting a 1961 Austin Healey. After he sent me a picture, I told him it was a Big Healey and worth some money. He could not figure out how to open the hood to answer my question about if it is a tri carb or duo. The picture showed it had been painted from original, but as far as he knows it has not run in 15 years. He has to work with the lawyer to figure out who inherits what (there were two kids in the family). He is sure it will go up for sale. I will post more info when he calls me back and decides to sell. He asked a question about value of the car. The body looks pretty good, interior is a question since it had sheepskin seat covers in the front. The value would probably double if it ran. I gave him my guess:
$12000 if it does not run
$20000-30000 if it does run
More if the paint and interior is good and if we figure out how many carbs are in the car.

An interesting call, I hope to hear back from him.

Jerry

 

[PHulst]

Nice. Even better if the floor/frame are in good condition. Then again, you in California don't have to worry about that like those of us in Michigan.

 

[Jerry]

Cars show up in California trying to sell their new California Title. I went with a friend to look at a car over in the SF bay area. The frame outriggers were gone, but the sales guy said it was a California car and it was an easy repair.

The owner of this inherited car said it had been kept under a tarp, but OUTSIDE> that could still mean frame rust. We shall see!

Jerry

 

[Jerry]

So I went to see this car. It is a MK 1 two seater HN7- 61xx vin number. It will not be on the road again soon. Not a driver but definitely a project.
Paint is shot, cracking and peeling off in places. It is a dark blue at present, but the daughter showed me a picture of it when purchased as BRG. In looking in my Austin Healey books, I can't see that BRG was a choice for MK1. Also, the interior looks original and is blue. Anybody else have Color chart?
I have been trying to explain to the owner that a non-running car is a project car and value is much less. Now that I have seen the paint, and surface rust from being parked outside, I confirm it a s a project car. It does have an original hardtop, IE: 4 seater top on a two seater car? anyway, it extends back on the rear deck paint.
I could just barely turn the engine over via the fan belt. The starter would not turn it. The gas smelled very OLD, so I am sure the tank and carbs need to be cleaned prior to starting.
The only part I could not see well was the frame. All 4 tires were flat so the frame was almost on the concrete. I prodded the outriggers and around the engine mounts, and it looked like surface rust. I told the guy I would come back with a portable compresser and lower jack to get the car up so that inspection could be done.

My estimate of value for the guy so far is 12-15K. The higher end only because of the hardtop.

Jerry

 

[John Turney]

The two-seater hardtop also extends back over the paint, so they look about the same until you look closer.

 

[Duane_Rhynard]

So I went to see this car. It is a MK 1 two seater HN7- 61xx vin number. It will not be on the road again soon. Not a driver but definitely a project.
Paint is shot, cracking and peeling off in places. It is a dark blue at present, but the daughter showed me a picture of it when purchased as BRG. In looking in my Austin Healey books, I can't see that BRG was a choice for MK1. Also, the interior looks original and is blue. Anybody else have Color chart?
I have been trying to explain to the owner that a non-running car is a project car and value is much less. Now that I have seen the paint, and surface rust from being parked outside, I confirm it a s a project car. It does have an original hardtop, IE: 4 seater top on a two seater car? anyway, it extends back on the rear deck paint.
I could just barely turn the engine over via the fan belt. The starter would not turn it. The gas smelled very OLD, so I am sure the tank and carbs need to be cleaned prior to starting.
The only part I could not see well was the frame. All 4 tires were flat so the frame was almost on the concrete. I prodded the outriggers and around the engine mounts, and it looked like surface rust. I told the guy I would come back with a portable compresser and lower jack to get the car up so that inspection could be done.

My estimate of value for the guy so far is 12-15K. The higher end only because of the hardtop.

Jerry

Jerry,

You can tell if it's a two-seater or four-seater top by the serial number. The 4-seater top numbers start with a 4 and the two-seater tops start with a 6. The number is located on the passenger side top rail (LHD).

The two-seater tops are worth significantly more than the four-seaters!!

Thanks,
Duane

 

[Jerry]

I will have to check on the hardtop serial number when I go back. I will need to take my portable air compressor to get the tires up high enough to get a jack under the car. Surface rust everywhere but no holes in the floorboards that I can see yet. I think it has been repainted at least twice since the BRG does not make sense for the interior of the car. That might mean the frame has had paint on it and not rusted too much.

The engine looked like a storage place for a rat to put nuts and feces. I love that type of project!

Jerry

 

[AN6-TX]

Both Florida Green and Pacific Green were offered in '61. Both exterior colors (or colours) came with green interior carpet (and gray upholstrey/trim). Is it possible that a very faded, worn green carpet may look "bluish"? Ironically, I saw a Healey Blue BJ8 over the weekend with the original interior - the seats were still blue but the blue carpet looked "greenish".

 

[Jerry]

The seats are really blue. The carpet is faded but still stuck to the floor. I think the car was another color from the factory. Only the Heritage certificate would help now. the problem with projects is that everyone says that it ran when parked. But I don't really know anything about the engine or transmission. I have worked on both parts of the power plant enough to say that anything is fixable and the parts are available. The engine bay looks original, nothing is out of place, no extras added. The receipts that were in the trunk indicated the owner had someone else do the oil changes and any other minor repairs. Nothing major was ever done to the car.
Jerry

 

[pan]

Fascinating that they just keep turning up! Here in Australia it is a rare event for an unknown big Healey to turn up, so few were sold here, especially in Queensland.
And it is a two seater to boot!

 

[Jerry]

When the guy first called I thought he was talking about a tri-carb car, but next best is a two seater. Now I have to decide how much money to offer for the car.
The tough part.

Jerry

 

[Brinkerhoff]

Jerry , the only advantage you have is if you can accurately assess the condition of the car by spending the 4-5 hours necessary ( up in the air if possible) to determine if it is a worthwhile candidate for restoration. If the seller puts the car on Craigslist there are just too many predatory buyers out there that will overpay for it regardless of its condition. There is a lot of junk out there for every decent one found. You want to buy the car that doesn't need 4 years spent on it just to repair the chassis, a rare find anymore ! Good luck . Oh, and if you need any $ , let me know ! Kevin

 

[Jerry]

I did tell the guy that I would help him sell if he wants to shop it around. Based on the Healey list and the crap projects that were sent around, this looks better. I know if we post it on Bringatrailer or some other site like that, it will get enough press to sell. And you are correct, I have to decide if I want another project vs am I trying to make money on the car. So far, trying to make money on cars has not worked out for me. But I have had a lot of fun on the 6 cars that I have restored. I tend to make the cars like showroom, although not always original if I want to keep the car. I drive them so some additions make them better to drive. I really went overboard on my old mini, but it is now my daily driver for around town stuff. It is too loud to go very far on a freeway but it will go as fast as you want.
Jerry