Help me identify the engine

[christophe]

Looking for help identifying the engine that came out of the 1960 Healey. I believe it is a 1967 BJ8 engine, but that is about all i know. The tag is completely rusted off minus the first three characters, which are 29K.
-The casting number seems to indicate that the block was made in December of 1966, or that is my guess. Is that correct?
-No idea what the casting LC3 means









Any help with identifying the date and exact specs of engine would be greatly appreciated. Late 66 build date for a 67???

 

[AH100M]

29K indicates a BJ8 (3000 Mk III) according to Clausager's "Original Austin-Healey. Numbers went from 101-17631.

 

[DerekJ]

The dip stick position is higher up on the engine for the BJ8. For the earlier cars its tucked down by the distributor. Thats the most obvious external way to tell the difference.

 

[christophe]

So the tag on the engine at in time had the VIN or some portion of the VIN stamped into it? Is that how you tell if one of these cars has its matching engine? If that is the case, maybe i should start looking around for the original engine to this car.

 

[Deleted member 8987]

The chances of finding the original engine are little and none. Finding a correct engine is do-able.
Guesses are the "original" had enough damage it was not economically repairable, or they wanted more power. Depending on when it was done, original is most likely in the bottom of a landfill somewhere.
Dave

 

[CLEAH]

So the tag on the engine at in time had the VIN or some portion of the VIN stamped into it? Is that how you tell if one of these cars has its matching engine? If that is the case, maybe i should start looking around for the original engine to this car.

No, the engine and commission numbers are not the same. In the case of a Healey, "numbers matching" just means that the numbers listed on the Heritage Certificate match the numbers on the car.

 

[christophe]

No, the engine and commission numbers are not the same. In the case of a Healey, "numbers matching" just means that the numbers listed on the Heritage Certificate match the numbers on the car.

Ok! Thanks for the responses. We are sticking with what we have. The engine ran fine, minus having some run on problems when it was shut down...most likely just needed minor tuning.

 

[AH100M]

Depressing the clutch (rather than being in neutral with the clutch out) when you shut it down may put enough drag on the engine to stop it. Or shut it off in 4th and stall it (with your foot on the brake!). Some engines can't be tuned to not run-on, some can. I remember my friends brand-new BJ8 would sometimes run-on especially after a hard drive.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say one of the most common causes of run-on is idle set too high. On my mostly stock BJ8 engine an idle over 800RPM will run-on consistently, below that it's uncommon. Fast cams, etc. may change the equation.

 

[christophe]

Good to know. Im not sure where the idle was actually set since the tach didn't work below 1,000 rpm. Im sure things were just out of adjustment. The only carburetors i have ever worked on have been 4 barrel style holleys and Carter units. Right before tear down I tinkered with the carbs for a few hours after reading the manual. it was running better, but as soon as it was to operating temperature it still had the run on problem. That and it would flood badly and not want to restart. Hopefully all of these issues will get sorted out during the restoration.

 

[CLEAH]

Christophe, maybe you had run-on problems because that strange thingy was stuck in the intake! Now that it is gone, it may be fine!

 

[Keoke]

IF the engine runs hot this will contribute to run on also

 

[Deleted member 8987]

No, the engine and commission numbers are not the same. In the case of a Healey, "numbers matching" just means that the numbers listed on the Heritage Certificate match the numbers on the car.

Yes. Car and ENGINE. Finding "original engine" would be next to impossible. Dummying up an engine tag would be a bit easier, but not as honest.
I thought the Heritage Certificates had engine numbers, as the Jag ones do, and yes, they do:
https://www.heritage-motor-centre.c...tificates/car-traced-with-chassis-number.html

So, first order is to get a certificate for your chassis number, and go from there.
Dave

 

[BJ8Healeys]

Looking for help identifying the engine that came out of the 1960 Healey. I believe it is a 1967 BJ8 engine, but that is about all i know. The tag is completely rusted off minus the first three characters, which are 29K.
-The casting number seems to indicate that the block was made in December of 1966, or that is my guess. Is that correct?
-No idea what the casting LC3 means









Any help with identifying the date and exact specs of engine would be greatly appreciated. Late 66 build date for a 67???

Christophe, you definitely have a BJ8 engine (29K series), but once that serial number tag is gone or illegible, there is just no way anymore to determine exactly which engine it is or which car it came out of. The serial number plates are aluminum and will dissolve in the hot tank chemicals used to clean the block during a rebuild. The tags are removable, but it isn't obvious how to get the rivets out and most people don't think about the tag when they have their engine rebuilt. Unfortunately, there are just a LOT of engines that have lost their serial number tags. Had the number on your engine been legible, I could have told you which car it came from if it mattered to you.
Phase 1 engines (up to engine /H278, approximately chassis 25450) had the dipstick tube lower on the block than Phase 2 engines did.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

I forgot to comment on your guess as to the build date of the engine. If your date is based on the number 12 B 766, that is the BMC part number of the engine block casting, not a build date or code.

 

[christophe]

Thanks for all the comments. Great information. Hopefully this engine will only need minor touch ups and be good to go for many years.

Does anybody have the specs for the BJ8 engines? Valve lash setting, if different from other models..cam specs such as lift, duration, and LCA, bore and stroke, etc.

 

[AH100M]

I don't know of any source that has more information than the "General Data" section of the factory shop manual.