What is the rustiest, most run down Healey you have ever seen?

[stuntflyr]

There you go, that's getting pretty bad!
Chris...

 

[BigGreen]

Another one on eBay

 

[BigGreen]

And an even worse one also on eBay

 

[Lambdaman]

The rust in these cars can be put down to 2 factors, poor design and salt roads. Here in Sunny dry Australia we never saw our Healey's get to the stage of the worse ones shown here caused by salt on the road in North American Winters.
Rust in our cars has been limited to mud traps in the rear dog legs, bottom of front guards, sills etc, floors from wet carpets and finally the frame rusting from the inside out due to trapped moisture.
What measures do owners take now in North America during winter to prevent this rust reoccurring? Obvious the main one is not to drive them in Winter now they are a collector car and no longer a every day car

 

[Chris_Masucci]

Lambdaman, all I can tell you is what I did so this doesn't happen to my car again. I coated the entire chassis/bulkhead structure with POR-15 after sandblasting, and used their tie-coat primer under 3 coats of hardened Healey Blue enamel. The inside of the frame rails have also been coated as have the insides of outriggers and sills. Then I also used the Eastwood internal frame spray coating for the places that I couldn't reach, and finally coated the entire underside of everything with Waxoyl.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

...
What measures do owners take now in North America during winter to prevent this rust reoccurring? ...

Live in California.

 

[bighealeysource]

or keep 'em in a "car cave" that's got carpet tiles to sit on, dehumidifier for humidity and heat and air to attempt to keep the tin worm at bay !!! And this is nothing that fancy, just an 8 x 15 space built out under my house ( we're on pilings on the coast of South Carolina) where the Healey just fits. The air and heat is simply tapping into the duct work for the first floor half bath as only used by company and that heat or cooling is not missed in an empty bathroom !!! Plus like many, avoid driving it if you know weather is going to be bad as don't want to get these LBC's wet ! Or maybe it's the drivers who want to avoid getting wet !

 

[Chuck9482912]

I like this picture of my BJ7 frame showing that the weld is the only thing left that hasn't rusted out on the bottom of the frame rail. Needless to say I bought this car knowing I would put a Kilmartin frame underneath it.

 

[judow]

Not rusty but in boxes - my Agatha before restoration. Restorer suggested it would be a good parts car and did we really want to do this. Yes I said adamantly. Agatha and I are now living the high life.

 

[Lambdaman]

New entrant, bit of work needed on the door gaps!!!

 

[HealeyRick]

Not the rustiest, but since it was on BaT I thought I'd add it as a good example for a trap for the unwary.

Not too bad:

Floors look good:

Let's look at the chassis:

Yikes! :hororr:

With an ask of $15,900 and a new chassis likely needed it's available here: https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/austin_healey/100_4/1674270.html


BaT listing: https://bringatrailer.com/2014/08/18/solid-1955-austin-healey-100-4-project/

 

[HealeyRick]

 

[Bob_Spidell]

That is a tragedy. At least, the hardtop gotta be worth something.

 

[stuntflyr]

That's a car fit for the Beverley Hills Car Club!

 

[RAC68]

Years ago, I had a good friend Ed who loved to acquire Healeys. Though I would have described most of his purchases as remnants at best, it was not uncommon for him to brag about the large number of Healey’s owned and I truly felt he valued even the least of his flock.

On one trip I accompanied him on, we picked up a 100-6 located in the middle of a muddy field. Questioning the sense of this purchase, he turned to me with a smile and a quip about the farmer using the wrong fertilizer. We dug the multi-part body and running gear out of the mud which turned out to be easier then originally though. Not surprising, everything from the bottom quarter of the door down had joined the field although the engine and trans survived as a multicolor display or not-so-careful handling.

Undeterred, Ed rapped the remaining body and running gear with the very strong plastic bands used by telephone line men when replacing a pole, and slowly pulled it onto his trailer. Driving home, I again questioned what he was going to do with this block of rust (sorry, but I saw little good in any of its parts) and he replied “Oh, it will contribute”.

Years later, I had to admit Ed’s insight. After retiring, he built his own Healey tri-carb using Original Healey Parts from the many cars he had salvaged and stored over the years. He had a love for the marquee, a dream in his hart, and a vision I just could not see.

Ray (64BJ8P1)

 

[HealeyRick]

Another Beverly Hills Car Club entry:

https://bringatrailer.com/2016/01/06/see-where-they-rust-1958-austin-healey-100-6/

 

[drambuie]

On a different thread I was recalling a Rusted out hulk of a Healey I seen on eBay roughly 11 years ago, it was literally a Pile of rust Laying out in a open field in one of the southern states. Nothing was hardly left of it, no floors, dash, outriggers, frame...nothing! The only thing left was the engine block,rear end and some suspension bits. Anyway, it was absolutely skull cracking to watch the bidding wars begin at the very START of the auction! In fact it got so out of hand the owner felt so guilty he had to jump in and remind all the crazy bidders to take it easy! I'm not kidding. If I remember correctly it sold to a guy in Australia for around 35k. And just think about the shipping cost from America to Australia and you have a very grim picture indeed.

 

[drambuie]

Makes a grown man wanna weep! On the other hand would make a great art sculpture in the right setting!

 

[drambuie]

Lambdaman, all I can tell you is what I did so this doesn't happen to my car again. I coated the entire chassis/bulkhead structure with POR-15 after sandblasting, and used their tie-coat primer under 3 coats of hardened Healey Blue enamel. The inside of the frame rails have also been coated as have the insides of outriggers and sills. Then I also used the Eastwood internal frame spray coating for the places that I couldn't reach, and finally coated the entire underside of everything with Waxoyl.

. WOW...that baby should outlast the future production year 5000 car models!

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Since this thread is going again, heres my entry. There are two more bodies there in worse shape
Marv