The Zen of Austin Healey Maintenance

This is a philosophical discussion. I've been spending a lot of time in my garage working on various car projects. I also set aside time to drive my cars (tours, errands, dinner dates, racing) and that is very rewarding. I sometimes complain about all the projects that the cars present but I also find that I often make up some that are unnecessary so maybe I do enjoy getting my hands greasy.

My car adventures usually go like this.

Detect a problem or opportunity for improvement.
Fiddle with it. Fail.
Research problem. Find a possible solution.
Fiddle with it. Fail.
Do more research. Consult some friends. Think a lot. Order some parts.
Fiddle with it. Partial success.
Now totally familiar with the problem, re-read the research. Order the right parts.
Fiddle with it. Success.

Ultimately, I end up touching more of the car, taking stuff apart, learning about how it works, and finding 2 or 3 side projects along the way. (I took this part off, might as well clean and paint it) Becoming more competent has led me to take on more projects because I break less stuff along the way. As my success rate has risen so has the enjoyment from tweaking things in a futile attempt to reach some type of automotive nirvana where everything works right and looks good. Before scheduled tours my wife has a hands-off period where I am prohibited from taking anything apart so I'm not working until midnight the day before we are to leave.

Many folks say the car hobby is about the people you meet by owning it, including folks on the web, club members on a drive, or the random person in a parking lot. While I have lots of car friends, I think that for me, it is equally about man vs. machine, picking a task and overcoming it.

This leads me to a few questions:

1. Is this everyone's experience?
2. Do you enjoy the people part or the mechanical part of the hobby more, or both?
3. Is the fiddling part of the joy of old car ownership?
4. Considering the amount of maintenance required, what do people do that just want to drive the car and not tinker with it?

1. Is this everyone's experience? - Probably (can't speak for all)
2. Do you enjoy the people part or the mechanical part of the hobby more, or both? - Both (counting the people who aren't in the 'hobby,' but want to talk Healeys anyway)
3. Is the fiddling part of the joy of old car ownership? - Absolutely
4. Considering the amount of maintenance required, what do people do that just want to drive the car and not tinker with it? - Pay a mechanic

It is all part of the Healey experience. Once you get the mechanics under "control" it only occasional maintenance. They need to be driven and often. Then the ratio of driving and maintaining becomes balanced and you may actually look forward to something going wrong so you can fix something. (I always say that many Healeys have wooden steering wheels so you can "knock on wood" when everything is going well.) The people and the drives are what keep me going and make it all worthwhile. I really don't think a lot of maintenance is required for a car 50 years old. And the best part is that parts and knowledge are readily available. We have 3 major clubs here in California. There is a core group that attend most of the drives in each club. It is probably only 20 to 25 percent of the total membership. So most owners are not enjoying the driving and the social part. Those who do attend constantly have a great time. (Wine is always a part of any drive). Each of the National Clubs have events that get attended by many hundreds of cars. This makes up for all the scrapes and swearing that you experience. So to sum up your questions 1 through 4, all are part of the pride and fun of owning a Healey.
TH

I think it's about 50-50 mechanics and people. I enjoy the challenges of working on the car as well as meeting folks with similar interests. The Austin-Healey Club of New England just celebrated our 40th year and I've known some of the members for about 37 years and consider them good friends. I can't imagine someone owning a Healey without being capable of doing at least routine maintenance, and think one would have to have pretty deep pockets to take it to a mechanic every time something went wrong. I'd also add that I also enjoy the history of the cars, how they were when new, the people involved in developing them, racing exploits etc, etc.

For me it's a mix.

I'm a very hands-on type person so nothing really scares me in terms of doing jobs on the car.

And I love the racing crowd. I'm not so much a car show person, so I have less knowledge of the folks in that area.

My favourite part is actual wheel-to-wheel racing.

But to be honest, I work on my cars out of financial necessity but I'd be just as happy racing most of the time and rarely working on them.

1. Is this everyone's experience? - It's my experience.
2. Do you enjoy the people part or the mechanical part of the hobby more, or both? - Both, although I understand the mechanical parts better.
3. Is the fiddling part of the joy of old car ownership? - Yep
4. Considering the amount of maintenance required, what do people do that just want to drive the car and not tinker with it? - Buy a Honda.

2. Do you enjoy the people part or the mechanical part of the hobby more, or both? - the mechanical part often is the people part - helping to solve mechanical issues on others' cars is a major social part of the experience. The Healey club experience involves a lot of this.
3. Is the fiddling part of the joy of old car ownership? - for me, tweaking and "improving" the car have been the main reason for ownership. If I had a 356, I'd never do anything on it because it would already be perfect. Prefer the Healey.
4. Considering the amount of maintenance required, what do people do that just want to drive the car and not tinker with it? - some of these folks wind up tinkering anyway out on a road somewhere because they haven't hired enough tinkering from a mechanic.

My signature block sums up my attitude. That being said "you'll be glad you did" means for me that I'll be glad I did when I look back on it. My wife will verify that when I'm deep into it I will often times turn the air blue and appear to be having a really bad time. It is kind of like the old but lame question of "if a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody to hear, does it make a sound?" (of course it does, don't they understand what sound waves are?) in that I am way worse about this if someone is there to hear me and especially if they are asking if there is anything they can do to help. I tend to suffer in silence if I'm alone and bleeding. It all looks like fun in the rear view mirror at 70 mph on a cool evening.....

Some of my best friends are from one of the car clubs and they all know I like to tinker so they bring their cars over to be fixed. I have a Jensen Interceptor in my garage right now and we pulled the engine last Monday. I get to see and experience more cars that way and meet new people. When I have needed an extra set of hands, they come to my rescue. I consider my cars pretty reliable, my daily driver is an old mini. Even though that one was just restored, I still had to find a vacuum leak yesterday. (hose came off) . I think ownership of these cars requires that you drive them. Sitting in a garage will make them unreliable.
Jerry

Bob_Spidell said:

1. Is this everyone's experience? - Probably (can't speak for all)
2. Do you enjoy the people part or the mechanical part of the hobby more, or both? - Both (counting the people who aren't in the 'hobby,' but want to talk Healeys anyway)
3. Is the fiddling part of the joy of old car ownership? - Absolutely
4. Considering the amount of maintenance required, what do people do that just want to drive the car and not tinker with it? - Pay a mechanic

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I think Bob really summed it up.
The people and travel aspect is enormous too.--

I have to agree with Glen. If you own a British car, especially a Healey you better like to tinker to really get the enjoyment out of it. I've own my '65 BJ8 for over 20 years and think of myself as a younger Healey owner, just passing the half century mark. For the first ten years I attend most of the local club meetings and events, which consistent of tech sessions and show and shines. Although I enjoyed this, I really just wanted to get behind the wheel and drive. I've made subtle upgrades on my BJ8 to improve handle and reliability, but still remain as original in appearance as possible. The thrill of driving a big Healey and driving it fast became a real priority for me, thankfully the AHCO has a few members who feel the same way, which help me as I jumped right into the deep end vintage racing a '57 100-6 MM. Everything about tinker has now multiplied by 100. Preparing for a weekend drive in the '65 is done in the few hours, preparing for a weekend event a Laguna Seca can take weeks if not months. Don't get me wrong, I love every minute of it. The challenges of getting everything put together, working at the highest level, to run wheel to wheel battling Porsches, Alfas, Morgans, and the like, is a thrill I can never get enough of. I only wish my day job didn't slow me down......

I know some Healey owners that barely know which end of a screwdriver to use. They seem happy with the car and the experience, so I can't knock their approach. For me, though, at least half of the enjoyment I get is because of the effort I put into the car. My car was an off-frame restoration, and although I didn't do the bodywork, I rebuilt just about everything on the car (with the exception of things like the shocks). My car is not perfect by any means, but I derive a huge amount of satisfaction from the fact that I did it, and it actually works (most of the time).

However, I am constantly checking all aspects of the car because, as I like to tell people: "I know the guy who put it together, and he really isn't that competent".

Interesting topic. I enjoy tinkering, maintenance, doing repairs, etc.. I find it very satisfying, often frustrating, but when it goes well, it promotes bonding with my Healey. The big issue though is time, and as a result, I don't get to play with my Healey nearly as much as I would like. I rarely have the opportunity to interact face to face with other Healey enthusiasts, which makes this forum so valuable and enjoyable.

Keith_M said:

I know some Healey owners that barely know which end of a screwdriver to use....

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Our local club president found that when he asked Jaguar owners about what tools they carried, they would whip out their mechanic's business card.

However, I am constantly checking all aspects of the car because, as I like to tell people: "I know the guy who put it together, and he really isn't that competent".

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I usually tell them "It keeps me off the streets.""