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Diagnosed with the Healey fever

ejws

Freshman Member
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Hi all,

Long time ago, I decided to follow my dream of buying an Austin Healey. The budget was not huge but large enough to find one that was running great and looked fine to me. With absolutely no knowledge of mechanics, I started to cruise around in my neighborhood. I had great fun and in most cases all went well. But sometimes the lord of darkness caught my tail: I had to ask for help to get the thing (BT7) back on the road again.

I didn't like my lack of technical knowledge and started to study the mechanics of BMC. I went back to school (Adult education) and learned to do basic repairs on Mg's, Triumphs and of course my Healey. After a while, I felt confident to start with more difficult repairs. And suddenly the car was completely disassembled. A new phase was started: Rebuild the perfect car. It took me 5 years of fun and I made a lot of friends. Finally, last summer I was satisfied with the result: A full black Austin Healey MK2.

Lots of attention have been paid to the details: Using as many original parts as possible, I still had to chase some... Original Lucas mirrors, Rainbow wipers, Lucas Switches from the correct year, etc. Car boot sales, garage sales, autojumbles, eBay, .. all help to find the stuff I needed.

Not every detail is rebuild according to the original spec. Sometimes I preferred safety and reliability and sometimes I didn't like the cosmetic choices from manufacturing. The rebuild process is well documented in word and image and I used many sources from the internet. Yo guys, I should say thank you to all of you. You have inspired and puzzled me many times!!!

Despite that I still want to improve some parts of my tri-cab BT7, I just have started another project.
I have taken care of a BJ8 that was completely dismantled after an accident some 10 years ago. Parts were scattered over several places and it appeared to be not as complete as I expected. But anyway, it will just be the start of a new chapter in my Healey passion.

Best Regards,
Erik
 

DavidApp

Yoda
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Hello Erik

Welcome to the forum.

The AH section will be a great source of tips and advice as you get the BJ8 back on the road. They will probable be able to help you source parts as well.

David
 

Jerry

Darth Vader
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Working on my 3rd big Healey that was puchased as a project. Taken apart by someone else and left for decades. I like the puzzle. Besides the usual sellers of parts, there are people on this list which have parts they sell so if you are missing something, just ask. Most parts are available.
 

Basil

Administrator
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Thanks for sharing a great story about your Healey passion! Glad to have you aboard and, as others have suggested, be sure to jump in at our Austin Healey forum here!
 
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