1961 3000 Restoration

Correction: 1960

Long story short, my father bought this car at auction in 2010 for my mother. The builder was supposed to be reputable. He told my father that the car was in great condition and that he had just driven it up and down the coast of California, so it was ready to be enjoyed. DISCLAIMER: I did not inspect the car!!! The Austin Healey arrived a week later via reliable transport and it would not start, so we were forced to push it out of the 18 wheeler onto my trailer. I tuned the carbs to the best of my ability and after letting the flooded cylinders air out for a day, i got the engine running again. We took it for a ride and the steering started to lock up about half way through left hand turns, which is quite frightening, especially when turning in front of oncoming traffic. My father took the car to a local shop and they aligned the car, but couldn't find what was wrong with the steering. That was 3 years ago and the car has been sitting ever since. Since we have owned the car, the paint has started to crack and looks very lumpy when viewed from the side. Basically, this reputable builder sprayed on some fresh paint, got the car running ok, then took it to auction. The term "polished turd" comes to mind.
I started stripping the paint recently and it has at least 6 layers of paint and primer, as much as 8 in other places. Yesterday i found filler over top of red paint that wasn't even scuffed and the amount of filler they used was extreme and not necessary, at least in this particular location.
The good news is that the wiring is new and all of the suspension is in good working order. However, the body is a bit of a mess as far as fitment is concerned and its going to take a lot of work to get it ready for its new paint.

Anyway, here she is. I was spraying guide coat before i realized that there was no way to simply respray the body in its current condition. The front fender has a patch, which was done somewhat correctly, but then someone built the area up with a ton of crappy filler over top of red paint without even scuffing it.





Aftermarket antenna hole in passenger fender. They drilled 6 holes in the passenger interior panel so they could tighten the nut and hook up the coaxial cable. Unbelievable!




Just a few layers of primer and paint.

Hood Before. The car was sitting under a 64 corvette that had a radiator and power steering leak, so that is why the it is so dirty in this picture.



Hood after paint removal. I had to work a lot of dents out of the hood and patch a rust hole, which had previously been filled with bondo. Im surprised the rust hole wasnt visible through the paint, especially when sitting out in the sun.




So, one panel half way finished and 8 to go. I already have about 8 hours in the hood. I plan on trying to work one panel into the schedule per week. Once that is done and they are all in epoxy primer, i will fit them to the car, then disassemble the entire body and chassis, take the motor to the machine shop, and start prepping the superstructure for paint.

I'd like to know who the 'reputable builder' is/was. Since you have honestly documented the condition of the car--not disparaged the seller--I don't think there's any libel issues, but send me a PM if you're more comfortable with that (or not).

It's fortunate you're skilled at bodywork--the mechanical issues will seem trivial by comparison.

Your well on the way keep it going don't give up ,keep posting pics

Hey Christophe,
You are an ambitious man starting the restoration on this BT7 along with the BN1 Nasty Boy you told us about recently ! It is a real shame that someone sold your Dad what he was told was a nice car and turned out to be so poorly done. But fortunately, you will be able to correct all the problems. Looks like you are off to a good start. Hopefully the drive train is better than the body and certainly better than the steering gear you described. Good luck and continue to post pictures of both projects, we all love to look at 'em.
Regards,
Mike

Excuse me, it is a 1960. My father should have done his due diligence and looked the car over more thoroughly. He is very trusting and since the person mentioned below was supposed to be a reputable builder, he took his word and thought the car would be a great driver for my mother to enjoy. It's unfortunate and i am sure this story has been told many times. I sell a lot of my cars at auction and i always have photos and documentation out for all to see. If, especially in this day in age, someone does not have photos, receipts, and documentation of the restoration of a car, WALK AWAY!

Here is the description from the auction.
This car offered for auction here, finished in lovely and traditional Old English White with red trim with black top was the subject of a ground-up, total restoration in the mid-1990's. It has recently been re-commissioned and fully detailed by marque specialist Kurt Tanner Restorations. This beautiful MK I roadster additionally features a later, improved centershift transmission with overdrive and a 150bhp BJ-8 specification engine. It is presented for sale with a BMIHT certificate attesting to its original specifications, and is supplied with its original and correctly styled 60-spoke painted wire wheels. It is fully tuned and serviced, ready to enjoy and drives very well. With the high cost of restoring these vehicles today, this excellent 3000 roadster offers exceptional value and good investment potential.

Mike, Just this one for now. I am going to work in what i can when i can. Since it was purchased for my mother, i am putting my parents to work on it. My mother is a sculptor, so surely she can handle some of the bodywork. I have a 63 split window corvette restomod and a 67 mustang fastback restomod that i am currently building and I must have them ready for auction next spring. The BN1 will be sitting on the back burner until my other two builds are completed.

What a disappointment for your parents. If I did not live so far away I'd offer to help your mother sand. Hopefully you will get her car back on the road soon for all to enjoy.

Keep us posted,
Irene

let me know if you want to sell it!

I'm sure they would be happy to sell it to you for what they have in it, but something tells me you will not want to pay that price.

Well, I finally found time to put in a few days on the 1960 Healey. She is officially completely naked, even though these pictures only show her half so. All panels have been dropped off for blasting. I have to say, this car was even more of a polished turd than i thought. Shame on Kurt Tanner for ever representing this as a restored car. He intentionally deceived my father and that still makes me angry. From my observation, i would call him a very dishonest person!!!

Moving along very, very slowly.
Since this is my mother's car, I put her to work removing the interior and labeling all the small parts.



We spent about six hours Tuesday stripping down the rest of the interior, pulling the radiator, draining the gas, removing the gas tank, and then pulling and disassembling the steering box to see why in the world this car has been locking up when going into a left hand turn.



Here is what I found when i pulled the steering column with worm gear out of the box. Something went horribly wrong with the upper bearing and it ate itself and the bearing race that is seated in the box itself. I found one bearing rolling around in the box before removal of the column, so that leads me to believe that the ball bearing was getting wedge between the worm gear and the peg at different points. IM sure glad nobody died driving this car. I had it lock up on me half way into a left turn one day, but i had sense enough to slam on the brakes before i went into oncoming traffic. Of course, Kurt Tanner said it drove like a dream, but the steering box issues have been going on since the day the car arrived.






The portion of the column(right next to worm gear) where the bearing rides is pretty eaten up, so I ordered a new column from Denis Welch Motorsport. It cost around 500 after shipping, but will be well worth it. Since my mother is 64 and not very strong anymore, i ordered the standard gear instead of the quick ratio.

Other findings

I'm no expert, but this appears to be a fabricated gas tank. It is made out of galvanized steel in some places. From what i can tell, someone took the useable parts of the original tank and then welded them into new steel. It's a heavy SOB, that's for sure. Thoughts?








Thanks for the help in advance!

It's definitely a fabricated tank. A proper tank looks like this one: https://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=59645. There is a fellow selling aluminum ones on eBay that several people on the forum have commented favorably on, but you will have to do a search for his name.

Thanks for the reply! I'll probably just stick with the steel unit for $195.00. Anybody want a custom galvanized steel tank? It doesn't leak, surprisingly!

christophe said:

Moving along very, very slowly.
Since this is my mother's car, I put her to work removing the interior and labeling all the small parts.



We spent about six hours Tuesday stripping down the rest of the interior, pulling the radiator, draining the gas, removing the gas tank, and then pulling and disassembling the steering box to see why in the world this car has been locking up when going into a left hand turn.



Here is what I found when i pulled the steering column with worm gear out of the box. Something went horribly wrong with the upper bearing and it ate itself and the bearing race that is seated in the box itself. I found one bearing rolling around in the box before removal of the column, so that leads me to believe that the ball bearing was getting wedge between the worm gear and the peg at different points. IM sure glad nobody died driving this car. I had it lock up on me half way into a left turn one day, but i had sense enough to slam on the brakes before i went into oncoming traffic. Of course, Kurt Tanner said it drove like a dream, but the steering box issues have been going on since the day the car arrived.






The portion of the column(right next to worm gear) where the bearing rides is pretty eaten up, so I ordered a new column from Denis Welch Motorsport. It cost around 500 after shipping, but will be well worth it. Since my mother is 64 and not very strong anymore, i ordered the standard gear instead of the quick ratio.

Other findings

I'm no expert, but this appears to be a fabricated gas tank. It is made out of galvanized steel in some places. From what i can tell, someone took the useable parts of the original tank and then welded them into new steel. It's a heavy SOB, that's for sure. Thoughts?








Thanks for the help in advance!

Click to expand...

First thing...be nice to mom! She's dismantling the hardest interior to do in a Healey...BJ8. Second...MOSS I believe has the new tanks at a 30% discount right now...it's a no brainer considering all the problems you can have with repaired tanks(been there, done that).

Im doing free labor at the age of 37, I would say that is pretty nice.

I wonder why this BT7 has BJ8 interior???

Doesn't look BJ8 to me.

Good to know. I am not an expert and we are just going by what others say and what we find in books. The car does have a 67 engine and later transmission, so maybe that is where the confusion set in earlier.

I had the same experience with steering locking up on my 1960 BT7. Really exciting! $700 later it turns nicely now.

wayneah60 said:

I had the same experience with steering locking up on my 1960 BT7. Really exciting! $700 later it turns nicely now.

Click to expand...

I'm not quite sure what happened, but if i had to guess i would say it appears that someone must have removed the cover of the box and let the bearing assembly fall down and hang up. When they tightened the cover, it popped one bent the bearing assembly and let it ride on the lower part of the column instead of the machined backside of the worm gear. Eventually that caused the bearing assembly to be mangled and allowed a ball bearing to pop out and make its way into the area with the worm gear and oil.

Steering box is repaired with the New Denis Welch column, new bearings and races, and new seals. The only thing i didnt replace was the bushing for the arm.

Small victories...baby steps!!! Turns like a champ now and is very smooth. I went with the standard ratio.




I still need to wetsand and paint everything, so don't judge. Should the top of the box be bare aluminum or painted black with the rest?



The race was too big and was pressed into place and partially fused after the bearing ate the lip of the cast iron and the race at the same time. I had to drill two small holes in the back of the box so i could get a punch onto the back side of the race/bearing seat in order to pop it out.



After I rebuilt the steering box, i used 3m panel bond to plug up the holes. You might call this a "Bubba" repair, but i assure you, it is not. This is not JB weld. I have used 3m panel bond to repair a cracked tractor oil pan before. This is probably one of the most amazing products I have ever discovered. I normally use it for gluing fiberglass panels on Corvettes, not for repairs.



Once it is done curing, about 8 hours, i will sand it and nobody will ever know that those holes were present.