• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

100-4 rebuild/restore questions...

Share this page

T

TravisTowle

Freshman Member
Offline
I just found a 100-4 that belonged to my father years ago, but not much of the car is left but the body and skeleton frame. It is missing the chassis, engine, seats, dash, windshield, and running gear. The guy who bought it from my dad cut the running gear and main frame out for a kit car build in the 60's and those parts are long gone. I just found the chassis.tiff on another sight and I am thinking about making a chassis out of scratch and finding a mga or mgb to use for the running gear and engine, but making the car look on the outside like an original 100-4 with a mga or b engine. If I can find original rusty running gear and engine to rebuild I would do that but I am not a rich guy, but i am very skilled in restoration work and can bring dogs that no one will waste time on back to life again.

QUESTION 1: is this a real bad idea to put a mga or b in this car or should I save the car for the next 10-20 years and try to restore it right? Problem with doing it right is I may never get it done that way unless I can find a dog of a parts car to restore the parts on.

QUESTION 2: does anyone have or know of an old rusty frame I can buy or have that I can use as an exact dimension for building my new one. I would like to find one someone is junking after buying a replacement chassis... I am skilled enough I can do my own concours chassis build using a old rusty frame for measurement and the blueprints.

QUESTION 3: does anyone know where I can find an original rusty running gear, engine, trans, springs that I can restore and put on my car?

I will try to post photos of my Healey as it is now... And I have restored and unrestored antique gas pumps, and candy machines that I can trade for parts. I also have an antique original walrus ivory tusk for trade for parts...


Travis Towle
Topeka, Kansas

785-408-3409
Edit​
 
photofeb19184259.jpg

photofeb19184449.jpg
photofeb19184502.jpg




Travis Towle
Topeka, Kansas


785-408-3409
 
Travis,
I have three MGA's and a BJ8. One of the nice things about the 100-4 is the performance which you will loose with an MG engine. That said it is very easy to find an MGB engine and you want preferably a 5 main engine made around 1967 if possible. The dimensions of the original chasis are easy to locate. If I were you I would build the chasis and body while looking for a good deal on a used restorable Healey drive train. Have a good day!
 
I would not put in an MG engine. I think you will be very disappointed with the performance. The Healey engine was 2.4+ litres where the MG is what, 1.8 or so? Nowhere near the torque of the Austin engine. I would wait to find a Austin 4cyl, which will be expensive along with its transmission or go the V8 route. Since the car is already in process of that modification you are not destroying a good intact car. If you are concerned with value, a V8 conversion will be worth more than a MG conversion but neither will be worth the value of having an Austin engine. FWIW
 
With how much of that car is missing, the cost to repair it even with a ton of sweat equity is going to be cost prohibitive. If I had the skills to build my own frame, I'd be looking at building a tube frame with a Mustang II type front end, american V8 power and rear axle and hanging the body on that. Kind of like a Cobra kit car.

qrkz9y.jpg

From this build: https://www.modifiedhealeys.org/Photos/22Stanley/Stanley.htm

Take a look at what some other folks have done here: https://www.modifiedhealeys.org/ here: https://www.britishv8.org/Photos-Austin-Healey-Conversions.htm and here: https://www.hotrod.com/featuredvehicles/113_0703_custom_austin_healey_v8/
 
I am not against dumping a ton of time, my work, or any extra pennys I can save up into the car at all. I am at the end of a 8 year total restoration of a 1926 ford model T that I dumped 36 grand in that I will be finishing this year and the most I can get out of it is maybe 15,000. But like the Healey it is not for sale. It always seems cheaper when you buy a part here and there, but when you start adding up all those old receipts man that ending number gets high quick.

I will try to get the car built back to correct first and after reading the comments here I feel I might be able to locate the rusty parts I need at a price I can afford. I was just put out of the game when I was quoted 8,100 for a new chassis and then was being quoted 75 thousand plus for parts. I was starting to think people that own these must be the kind of people that can toss thousand dollar bills around like I can penny's.

I am not against driving across the country to pick up and pay cash for the parts I need either. I just sent a text out on the chassis, and will start checking eBay right now.


Travis Towle
Topeka, Kansas

785-408-3409
 
Maybe it is time to think about making the first hybrid Healey. Get a small two cylinder engine to run a 15kw generator with an electric motor to drive the wheels.
 
Of course it would be cheaper to find a complete car and restore it. Wait a minute , it would be cheaper to find an older restoration and redo it with your skills. Why spend all the time and money chasing down parts and bits ? My two bits worth.
 
I think there is sentimental feelings towards this particular car, being his dad used to own it. I have that thing also.
 
How about a Triumph TR 4 cylinder motor?, a TR4A engine has slightly more power than a stock 100 motor and is a torquey, low revving motor like the 100 unit, it is probably very slightly lighter, but much more plentiful and cheaper for finding a good used unit and or getting parts. I put an 87mm "high compression, big bore" kit in my old 4A and it was a really sweet running motor. Have no idea of dimensions and fit. That all being said the bodies of the old 100 often rusted away, but the mechanical bits not so much, and also they were somewhat popular for engine swaps (though usually after something went wrong with the original unit) back in the day, so there may be some old Hundred blocks out there if you keep poking around on the net and in old foreign car shops and LBC clubs.
 
Travis,

I think it's fantastic you want to get this Big Healey back on the road in original trim. If you have the data plate and clear title you have a good start; someone was recently looking for just the data plate/VIN--if you have those you have something significant already.
 
Body batch number is all I can find:

photofeb20214431.jpg


My dad bought this car new in Hawaii in 1955 and had the navy ship it back to Topeka when he left the navy intel office, he sold it for 850.00 in the late 60's. If it was not originally his I would not have bothered to buy it, but would be working on a model t armored car instead.

I will also post some photos of my other work that other restorers have refused, but I restored with no problems. This car should not be that big of a problem for me. I find it more fun to restore things like this because most people can not picture the finished product. The gas pump in the following photos was hit by cars on 3 sides, it took me 2 weeks to get it back to new specks inside and out.

photofeb20215452.jpg


photofeb20215535.jpg



Travis Towle
Topeka, Kansas

785-408-3409
 
Back
Top