christophe
Jedi Trainee
Offline
Hello all! I purchased this car last weekend on a whim and now that i have had a chance to really look it over, im glad i did. That might sound odd, but after initial purchase i was a somewhat nervous, but i've found that is usually the case when buying such an old car. The second owner modified the car in 1967 to accept a 283 Chevy V8 and a chevy 3 speed with overdrive. I know that a lot of people probably do not like modified cars, but this appealed to me since i am very familiar and used to working with early Chevy V8s.
Anyway, here are some pictures.
BTW, where can i find the chassis number??? Should there be a plate on the frame somewhere? What about stamps on the body? The only tag on the car is a repop that is screwed into the firewall. I was concerned about this initially, but when the seller showed me the title from 1963 with the same VIN, those concerns subsided. The VIN and previous title state that this is number 158588.
1954 Austin-Healey. The VIN is still odd thought, starting with BTVIL
She's not much to look at right now, but oddly, i kind of like it that way. The car was originally triple black from what i can tell, no to mention the information on the title from 63 states that is was black, but i like the blue. However, if i end up doing a complete restoration at some point, i might go back to black.
I took the car for a quick test drive the other day, but it's really not safe to drive in its current condition. The front driver's wheel moves outward at the top when i depress the brakes. The brakes are also spongy. My to do list before driving is:
1. replace front suspension
2. Inspect, diagnose, and fix drum brakes
3. Add seat belts
4. Replace throttle linkage and add lokar pedal. The homemade linkage is scary and falling apart.
5. Replace trunk floor and reattach gas tank straps
6. Replace old tires with new non whitewalls.
7. Drain fuel, clean and seal tank, replace fuel filter, and replace rotting gas line and reroute away from hot exhaust gases.
8. Set valve lash, timing, and change oil.
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283 engine shoehorned in place. Previous owner did this conversion in 1967. The footboxes were narrowed, custom engine mounts made utilizing c1 style front mount, and custom fiberglass transmission tunnel to clear 57 chevy manual 3 speed with overdrive.
I think an oval style air cleaner will look better. I was testing this idea out using a Roush air cleaner that i have for another build. This one does not clear, but a polished aluminum unit from billet specialties with a smaller air cleaner should.
Edelbrock 8867 carb, which looks like a spread bore to me, but i could be wrong. The secondaries look much larger than the primaries. I believe only the primaries are functioning currently.
Vintage Prestolite Electronic ignition. It works, but i think i will have Lars build a distributor and switch back to a points system. The car came with 3 extra distributors and another partially melted prestolite box, so that tells me that somebody had a lot of issues with the ignition system in the past.
Original gas tank. Its in good condition overall, but the tank surround has been patched in various places and the straps pulled through at some point. Looks like somebody left the washers off the strap studs and that is what caused the issue.
Custom hood made by the second owner. I guess he was going for the LeMans look. He used custom mounts and shelby hood pins to latch the hood since the original latch mechanism, which was in the middle, had to be removed for clearance of the distributor.
Overall the car is solid. It needs inner and outer rockers, a patch on the driver's rear quarter, gas tank surround/trunk floor, and a patch on the lower front inner fenders, but considering its age, that is not bad. The frame, floor boards, and rest of the body are very solid. Plus, it does not appear that this car has ever been hit. The wheel wells, fenders, quarters, and doors show no signs of repairs.
If I decide to keep the car long term, i will probably switch to a muncie 4 speed. The engine only smokes at start up and it's a quick, small plume, so that is likely just the valve guides. While i always like adding more cubic inches, the 283 should provide plenty of power when set up with aluminum heads, Edelbrock EPS dual plane intake, and a quickfuel 600cfm carb.
Anyway, here are some pictures.
BTW, where can i find the chassis number??? Should there be a plate on the frame somewhere? What about stamps on the body? The only tag on the car is a repop that is screwed into the firewall. I was concerned about this initially, but when the seller showed me the title from 1963 with the same VIN, those concerns subsided. The VIN and previous title state that this is number 158588.
1954 Austin-Healey. The VIN is still odd thought, starting with BTVIL
She's not much to look at right now, but oddly, i kind of like it that way. The car was originally triple black from what i can tell, no to mention the information on the title from 63 states that is was black, but i like the blue. However, if i end up doing a complete restoration at some point, i might go back to black.
I took the car for a quick test drive the other day, but it's really not safe to drive in its current condition. The front driver's wheel moves outward at the top when i depress the brakes. The brakes are also spongy. My to do list before driving is:
1. replace front suspension
2. Inspect, diagnose, and fix drum brakes
3. Add seat belts
4. Replace throttle linkage and add lokar pedal. The homemade linkage is scary and falling apart.
5. Replace trunk floor and reattach gas tank straps
6. Replace old tires with new non whitewalls.
7. Drain fuel, clean and seal tank, replace fuel filter, and replace rotting gas line and reroute away from hot exhaust gases.
8. Set valve lash, timing, and change oil.
283 engine shoehorned in place. Previous owner did this conversion in 1967. The footboxes were narrowed, custom engine mounts made utilizing c1 style front mount, and custom fiberglass transmission tunnel to clear 57 chevy manual 3 speed with overdrive.
I think an oval style air cleaner will look better. I was testing this idea out using a Roush air cleaner that i have for another build. This one does not clear, but a polished aluminum unit from billet specialties with a smaller air cleaner should.
Edelbrock 8867 carb, which looks like a spread bore to me, but i could be wrong. The secondaries look much larger than the primaries. I believe only the primaries are functioning currently.
Vintage Prestolite Electronic ignition. It works, but i think i will have Lars build a distributor and switch back to a points system. The car came with 3 extra distributors and another partially melted prestolite box, so that tells me that somebody had a lot of issues with the ignition system in the past.
Original gas tank. Its in good condition overall, but the tank surround has been patched in various places and the straps pulled through at some point. Looks like somebody left the washers off the strap studs and that is what caused the issue.
Custom hood made by the second owner. I guess he was going for the LeMans look. He used custom mounts and shelby hood pins to latch the hood since the original latch mechanism, which was in the middle, had to be removed for clearance of the distributor.
Overall the car is solid. It needs inner and outer rockers, a patch on the driver's rear quarter, gas tank surround/trunk floor, and a patch on the lower front inner fenders, but considering its age, that is not bad. The frame, floor boards, and rest of the body are very solid. Plus, it does not appear that this car has ever been hit. The wheel wells, fenders, quarters, and doors show no signs of repairs.
If I decide to keep the car long term, i will probably switch to a muncie 4 speed. The engine only smokes at start up and it's a quick, small plume, so that is likely just the valve guides. While i always like adding more cubic inches, the 283 should provide plenty of power when set up with aluminum heads, Edelbrock EPS dual plane intake, and a quickfuel 600cfm carb.