1962 Austin Healey BT7 Mk II

[CLB62]

Hi All,

I finally finished the restoration (freshtoration - drive train was working fine...so mostly bodywork, paint and interior) of my 1962 Austin Healey BT7 Mk II. Just about all of the work was done by BritishCarForum member "healeyblue"...I did most of the interior.

Randy Forbes knows this car as it belonged to his longtime friend Mike Foote. It sat in a building for 12 years...to be rescued and brought back to life.

Here's a short video of the progression in pics...not many pics here but you get the picture. This is over a 6 year span.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZqnaGwarQE

So, yesterday I finished the rear seat backrest and decided to take it for a drive today. This is the first drive I've taken with it of any appreciable distance...sorry for the noisy fuel pump and the learning curve I'm having to go thru on the crashbox tranny .

https://youtu.be/B2D9SfaoYq8


Let me know what you guys think!

Craig

 

[steveg]

Nice video of a nice car!

 

[Rob Glasgow]

Craig, thanks for taking me for a ride. You've done a terrific job with the car. I am very envious of the short throw of the center shift gearbox. My side shift is a least double the throw in each gear. Glad you've got it back on the road. Beautiful color combination.

 

[Lin]

Well done!
Lin

 

[CLB62]

Nice video of a nice car!

Thanks Steve...just like messing around with video software.

Craig

 

[CLB62]

Craig, thanks for taking me for a ride. You've done a terrific job with the car. I am very envious of the short throw of the center shift gearbox. My side shift is a least double the throw in each gear. Glad you've got it back on the road. Beautiful color combination.

Thanks Rob. The vast majority of the work was done by Jim (healeyblue). He and I have a history of over 20 years of putting cars back on the road (mostly Porsches).



I do like the center shift too...

I'm a fan of a white car with red interior. This car was originally white...I chose a late 60's color (Glacier White) as I imagined it could have been repainted 10 years down the line, added the red coves and red interior / black piping with black carpet (I think the black carpet makes the red interior more accentuated).

Craig

 

[CLB62]

Well done!
Lin

Thanks Lin!

 

[RestoreThemAll]

Very nice car. Fun Ride!

 

[CLB62]

Very nice car. Fun Ride!

Thanks Dale.

I see from your signature that your restoration is ongoing into the distant future:friendly_wink: ...mine started in 2013...6 years of piecing it all together.

 

[RestoreThemAll]

I work on it and make great progress for a month or three. Then life takes over. It is a rolling/driving chassis. I half joke that early Sunday mornings when the drunks are still sleeping, and the church folks and the sheriff are enjoying a sermon, I take the Healey for a ride around the block. I am close enough to finish by fall.

 

[longbridgehealey]

Great job! Love the color

 

[CLB62]

I work on it and make great progress for a month or three. Then life takes over. It is a rolling/driving chassis. I half joke that early Sunday mornings when the drunks are still sleeping, and the church folks and the sheriff are enjoying a sermon, I take the Healey for a ride around the block. I am close enough to finish by fall.

That's funny...you mean like this?

http://youtu.be/4rn7HGGKMPs


This was before disassembly.


​Craig

 

[CLB62]

Great job! Love the color

​Thanks, it's Glacier White(BLVC 59) from the 1970-1972 British Leyland Motor Company color chart.



I like that color (had 3 Porsches that color) and could have imagined someone doing a paint job on it in 1972 (tens years later...it may have needed a paint job) and choosing Glacier White from the BLMC color chart.:tennis:

 

[RestoreThemAll]

Yup Craig, just like that...I mean no that would be illegal. Mine didn't have body panels. So its farm equipment. Legal that way.

 

[CLB62]

Yup Craig, just like that...I mean no that would be illegal. Mine didn't have body panels. So its farm equipment. Legal that way.

OK Dale...ya got me. So, I reloaded the video in the post above to meet your legal requirements in an agricultural way. But, sshhhh...don't tell healeyblue as he might not like that I plowed his yard 6 years ago. :emmersed:

​Craig

 

[madhouse]

just saw this thread - great looking and running healey! I only wish my fuel pump was that quiet, i'm still looking for an air leak, or something else to keep the rat-a-tat-tat down to a minimum.
thanks for posting your videos.
Rob