Abandoned project; what's it worth?

[TFR1]

Nader,
There are many who advertise that they will take the car, most will not pay what you should expect.
Craigslist will generate interest, but can be a big consumer of your time.
My suggestion, run an ad in Hemmings. Not too expensive and you will get inquiries from around the world for the next 3 months.

Good luck,

TFR1

 

[John Turney]

...

Has anyone heard anything about this outfit in Carnation, WA called Giordano's Vintage Motors? They have a running ad in the local Craigslist asking for big Healeys in any condition.

I don't know Giordano's, but I understand most of these dealers ship them off to Europe to be sold where the prices are much higher.

 

[Nader]

In a small bit of good news, I managed to work loose the flywheel from the clutch. I even had the pleasure of driving this thing up and down my long driveway. I learned that the car at least has a functional first and reverse gear, and the brakes are going to need a serious bleeding. Also, the heavy steering stays heavy even when the car is moving several miles per hour. Carbs need tuning. Clutch is still intermittent in its action, but it was pretty satisfying to be able to drive the car up the lift ramp on its own power instead of using the winch. So, that's one headache that's remedied itself. I think I may proceed with some of the restoration here on my own. Maybe get it to a point where I can drive it around the neighborhood and into a mechanic's shop to address leaks and tuning.

 

[Randy Forbes]

There's a lot more value (perceived as well as actual) in a project that runs; congratulations, you just turned the corner!

Bleeding the brakes *might* prove to be beneficial, but I'd put my money on the bet that says__at a minimum__you'll need to rebuild most/all the cylinders, replacing the rubber kits. British car brakes do very poorly when they sit idle__even for just six (6) months (a note to ANYONE with a project, get in and pump the pedal several strokes whenever it crosses your mind__I was able to keep the brakes "alive" during several years of non-op with my own car).

The carbs, if they're the correct HD-6s will almost certainly need new diaphragms (that's what the "D" represents; the "H" means horizontal...). Periods of non-operation will leave the rubber brittle, and it'll crack as soon as you pull out the choke. I have numerous pictures from rebuilding some HD8s (8= 2"; 6= 1-3/4") starting here: https://www.spcarsplus.com/gallery3/index.php/reMKIII?page=4 At present, the (entire) gallery contains nearly 37,000 pictures (mostly BMW) feel free to look at any of the albums that interest you (great if you suffer insomnia too...).

I have a post in which I *linked* all the Healey relevant Healey pictures in my gallery (I've done a lot of work on them) I'll see if I can dig it up and edit it into this post...

The clutch will get better with use, as the surfaces as "slipped" clean; include the master and slave cylinders with the brake overhaul.

 

[Randy Forbes]

Nader, here's a link to the post with all my gallery links in it. As stated in that post, several of these albums have additional albums embedded within, so there's a good chance that I have views of nearly any Healey component broken down/reassembled. It's just sort of what I do (though mostly to BMWs, but hey, a guy has to make a living ).

https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf...ish-Field-Meet&p=853373&viewfull=1#post853373

 

[Nader]

Thanks, Randy. I'll sift through those pictures.

I rebuilt all the wheel cylinders while working on the hydraulics, but never bench-bled the master cylinders before installation, so I think that's where the air may be trapped.

As for the carbs, if things don't perk up with the twist of a couple screws, then that's all the excuse I'll need to go with triple Webers.

I decided to pick up where I left off a year and a half ago when I stopped working on this project and patch up some rot in the trunk. Here's a couple of pics. My welds usually look like bird sh*t, but they're especially bad since I was running out of shielding gas. But everything looks better after a good grinding. The orange paint is self-etching weld-thru primer. After I get another bottle of gas, I'll finish the patch, weld up some kind of battery tray, paint the trunk black, and install the new gas tank I've had stashed for a while. The original Armacord (is that what it's called?) was in tatters, so I pulled it all.

 

[stinky60]

Looking good already, I believe you made the right decision, these are really fun cars , been working on my BT 7 for ten years got the engine running today. Do like Randy said when you rebuild something like brake components and clutch dont let it sit work the brakes and clutch so the seals won't dry up . Bob

 

[Randy Forbes]

Thanks, Randy. I'll sift through those pictures.

I rebuilt all the wheel cylinders while working on the hydraulics, but never bench-bled the master cylinders before installation, so I think that's where the air may be trapped.

As for the carbs, if things don't perk up with the twist of a couple screws, then that's all the excuse I'll need to go with triple Webers.

I decided to pick up where I left off a year and a half ago when I stopped working on this project and patch up some rot in the trunk. Here's a couple of pics. My welds usually look like bird sh*t, but they're especially bad since I was running out of shielding gas. But everything looks better after a good grinding. The orange paint is self-etching weld-thru primer. After I get another bottle of gas, I'll finish the patch, weld up some kind of battery tray, paint the trunk black, and install the new gas tank I've had stashed for a while. The original Armacord (is that what it's called?) was in tatters, so I pulled it all.

Slippery slope...