• 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

BN1 without heater?

Share this page

MadRiver

MadRiver

Jedi Knight
Bronze
Country flag
Offline
Hello Healey people!

I'm looking at a BN1 this weekend or next, and the photos sent to me by the current owner reveal that the car lacks a heater. All of the references say this is rare, but not impossible. From the photos, the car appears to have a very different setup for the choke and fresh-air intake, both of which are mounted on a small panel under the dash, but flush with it.

Also, I've got another quick question for the 100 cogniscenti -- the dashboard (including the instrument cluster) is covered with vinyl, as opposed to being painted. Was this an original option?

Many thanks! This is my first venture into 100 territory, so collective wisdom is most welcome.
 
Answer to second question: Vinly covering for the dash was listed in the options available from Healey. Or it may have been leather - my copy of the list is at home so I can't consult it. Related was vinyl covering of the aluminum cockpit surround. I have seen neither, in real life or photos. It's more likely covering some serious flaw in the instument panel. The non-standard placement of the choke and air control plus the absence of the heater all raise my suspicion of something amiss in the area. Is there a heater tap on the distributer side of the engine? What about the heater outlet on the top of the water pump? Can you post pictures?
 
Thanks for everyone's comments. I must admit that I rather like the challenge, and it gives me a chance to play around with the car and get to know it. The biggest barrier for me on this car is that the chassis was painted flat black, including the portions of the frame/chassis that you can see in the engine compartment. Knowing myself as I do, that will drive me crazy. There are two spots under the hood of my 250 that aren't all shiney, and it irks me every time I look at it.

Thanks for the advice! I'll keep everyone posted!
 
Are you sure it's flat black paint and not undercoating? You wouldn't believe what people do to frames and then undercoat it. I worked on one car that had rust-out covered with duct tape, undercoated. Another with rusted-out metal replaced with flattened Italian cookie (biscuit in UK) tins, pop-riveted in place, undercoated! Caveat very emptor.
 
AH100M said:
Are you sure it's flat black paint and not undercoating?
Click to expand...

A very good point.

Here's a photo of the dash, by the way. The arrow points to the questionable knobs:

Healey Interior.jpg
 
100s delivered to Australia were supplied without heater. That's OK up here in sunny Queensland but I would have thought a frigid Victorian winter would make the heater a necessity! Perhaps the heater was deleted for other markets as well?
The cockpit, though not original looks OK with only superficial mods. The controls under the dash look quite neat, better than groping around for the original cable controls. In RH drive countries, the fresh air knob is in front of the driver and the choke is attached to the parcel shelf.
Vinyl covering of the dash was optional but I only know of one BN2 over here that has had this from new.
 
Like pan, my 100 was delivered to Australia without a heater, my controls are as described above, however mine has the dash (2 piece) done in black wrinkle finish, no other paint traces were found under this in the refurb, and I've owned it since 1970
 
I just looked at the original bill of sale for my 67 BJ8. Even at the end of production, the heater was a $59 option. The wind up windows were included at no extra charge though.
 
With or without heater, those knobs & estucheon don't look original to me. They should all be hidden at various parts under the dash...
 
Hi Bill S,All those little bits and bobs that don't look quite right are very easy to put right if you choose .Car looks good and well cared for to me. If the price suits you BUY IT!---Keoke
 
That's true keoke, the car looks very nice. Buy it regardless of the current knobilature.
 
Early BN1 100's frames were painted black on the white cars. After a point they were painted body color. I have seen two early 100's with that color. It was paint, not undercoating. If the frame has been unmolested then buy the car, the modifications aren't major, as Keoke says, and can easily be fixed. Personally I've never used the heater and have never been cold in a Healey.
 
Back
Top