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Healey barn find

  • Thread starter jeffsautomobilia
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jeffsautomobilia

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On Wednesday night I got a phone call from my Brother-in-law. His Dad who aways listens to tradio said someone called in with an Austin Healey for sale. I called expecting the car to be a sprite, but the guy said it was a 6 cylinder/overdrive car. I was at his (and his 80+ year old Mothers) house at 8:00 am Thursday. I brought this 63 Austin-Healey 3000 BJ7 home Saturday morning and it was only 20 miles from my house. The owner (who passed away 1 year ago) bought it in 1967 and was last licenced in 1973. It has 45,000 miles and there is not a single piece missing from this car. I hope to have it running in the next few weeks.

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Congratulations!!...wow would that be fun to find!! You must have felt like it was the best Christmas ever!

Cheers,
Steve
 
If that is a true, unrestored survivor, then it might be valuable to the Concours folks to document the original condition of all parts, such as whether they are plated, plain, painted or not, what color, etc. My guess is that most of that has already been done, but it can never hurt to add to the knowledge base.
 
Very Nice! Depending on desire and condition keeping it all original - non restored could be a good direction. Either way Congrat's!
 
Thanks for all the compliments. The frame does have rust through although the out riggers and floor pans appear to be in good condition. The door alignment is good and the open and close as good as my restored BT7. Now the task to get it running, it was last licenced in 1973 and probably has not been ran since.
 
jeffsautomobilia said:
Thanks for all the compliments. The frame does have rust through although the out riggers and floor pans appear to be in good condition. The door alignment is good and the open and close as good as my restored BT7. Now the task to get it running, it was last licenced in 1973 and probably has not been ran since.
Click to expand...
I'm sure you have your own procedure, but if it were me...

Put about an once or two of Kroil in each cylinder and let it sit for a week. Do this BEFORE trying to turn the engine over by hand.

I can just about guarantee that the rubber diaphragms in the carbs are dry-rotted and cracked, so you might as well go through them while the Kroil is soaking (the intention is to free the rings that are stuck to both, the bore, and to the piston lands).

Drain off the oil and replenish after the week of sitting with Kroil, assuming you can turn the engine by hand. If the engine is stuck tight, no point in wasting the oil. I wouldn't recommend starting it on the thirty-plus (30+) year old oil in the crankcase now. Just fill it up with some light (30wt) oil, as you'll likely be flushing it a few times anyway.

Don't even think about using the original fuel tank! Rig up a separate electric pump drawing from a can. If you have an outboard, that will make a good temporary source for fuel. It won't even hurt if there's a little oil still mixed with the gas :wink:

Of course, you already know that the brakes will be useless; I'd purchase new cylinders and completely go through the calipers and master cylinder.

Then, you can address the issue of deferred maintenance!
 
I never heard of Kroil before, where do you purchase it? I have used in the past diesel fuel with a little ATF and was able to un-freeze. I have a fuel can rigged up with an electric fuel pump ready for the task. I have 5 of the 6 spark plugs out, the last one is being real stubborn. I'll keep you all posted.
 
cutlas, i didnt mean my statement to be a negative one at all!, such a car is as you said a very valuable asset to the austin healey community, he will be digging into his project soon if he hasnt allready all of us here would!, thus..."let the games begin". :yesnod:
 
Anthony: I didn't take your comments as negative at all. If it were mine, I would probably do another multi-year complete restoration. Restoration is fun.
 
Nice find ! Just goes to show you that there are a few still out there.
Plus the way everyone comments back and forth on this forum
is great. No one gets their nose out of joint or thinks they know better.
I've owned a 356 Porsche and been in the 356 Registry. A lot of real nice
guys in it but some world class jerks too who think they know everything
and will blast you for asking a dumb question. Not that I would ever ask
a dumb question !!!!
Regards,
Mike
 
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