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How much different is it? Also, I need some advic

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TimeforChange

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I am curious as to how different the mechanics of a british car like the Healey is compared to an American car. Say I were to go take classes on auto repair and maintenance. Will there be any difference in applying what i've learned to a Healey? For someone who's just wanting to learn about cars and repair/maintenance, what do you suggest? Anyone know of any good courses here in the so cal area that could be of help? What tools should I invest in? Do you have links for them? Any advice would be great. Thanks guys
 
Welocme to the forum.

Any good quality auto mechanics course should give you the basics of working on our little gems. Most of the older British cars were very simple and basic compared with today's electronicly controlled misfits and marvels.

I can't help you with a good school in SoCal but in regards to tools...buy the best you can afford. You will need all the basic hand tools (ratchets, sockets, box and open end wrentches, pliers, etc.). Torque wrench is a must but most important is the volt meter. If you work on LBC's you will be chasing electrical gremlins, no doubt about it. A good volt meter and the knowlwdge on how to use it will save you many hours of frustration.

To learn about Healey's and other LBC's stay tuned here. Get active in the chat room. The combine knowledge and experience of the members here is probably somewhere in the millions of hours of hard knocks know-how. I have learned much here and so can you.
 
Thanks. How complicated are the electrical systems in cars. I don't know anything about the electrical setup of cars or anything as a matter of fact. How difficult will it be to get into and understanding it?
 
Re: How much different is it? Also, I need some a

The electrical systems themselves I find to be pretty straight forward (somebody mark that quote when I am changing my wiring harness out in the next couple of months). There is a basic logic to the color coding. Check out my download page (on austin-healeys.com)for an example of a wiring harness.

Patton
 
Re: How much different is it? Also, I need some a

I absolutely hate all things electrical and I just replaced the entire harness in my car and it works great. Get a Green A/H shop manual and take it to Kinkos, Office Depot etc and have the diagram page blown up as big as you can get it and it is fool proof, like I said I did it. NUFF CED
 
Re: How much different is it? Also, I need some a

Time,
I'm trying to be more optimistic, so my description of British wiring is: "Creative" to say the least and to some extent " Ahead of it's time" inasmuch as it was uneccessarily wierd and prone to making you chase your tail way back then, just like the new electronics are doing today the only difference is, like Darwin stated, a good Multi-Meter will really help you track down electrical problems. Please bear in mind that the it seems the British were comfortable building an alternator and then designing a car around it. But - for the most part it works - just beware of the fact that they were fond of changing things on the fly to suit them, sometimes in the middle of a model year ( Which was not really well defined to say the least), and sometimes less than perfectly documented.

The good thing is that a lot of the people in this forum have been down the road already and have identified most of the more obvious snafus and are really good about sharing their hard-won knowledge.
 
Re: How much different is it? Also, I need some a

Mechanical/electrical theory very much alike. Big difference,in many cases, on how "tight" a space you have to work in...(having a left wrist on a right arm would help) Often a simple job (on an american car) like replacing the brake master cyl. becomes a frustrating test of will on a big Healy....and don't get me started on the stuck brass bolts on the exaust system!...GOOD TIP:buy lots of "PB Blaster" or other rust spray brands and take a class in ZEN...("the jewel is in the eye of the lotus"..."the master cyl is under the *%7#@!!? manifold..." etc.)
 
If you do get an AH manual beware of which diagram to blow up, it has taken me two years to figure out that the early cars referred to in section NNN are presumably early BJ8s and not BJ7s though the NNN section covers both. My first encounter was replacing the horn, I had to revert to the N diagram and just now, the indicator system. A quick call to my friendly AH mechanic confirmed the discrepancy. So for me and my BJ7 its the very early diagram in section N for BN4s with an accasional check against the NNN if things do not look right.

Bob /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/england.gif
 
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