• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Jenson Healy information

Share this page

V

vanillagorilla75

Member
Offline
Hi everyone been a long time since I posted but wondering if anyone has thoughts on these cars. I found one here in Texas and was wondering if $2000 is to much or if it is even worth considering. Thank you for all your help and advise. Body is in good shape don't know about the mechanicals yet.
 
I Bought one in September- good body and a few minor cosmetic issues to sort out with a very smoly engine to re-build over the winter.

Whether $2000 is too much, fair or a bargain depends on the car and its condition. I personally think they're undervalued.

You'd probably be better to ask at the Jensen Healey Preservation Society for opinions:

https://www.jensenhealey.com/

So far as I know no one has put together a buyer's guide. In any case you'll need to carefully inspect it for rust throughout.
 
Thank you. I have checked with JHPS just wondering if there were any personal stories or thoughts toward the car. Thank you again. Mr. Wilson have you enjoyed he one you purchased?
 
I bought one a year or so ago. I'm just starting to wotrk on it. I find that it is a very interesting project. AS mentioned above, they are currently underpriced. I say buy as many as you can and keep them out of the rain.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
Steve
 
Re: Jensen Healey information

I’ve had mine since 1984.
2160winter_mode.jpg

rough_winter.jpg


It’s been a great car, fast and fun to drive, (mostly) easy to work on and mine’s been more reliable than it has a right to be. I haven’t put an awful lot of miles on mine but many of the cars in the club are daily drivers. As long as they’re well maintained they’ll go forever (of course that’s true for any car). I was lucky to find one that needed very little sorting out initially.

They’re not bullet proof, you do need to maintain them. The Lotus engine demands (and deserves) more respect than the typical powerplant of its day. That’s because it’s anything but typical, its architecture more closely resembling the Formula 1 engines’ of the era than normal street cars’. Parts availability is generally very good.

If mine got eaten today I’d be out looking for another one tomorrow. It’s pretty much universal for all old cars and it’s no different for the JH, the cheapest priced, most neglected and abused ones end up costing you the most. I would definitely look for the best one I could get my hands on.


PC.
 
Re: Jensen Healey information

If anyone needs any Jensen Healy parts a buddy of mine bought a bunch recently. Body parts, some engine and some interior. He will likely sell them pretty cheap so email him at bob (at) midlifeclassics.com
 
I discussed it here when I first got it:

https://www.britishcarforum.com/ubbthread...p;page=2#258170

And here:

https://www.joc.org.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1321

And there:

https://www.jensenhealey.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=712&forum_id=10


I really have enjoyed the car so far. I'm in the middle of resotring a Big Healey from the ground up and got a little frustrated at not having a car that moves- and the J-H really can do that. I've been nicely satisfied with it, though its needs a little fixing up and can be made better too.

As I said on the various fora, there are a number of minor issues to fix with it- window winders, fuel gauge, a gas smell sometimes, weak headlights, a couple of rust spots- and that smoky engine.

About the only real criticism I have of it so far is its gearing, with the stock transmission traveling on the motorway is a noisy experience.

Since I'm having to rebuild the engine sooner rather than later (I'd hoped it was good enough to pass inspection but I serious doubt that) I've decided to bite the bullet and upgrade to a transmission from a later Lotus Excel- the bell housing fits and its a Toyota 5 speed with a overdrive 5th ratio. It will be a little work sorting the clutch release but I can get advice on how that's done.

I got a spare engine with mine (from a '74 Elite) and I'll be rebuilding that over the winter- I've already acquired a 2.2 crank, high compression pistons for it, a high compression head, higher performance cams and a steel flywheel. I've few more goodies (poly bushings, new shocks) to get but those seem to be the major items.

This should give me ~180 HP as it did for the later Lotus engine whose design I'm copying, and probably more with proper balancing. Its possible to get 220 HP with a little hotter cam and porting. The stock engine is rated at 140 and I think I'd be very happy with that, certainly compared with the MGs and Triumphs I'd driven. But, since the engine's got to be done....
 
Nice looking car, PC. Really nice.

Do you guys still meet once a week in Costa Mesa? I would like to drop by one of the meetings (in my '65 Cortina GT).

Paul
 
Back
Top