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My Dad has to be laughing

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BOBBYR

BOBBYR

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Hi Guys ,
Last year I decided to build a new shop in the back for my Healey . Working with a few really good contractors , we broke ground and went for it . After the block and cement work was done , it was time to get the carpenters in so the structure would be closed up with winter coming . Of course we only want the best for our Austin Healeys so I hired an Amish crew of carpenters out of Pennsylvania to build the structure . I've got to tell you , these guys show up to work ! It took them 3 days to stick build and it was done .Their work is gorgeous . Over the winter , I've finished the electric and now I'm starting the insulation . Anyway , I should be finishing the shop this spring and hopefully starting a frame off restore in the fall . I'm not sure if you guys know this but my dad was the original owner of my 65 . I wonder if he knows what he started ?
Just a thought , BobbyR
 
I'm sure your dad would be happy, and proud. Were you interested in cars, esp. Healeys, before you acquired your dad's, or did it just grow on you?

When I bought my BJ8, my dad was borderline disgusted with me (he didn't care for 'foreign cars'). A few years later, he called to tell me he'd seen a '56 Austin-Healey for sale in the local paper. Thinking it was an early 6-cyl, I told him the price sounded about right. The next day, he called to tell me he bought it, it was a 4-cyl car and there was an 'M' on the registration (yep, it was a 100M!). We spent 10 years restoring it together, with an occasional, er, 'heated discussion' and we had to put it aside for a couple years while dad fought cancer. Of course, that car is now a family treasure.
 
Hi Bob ,
Yeah , My dad was always a sports car nut . That's pretty cool that you and your dad got that time to work together . And on a 100M , WOW! Growing up in the fifties and sixties was much different than it is for kids today . My mother would put me out the back door every morning at 8 oclock and tell me to come home for lunch . I guess I thought the back yard was boring cause I always ended up in the garage. I'd find what tools I could and rip apart anything I could get my hands on . When I was nine , my mother bought a brand new 1962 Pontiac Catalina . It was gorgeous . I can't remember what I was thinking but for some reason I decided I wanted to take that motor apart and I did . I remember my father storming though the front door that night and taking off his belt . The rest is a blur . The next few weeks were rough and I think I was doing the whole families chores . At least that's the way I saw it . After awhile things calmed down . One Saturday morning my dad woke me up early with the old " lets get movin " . I got up and dressed and headed downstairs. Standing at the front door he gave me the " let's go . As we went out ,there was a tow truck in the driveway with a totaled out Austin Healey sprite on the hook . As the driver backed the car into our garage my dad said " the next time you feel like taking something apart , take that apart ".
BobbyR
 
Gents
There are many of us from that school. After at age the of 16 and rebuilding the motor in my 63 Triumph cub I decide it was time to tackle something bigger. Yup my Mom's Karman Gia ( that don't look right but if spell check is ok with it so am I). Who would think that sanding the cylinders when installing new rings makes sense? Not a 16 year old. And I didn't. Long story short we learn the hard way , maybe the best teacher of all time. Any way I am also restoring a BJ8 that my dad bought in 1972. He bought it because he loved my MGB's. And all of you know its a work of love and frustration. Thank you all for supporting us and how did it get done before the internet?
Best to all of you in this New Year and good health.
Angus
 
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