Recent BJ8 purchase- advice please

[hitch]

Hi all,
Having been an observer for many months I have made the plunge and bought a BJ8 from the USA. I shipped it over to sunny England /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/england.gif and having driven it now for a few weeks I have a few questions. I have spent a few weeks generally preparing the car for the slightly damper climate and have read through various check lists that I have read on the internet.I found many of the posts helpful with the buying and they gave me lots of pointers to areas to look out for. SO.
firstly if I want to leave the car positive earth can you still jump start the car from a neagative earth car , assuming you connect - to - and + to + ??

The car has good oil pressure on start 60 psi which settles to between 40 and 45 after an hours constant driving at speed. Is this ok?

For UK members. Have you found Castrol Valvemaster to be an ok additive?

It has an ANSA exhaust. Is this a standard type exhaust or does it have any performance aspect ?

I have been told by the PO that the car, when restored some years ago had a higher lift camshaft fitted. He does not however have any details about what the spec is. My question is how do you accurately set the valves without knowing the details and without taking the engine to bits?

The steering idler is packed with grease rather than oil. I have heard of this in the past. Is it ok?

Having looked at the air filters I was a bit surprised to see fairly basic steel material inside. Even on my MGA the filters have some felt type material!! Does anyone have after market filters fitted and if so which ones. Are there any actual benefits in terms of engine care or performance? Do you need to fit different carb needles? Has anyone in the UK used the ITG filter as sold by Dennis Welch ?

What is the typical oil consumption in terms of mileage from MAX to MIN on dipstick ?

Are there any particular types of coolant fluid to avoid / choose?

Thanks for any help. I love the car and it has met all my expectations. I've had an MGA for 13 years so am no stranger to the ups and downs of these cars and am currently sorting out my sticky overdrive on the Healey !

Mike

 

[john_j]

Jump start - yes, not a problem, as you say connect -/- and +/+

Oil pressure. I don't know exactly what it should be for a 3000, but that doesn't sound at all bad.

There is an alternative board, which is more UK biased, although it so far has much less traffic than this board. healey.hyperboards.com. There are certainly some UK 3000 owners who lurk on there.

Sorry I can't answer any of your other questions - it's worth looking for your local Austin Healey Club noggin and natter (www.austin-healey-club.com) to get to know other owners, who'll be able to answer.


John,
Brighton UK,
Healey Tickford C1980

 

[shorn]

I have a 64 BJ8 with a replacement idler that also is packed with grease instead of 90wt. The replacement idler has a grease fitting where the oil plug would normally be. Mine seems to work fine with the grease.

 

[Randy Harris]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi all,
Having been an observer for many months I have made the plunge and bought a BJ8 from the USA. I shipped it over to sunny England /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/england.gif and having driven it now for a few weeks I have a few questions. I have spent a few weeks generally preparing the car for the slightly damper climate and have read through various check lists that I have read on the internet.I found many of the posts helpful with the buying and they gave me lots of pointers to areas to look out for. SO.
firstly if I want to leave the car positive earth can you still jump start the car from a neagative earth car , assuming you connect - to - and + to + ??

The car has good oil pressure on start 60 psi which settles to between 40 and 45 after an hours constant driving at speed. Is this ok?

For UK members. Have you found Castrol Valvemaster to be an ok additive?

It has an ANSA exhaust. Is this a standard type exhaust or does it have any performance aspect ?

I have been told by the PO that the car, when restored some years ago had a higher lift camshaft fitted. He does not however have any details about what the spec is. My question is how do you accurately set the valves without knowing the details and without taking the engine to bits?

The steering idler is packed with grease rather than oil. I have heard of this in the past. Is it ok?

Having looked at the air filters I was a bit surprised to see fairly basic steel material inside. Even on my MGA the filters have some felt type material!! Does anyone have after market filters fitted and if so which ones. Are there any actual benefits in terms of engine care or performance? Do you need to fit different carb needles? Has anyone in the UK used the ITG filter as sold by Dennis Welch ?

What is the typical oil consumption in terms of mileage from MAX to MIN on dipstick ?

Are there any particular types of coolant fluid to avoid / choose?

Thanks for any help. I love the car and it has met all my expectations. I've had an MGA for 13 years so am no stranger to the ups and downs of these cars and am currently sorting out my sticky overdrive on the Healey !

Mike

[/ QUOTE ]

1. Your oil pressure is fine - if you don't trust the guages have it tested at a shop.
2. Castrol Valvemaster not necessary
3. ANSA/Monza exhaust sound wonderful and may provide a slight performance advantage. They were a popular accesory back then. I run a "badass" Monza and like it very much. No, it is not standard equip.
4. Don't know about the valve settings
5. Steering idler is packed and it's ok. Mine is too - keeps the lighter weight oil from leaking all over the garage floor. Should be fixed some day but I'm in no hurry and was assured it is ok.
6. Stock air cleaners do a miserable job. K&N filters are a significant upgrade. Won't improve performance measurably but will provide for a much cleaner air flow and less carb cleaning down the road. Carb needle change not necessary for this modest upgrade.
7. A well cared-for Big Healey should burn very little oil. Just to be safe, I change oil every 2,000 miles (or once a year) and the old stuff always looks great. With 65k miles showing and no engine rebuild in its history, my car burns oil only upon startup - at most a quart every 2-3k mi.
8. I use standard service station coolant - you know, the green stuff. Car seems to like it and I have no overheating.

Hope the above helps.....
Randy '66 BJ8 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[hitch]

Thanks very much Randy, Shorn and John. It pretty much confirms what I was thinking and is graet to be able to get some confirmation. Any one who has any thoughts on the camshaft question please ??
Thanks again all.
Mike

 

[Keoke]

Hi Hitch, Use the Tappet settings indicated on the valve cover--Cheers---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/patriot.gif

 

[Dave Russell]

Hi Mike,
Welcome to the forums.

It looks like things have been pretty well covered.

You can probably get away with grease in the steering idler. Grease tends to squeeze/wipe out of the bearings but it would probaly take quite a while to do much damage. Oil was used because it flows back into the joints. Same with the steering box. 90 wt, non-sulfur gear oil (GL4 but not GL5) would be ok.

The valve lash for your cam is unknown. Stock is .012" cold. If in doubt, many reground cams specify around .015".
D

 

[hitch]

Thanks again everyone. I'm looking forward to getting to know the Healey which will be a somewhat different drive from the MGA ! I'll post anything of interest
all the best Mike

 

[Johnny]

Hi Mike, welcome to the forum. Most of your questions have been answered, how about some pictures? Also, might be a good idea to verify what type of brake/clutch fluid is being used in your BJ8. It is common to replace original DOT4 with the new silicone based DOT5 fluid over here. You don't want to mix them.