SteveHall64Healey
Jedi Trainee
Offline
I'm told that many Healeys suffer from 'scuttle shake' in the range of 55-60 mph. My BJ8 Phase 1 has shake in the scuttle and steering wheel in the range of 54-62 mph. I have had high speed balance done on all four tires and this has improved the situation somewhat (lower intensity shake), but it has not eliminated the problem.
The run out on the 60-spoke wheels is in the range of .005 to .030", which is within the spec of .050". The Vredstein tires are approximately 6 years old with 10,000 miles. I have one broken spoke on each front wheel, but otherwise the spokes are good, tight, and with little/no corrosion. I have been contemplating replacing the wheels, but also wanted to understand what other issues might be at play in the problem.
In my reading, I came across this article on 'SOL Healeys':
"Big Healey Scuttle Shake
by Bill Bolton
TRICARB@aol.com
initial version: 14 jun 95.
The famous British `scuttle shake'. It is in all big Healeys at 55 - 60 MPH. The only cure is to stiffen the body area around the gearbox firewall area. Bad front suspension and/or unbalanced wheels will only make the shake worse but doesn't cause it.
The bug-a-boo is that Jensen spot welded the firewall to the frame and kept spacing out the spots as they built more cars to save labour costs. Geoff used to have get on them to spot weld closer together.
If you exmaine the firewall opening closely, you will find that the sheet metal is spot welded about every four inches. This allows that sheet metal to flex.
The real cure is to weld (while the engine/transmission are out) a bead the full length of the spot welded joints and then weld in 1/2" angle iron in the vertical and horizontal joints on the engine side of the transmission opening. Butt weld the angle iron at the upper left and right corners and weld them to the box frame at the lower left and right ends. You will have to relieve a bit of the angle leg to get around the starter solenoid and the two brackets holding the accelerator linkage crossbar.
This process will eliminate the scuttle shake. I have done it on three tricarbs and my BN2 with great success."
Here is the url: https://www.team.net/www/healey/tech/big_hly/body/scuttle.html
My questions:
1) Has anyone actually done this and was it successful? I've got the gearbox out, so now would be the time to do it if it is going to be done at all.
2) Are there any other factors that I should consider?
thanks,
steve
The run out on the 60-spoke wheels is in the range of .005 to .030", which is within the spec of .050". The Vredstein tires are approximately 6 years old with 10,000 miles. I have one broken spoke on each front wheel, but otherwise the spokes are good, tight, and with little/no corrosion. I have been contemplating replacing the wheels, but also wanted to understand what other issues might be at play in the problem.
In my reading, I came across this article on 'SOL Healeys':
"Big Healey Scuttle Shake
by Bill Bolton
TRICARB@aol.com
initial version: 14 jun 95.
The famous British `scuttle shake'. It is in all big Healeys at 55 - 60 MPH. The only cure is to stiffen the body area around the gearbox firewall area. Bad front suspension and/or unbalanced wheels will only make the shake worse but doesn't cause it.
The bug-a-boo is that Jensen spot welded the firewall to the frame and kept spacing out the spots as they built more cars to save labour costs. Geoff used to have get on them to spot weld closer together.
If you exmaine the firewall opening closely, you will find that the sheet metal is spot welded about every four inches. This allows that sheet metal to flex.
The real cure is to weld (while the engine/transmission are out) a bead the full length of the spot welded joints and then weld in 1/2" angle iron in the vertical and horizontal joints on the engine side of the transmission opening. Butt weld the angle iron at the upper left and right corners and weld them to the box frame at the lower left and right ends. You will have to relieve a bit of the angle leg to get around the starter solenoid and the two brackets holding the accelerator linkage crossbar.
This process will eliminate the scuttle shake. I have done it on three tricarbs and my BN2 with great success."
Here is the url: https://www.team.net/www/healey/tech/big_hly/body/scuttle.html
My questions:
1) Has anyone actually done this and was it successful? I've got the gearbox out, so now would be the time to do it if it is going to be done at all.
2) Are there any other factors that I should consider?
thanks,
steve