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suggestions please [ On-Board Spares ]

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G

golf

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Hello everyone,
I have been taking my BJ7 farther from home each time,but I still don't have total confidence that there isn't something ready to quit or break on a 41 year old car.
Has anyone ever made up a list of the really important items to have on board(excluding routine tools)in case of a mechanical failure.Since this is my first Healey,I'm sure there are several items I would never think of until I'm stuck somewhere with nothing but a cell phone.Thanks for your help. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif Ben
 
Re: sugestions please

This is my list in the car ready for my trip round Southern Ireland in September in my BJ8:

1 quart engine oil, 4 pints water, 2 gallon pre-doped fuel plus 20 fuel dope bottles each good for 10 gallons
Rotor arm, dizzy cap, plugs, plug leads, contact set, condenser.
Petrol pump, fan belt, top & bottom hose, 1/2" hose to blank off heater with clips.
Fuel line, gasket goo, lengths of wire. Dynamo brushes, starter brushes.
Inner tube, self inflating tyre goo thingy.
Windscreen wipers (It is Ireland where it rains for 15 mins every 1/4 hour!!)

Vehicle will have had 4 new wheels & tyres & inner tubes, new water pump,new hoses everywhere, new oil pump, new points, rotor, condenser, and brake pads and shoes before I set off as well as the usual service lubrication
 
Re: sugestions please

There was an article a few months back in the Austin Healey Magazine with a LONG list of items. More than I would like to take but I suppose all important.

I can try to find it, scan it and place it here if you would like.

I think Andrew's list is about the same and extensive.

Bruce
 
Re: On-Board Spares

Ben, Many people have made up lists of spares and tools to carry in the event of a breakdown. We've published such lists at least a couple of times in Austin-Healey Magazine, published by the Austin-Healey Club USA, including one recently that was so long you'd just about need a trailer to haul it all.

Personally I'm not that big a fan of carrying half the Moss Motors part warehouse with me. The storage space in a Healey is limited as it is, and my experience has been that breakdowns are seldom something that you can fix, roadside, with a few hand tools.

Best bet is a cell phone, a credit card, AAA Plus and the Austin-Healey Resource Book . I've driven Healeys cross-country, coast to coast, several times and although I've had plenty of things so wrong, I've never had to spend the night sleeping beside the car on the shoulder of the road.
 
Re: On-Board Spares

Don't forget your "Owners Workshop Manual" (Haynes) or some such book just incase you have to enlist the help of a local mechanic. I even take mine with me when I'm going to the parts store( "...oh! so THAT'S what the rear brake cylinder looks like!!! sorry, I thought these would work...") P.S. on your trip, try to stop in Inch and Wexford. Gods country...and some of the most pleasant people you will ever meet if your trip turns out anything like mine (summer 2001).
 
Re: sugestions please

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/savewave.gif
NO bruce, Andrew just scratced the surface comparitivly speaking.- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif-Keoke
 
Re: sugestions please

1-800-Haverty, which of course requires a fully charged cell phone.

Okay stop snickering!!!

Agatha and I carry extra oil, wrenches, ratchet/sproket(?), you know those thingies that go on the end of the wrench to get at bolts, especially the spark plug one (extra plugs, water and the spare tire/jack etc. Short of that I wouldn't know what the problem was. I find a really good begging voice helps!

Agatha's human - Judy
 
Re: sugestions please

[ QUOTE ]
Hello everyone,
I have been taking my BJ7 farther from home each time,but I still don't have total confidence that there isn't something ready to quit or break on a 41 year old car.
Ben

[/ QUOTE ]
The parts on a 41 year old car that are likely to fail, should not be 41 years old. --- It's called maintenance & is what prevents roadside breakdowns.--- Belts, hoses, filters, fuel pump, thermostat, battery, wires, plugs, etc. should be replaced BEFORE they fail. If anything big fails internally, you're not likely to replace it at roadside anyway. Moss Motors can have a new part to you overnight if necessary. Credit card & cell phone.

Needed parts to carry - spare tire & jack, although I haven't had a flat on the road in 30 years. Duct tape & baling wire, screwdriver, flash light, pliers, crescent wrench, & possibly a spare distributor rotor, since they reportedly fail without notice.
D
 
Re: sugestions please

If all the stuff mentioned in the spares list is in relatively new on the car, I don't see why you need to worry about carrying them, chances are if something goes wrong it will be something totally unanticipated. You can have almost any part for a Healey FedExed to you anywhere overnight. In addition to a good spare tire, jack, stop leak, and shop manual: I would throw in a Moss catalog and make sure my VISA Card was not maxed out..
 
Re: sugestions please

Beyond the usual recommendations I carried on this summer's long trip a spare distributor (including drive dog)and a freshly overhauled water pump. I also had a detachable and collapsible hitch that fits into the front tow eyes. In any case there's no sense carrying parts unless you have the ability to diagnose the problem and install the fix--or find someone who can.
 
Re: sugestions please

Hey Dave be sure and not go too far. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Keoke
 
Re: sugestions please

Keoke,
I used to work with a guy that commuted 600 miles round trip every weekend. He was obsessed with "being prepared". Carried every imaginable spare part, supplies, & a large assortment of tools. Something like 800 pounds of stuff. Complained about poor gas mileage. He didn't need any of it for the seven years I knew him. All that stuff made him feel safer though. I've never had a hint of trouble on the LBC, but so far have limited round trips to 800 miles. Maybe I'll be sorry some day, maybe not. To each his own.

So what do you carry, & why?
D
 
Re: sugestions please

"2 gallon pre-doped fuel plus 20 fuel dope bottles each good for 10 gallons."

What is fuel dope???????
 
Re: sugestions please

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/savewave.gif I thought so,DAVE--- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Keoke I carry: Tool Kit,Spare Distributor,Spare Innertube,Torch, Small Parts,Fuel Pump and The AH Resource Book- That is about it Dave. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
 
Re: sugestions please

What is fuel dope???????

[/ QUOTE ] "PETRO"---- /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif---Keoke
 
Re: sugestions please

[ QUOTE ]
"2 gallon pre-doped fuel plus 20 fuel dope bottles each good for 10 gallons."

What is fuel dope???????

[/ QUOTE ]

Bruce,

Here in the UK unleaded and high octane petrol is no longer obtainable, so if your head is unmodified you need to have a lead replacement additive. The one I use has manganese to give the anti-knock properties and also an octane booster.
 
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