Tasteful Upgrades to a BJ7

[twas_brillig]

We have a 1962 A-H BJ7 (roll up windows) that has been in a shop for about two years. During this cycle (plus previous years) we've made the following modifications:

Steering & Suspension
- Norman Nock front turnnion bearings
- polyurethane bushings from Udo Putzke
- Moss camber etc. adjusters
- slight negative camber alignment
- Udo Putzek Fahrspass Bilstein tubular shocks
- Moto Lito steering wheel

Driveline
- Toyota 5 speed all synchromesh transmission
- Lempert 3.54 gear set
- speedometer modified to match the above
- Redline trans/diff fluids
- 5.5" wide 72 spoke chrome wire wheels
- Vredestein Sprint Classic 185/70 HR15 89H tyres

Safety
- 4 way flashers
- LED tail/brake lights
- moved signal lights up to replace the rear reflectors
(I consider these two items (signal lights and LEDs) as essential improvements)
- three point seat belts
- quarter light rear view mirror

Convenience
- moved windshield washer fluid container from glove shelf into space in subframe under right front fender
- cigarette lighter/power take off installed on wood behind 'chicken handle'

Cooling
- triple core rad
- stainless steel fan and shroud from Norman Nock

Engine
- K&N air filters
- spin on oil filter
- Pertronix ignition
- modern pointless fuel pump

Brakes
- vacuum power assist
- braided stainless steel brake lines

Remaining ToDo:
- radiator fluid recovery
- raise front edge of stock seats

I would appreciate hearing from others as to their 'tasteful upgrades'. Thanks!

 

[dcarlg]

You have a very thoughtful restoration with many safety and reliability upgrades. Maybe replace the generator with an alternator. Driving or fog lamps.
Decent radio and speakers. I attached my stereo to the bottom of the heater box, in a black plastic housing.

 

[bob hughes]

I have fitted a few driving light on the front - two Marchal 662 / 762 spots in the middle and a couple of Lucas Fog Rangers, one on each side slightly angled to pick out the sides of the road. The poor old dynamo (generator) fails to keep up with the demand so the next add on will be an alternator. The badge bar is mounted off brackets, fixed to the front irons, the front valance has been taken removed and the fogs are mounted off brackets also fitted to the irons.



I have also installed some of Vredestein's finest Classic tyres and find them very acceptable.

 

[maxwedge5281]

two of my favorite upgrades are tube shocks on all four corners and bolt on 5.5 and 6.0 by 15 minilite wheels....maybe a bit less tasteful to some but my most favorite upgrades are the sbc stroker motor and aod transmission..

 

[CLEAH]

Bob, very sharp looking car. I like the collection of auxiliary lamps. Very nice.

 

[Randy Forbes]

With concessions to originality, and a nod to your pleasure in using the car, it's a balancing act. In a nutshell, anything that can be bolted on, can be unbolted later. Any required holes drilled can be plugged with a grommet (in hidden areas) or welded, smoothed and painted if done to the exposed bodywork. In other words, anything you do to personalize the car to your tastes can ultimately be undone by a future owner.

The car's value will reflect the appeal of your mods, as most are detractors, not value adders (you will always make more money on the sale of a stock car, and offer the performance/aftermarket parts in separate sales/auctions).

Having owned my Healey nearly forty (<40) years, I've committed a number of sins with it, but considering that whole cars can be produced from a VIN plate, an engine block, a transmission case and an axle housing, anything I've done/will do to BN6L/942 can be corrected at some future time.

So have a ball with your Healey, and do anything you want that will encourage you to drive it more!

I could spend a day trying to remember all the deviations I've made on my own car and not list them all, but some of the more memorable ones are below:

disc brakes from a '59-'60 3000
braided stainless steel/Teflon brake & clutch hoses
tubular front shocks
7/8" fron swaybar
articulated A-arm locating rear axle

28-1/5 gallon fuel tank
Facet interrupter fuel pump + Holley PRV
3 X Weber 45 DCOE dual-choke carbs (36mm main venturis)
Iskenderian T3 camshaft
aluminum rocker cover
rotating/reciprocating components balanced
cylinder head combustion chambers matched; port matching
.030" overbore
Mallory DP distributor
MSD 6 AL ignition system, including coil
Al Kirkland tube headers
Ansa exhaust system
remote spin-on oil filter
oil cooler with thermostatic control
increased capacity competition "TX" radiator core
overflow/recovery tank (brass, from a late MGB)
thermostatically controlled electric radiator fan

(Porsche) Wine Red paint/Honey Tan interior
AC Cobra 15 x 6 72-spoke wire wheels
Borrani-pattern 3-eared K/Os

Moto Lita wood rim steering wheel
painted and engine-turned dashboard

And more, no doubt

 

[twas_brillig]

Bob: really nice front end treatment. I had a look at your photobucket collection - nice!
Maxwedge: 5.5 on front; 6.0" on rear? what size tyres are you running?
Randy: what is an 'articulated A-arm locating rear axle'? do you have them available for sale?

And I forgot to mention for ours: stainless steel exhaust system. I'd like to find someone with a mild steel exhaust and do a sound comparison (not loudness!) as I think I prefer the 'sound' of the original stock system.

 

[twas_brillig]

Courtesy of the Trailering Thread: consider adding towing eyes to the front: https://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=110651 or https://www.ahspares.co.uk/austin-healey/performance-parts/Miscellaneous-1/TOWING-BRACKET.aspx Doug.

 

[Elva164]

Randy: what is an 'articulated A-arm locating rear axle'? do you have them available for sale?

Randy can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe he means a setup much like my Courier has:


You can see the A-arm in silver. It locates the rear axle laterally like a panhard bar, while also minimizing changes in differential nose angle.

 

[HealeyRick]

It's a BJ7 Nasty Boy, which for some will immediately take it out of the "tasteful" category. My build plan was to convert this car, a former SCCA racer in the 60s as if a Healey guy in 1965 found a Shelby GT350 in a junkyard and did a driveline swap, putting the 302 hp HiPo 289 into the Healey.

The idea was to keep it looking more or less period stock until the bonnet is lifted. Other than the engine and transmission, everything looks pretty much what this car could've looked like in 1965.





Lempert 100S style Derrington Wheel
Halda Speedpilot
Becker Europa II Stereo AM/FM with attached Becker amp
Custom made coco mats from https://www.cocomats.com/
AMEREX chrome fire extinguisher
Dealer style period style three point aircraft buckle belts with Austin-Healey/MG dealer emblem
289 Shelby Cobra shift lever with faux reverse lockout trigger. Topped by a 289 Cobra 4 speed knob, but connected to a Steeda Tri-Ax shifter on a Ford T5Z 5 speed transmission.
One of the biggest challenges was to keep the original gauges and make them work with the Ford motor. With a lot of effort, every original gauge reads correctly.



A Series 1 E-Type rear view mirror with day/night option on MGB sliding rod



Long handled headlamp dip switch moved to the dash with an E-type escutcheon.



100M leather bonnet strap from the LeMans Registry



More fake stuff. ANSA look dual exhaust



This is the original "Mystic River Bridge" sticker the car used when it was still commuting into Boston.

And, of course, the 5.0L Ford motor dressed to look like a 289 HiPo:



It's got 72 spoke Dayton Chrome wire wheels, a larger ADDCO front sway bar, traction bars, HKS brake pads, stainless brake lines and a bunch of other mods, but still looks like a stock BJ7:



Like every Healey, it's a work in progress. My planned updates this year are genuine ANSA Typo 2751 Twin Tip resonators that will replace the fake ones that are a bit oversize.

Some louvers in the hood to increase engine cooling along with some exhaust headers to free up some horsepower that's being strangled by the Sunbeam Tiger cast iron exhaust manifolds I'm using.

It has a sound all its own, nasty at the low end but quiet on the highway. At the British Invasion at Stowe, VT this year I was really pleased to talk with some guys that thought it was a stock Healey with a really good ANSA exhaust. Gotta love a Q-ship.

 

[Randy Forbes]

Bob: really nice front end treatment. I had a look at your photobucket collection - nice!
Maxwedge: 5.5 on front; 6.0" on rear? what size tyres are you running?
Randy: what is an 'articulated A-arm locating rear axle'? do you have them available for sale?

And I forgot to mention for ours: stainless steel exhaust system. I'd like to find someone with a mild steel exhaust and do a sound comparison (not loudness!) as I think I prefer the 'sound' of the original stock system.

Pictured below, it's just something I fabricated to rid myself of Panhard Rod characteristics (hard cornering in one direction reacts with jacking up one side of the car).

Randy can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe he means a setup much like my Courier has:



You can see the A-arm in silver. It locates the rear axle laterally like a panhard bar, while also minimizing changes in differential nose angle.

No correction necessary, as that is exactly what I mean. I got the idea from a Lotus suspension, but I did it so many years ago, I don't now remember if it was the Elite or the Cortina...

The Articulated A-Arm locates the axle laterally, limits torque reaction from accelerating and braking, and also lowers the rear roll center of the car.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Since Randy and Mike have already hijacked this thread I'll pile on. Attached are a couple of shots of the link on my Ginetta G4 which mounts between the longitudinal frame tubes and the center section of the rear axle. It serves to both locate the axle laterally and prevent wind-up/jacking under braking/acceleration.

 

[steveg]

Ha ha - comes the counter-revolution. Since Size (of Feature List) Matters, here goes:

Brakes
- 4-wheel disc brakes – Front:Toyota 4-piston calipers/BJ8 1/2" discs; Rear - Jaguar calipers – ceramic pads all around. Booster unnecessary with Toyota calipers.
- Calipers painted red so you can't miss 'em
- Dual-circuit 3/4” master cylinder with rear-circuit proportion valve
- Braided SS brake hoses
- Custom-designed e-brake linkage replaces original, gives better operation with lesser e-brake angle

Steering & Front Suspension
- BJ8 swivel axles allow larger brakes (Girling Type 16, Toyota)
- Modified BJ8 rotor dust shields
- 3/4” anti-roll bar
- Modified Cape bronze adjustable upper trunion bearings for camber
- Front trunion needle bearings
- Tom's Toys front shock base plates
- Spax tube shocks on custom mounts*
- A-arm poly bushings (I no longer consider these an upgrade – they squeak)
- Custom-designed Lempert 100S tribute steering wheel

Rear Suspension
- BJ8-upper radius arms in custom brackets ( fits 2-seaters only)**
- Spax tube shocks on custom mounts*
- Uprated Panhard bar
- Additional leaf in each spring

Driveline
- Toyota Supra (28% OD) 5 speed - with Ferrari-style shift knob
- BJ8 diaphragm clutch
- Lempert 3.54 axle ratio
- 180HR-15 Michelin tires
- Speedo calibrated for diff & tire diameter
- 72-spoke chrome/SS Dayton wheels

Engine
- DMD high-efficiency manifold with HD8 carbs and modified K&N air filters
- PCV equally distributed to both carbs
- Ceramic-coated Kirk headers with Monza exhaust, custom muffled tips
- 1.6 ratio high-lift aluminum rockers
- Extra long-reach NGK plugs flush with combustion chamber
- Ray Juncal finned aluminum Valve cover
- Aluminum sump
- Denso alternator on Hendrix mount
- Spin on oil filter
- Pertronix ignition – DM6 dist modified by Advanced to D25 specs
- Bosch blue coil
- Mr Finespanner remote brake slave cyl. bleeder
- Facet gold box fuel pump with heat shielding

Cooling
- Quad core radiator with MG fluid recovery tank
- 6-bladed Stainless fan
- Augmented Kilmartin fan shrouds pass more air with less leakage
- Comprehensive baffling around radiator prevents recirculation of hot air forward and improves coolness of fresh air to cockpit
- Air “shovel” scoop directs cool air to bottom of radiator, prevents hot air recirculation
- Tefba cooling system filter prevents sediment buildup in radiator

Safety
- Dual-circuit braking
- LED tail/brake lights with additional turn lights in rear reflectors
- Three point seat belts
- Non-hanging compression-style rear exhaust mount with safety screws

Additional Instrumentation
- O2 meter with sensor for each carb's exhaust header
- Smiths Battery Conditon voltmeter
- Smiths Oil Temperature gauge
- Fuel-gauge dampener

Convenience, Interior & “Comfort”
- Improved e-brake operating angle
- Bilge blower on fresh-air intake
- Fresh air intake isolated behind grille to prevent hot air intake from engine
- Auxiliary dash panel under heater control, contains...
... Dual USB charger outlet for 1 ft cord for windshield Garmin
... Infinitely variable fan controller for fresh-air bilge blower
... Switch for O2 sensors
- Dual cigarette-lighter power outlets under dash
- Turn-light beeper has adjustable volume
- Daytime-only LED indicator light for driving lights
- Fire extinguisher behind driver's seat
- Anti-heat and -sound shield layer under carpets

Future:
- Engine rebuild with BJ8 cam and J&E pistons
- New wiring harness
- Consolidate all auxilary electrical (relays, etc) into master fuse & relay box
- Paint engine compartment

* I don't recommend building your own shock mounts or using Spax shocks. I don't weld and the cost of machine work, welding and the shocks was only slightly less than the Putzke kit. In addition, Udo's custom-valved Bilsteins ride better than Spax, in my opinion.

** If I'd known about Randy's setup, would have done that. Mine was difficult, expensive and required lots of fitting - also it can't be used on 4-seaters.

 

[maxwedge5281]

twas brillig....the tires are 195/65 by 15 and 225/60 by 15 on the 5.5 and 6.0 minilite bolton wheels. i also like the speedhut gauges with gps speedometer with built in gas gauge. all gauges fit the standard healey openings.

 

[Johnny]

Here's an upgrade I'm considering for my '63 BJ7. In the July/August 2012 (yeah I know it's been awhile) issue of the Austin Healey magazine AHCA there's an article on replacing the entire exhaust system for Healey's. Steve Day (British Car Ranch) came up with the upgrade. It can be found on their website www.britishcarranch.homestead.com even has a link to hear the actual sound when installed. Great article but need to find me a local shop willing to build it.
BTW has anyone else tried installing a "equalizer pipe"??

 

[John Turney]

Here's an upgrade I'm considering for my '63 BJ7. In the July/August 2012 (yeah I know it's been awhile) issue of the Austin Healey magazine AHCA there's an article on replacing the entire exhaust system for Healey's. Steve Day (British Car Ranch) came up with the upgrade. It can be found on their website www.britishcarranch.homestead.com even has a link to hear the actual sound when installed. Great article but need to find me a local shop willing to build it.
BTW has anyone else tried installing a "equalizer pipe"??

The original non-BJ8 system has an equalizer in the muffler.

 

[twas_brillig]

Our BJ7 came out of the shop in early July (and it's quite wonderful!); I just took a run up to watch our granddaughter playing lacrosse (about 350 miles round trip; air temp a bit less than 80F) and one upgrade I'm wishing I'd really pursued was following the standard advice regards checking and sealing all the gaps that might let hot air into the passenger compartment as well as upgrading/augmenting/adding insulation to the transmission cover, floor, etc. etc.
Other than driving with no pants and asbestos briefs/socks, what to you guys down south do?

 

[twas_brillig]

https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf...ng-the-stock-seat-for-comfort&highlight=chunk
Over on the Spridget side, I initiated a thread regards tilting the stock seat back a bit by raising the front, which prompted others to share further ideas including a BMC service bulletin for changing the pivot point. The Spridget and 3000 seats mount differently, but thought that this discussion would fall under the 'tasteful upgrades' concept. Doug

 

[twas_brillig]

Healey Rick started a thread entitled "Slipping Shoulder Belts" 08-15-2018, and then found his own solution "I found a cure: "Strap Gummy" a silicone strip that sticks to the back of the belt. Cheap, works great and I didn't have to screw a bracket into the back of the seat: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1"
I figure it's cheap and works and is certainly a 'tasteful upgrade'. Doug

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

Courtesy of the Trailering Thread: consider adding towing eyes to the front: https://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=110651 or https://www.ahspares.co.uk/austin-healey/performance-parts/Miscellaneous-1/TOWING-BRACKET.aspx Doug.

Tom’s Imports has rear towing eyes. I had problems installing them but I believe they have made changes to them now. I trailer my Healey doing distances and hooking up the tiedown straps with front and rear Eyes makes the job much easier and more secure.