Tri-Carb Project

[Healey Nut]

Lighting mock-ups all completed. Rally sump guard done. Grille surround test fitted, ready for rechrome along with my custom-made-by-me trim rings for the upper rally lights.

Next is the rear seat blank-off plates, then she's off for exterior paint once my place in the queue comes up.

 

[Healey Nut]

Seat blanks , done.
they just need some seam sealer around the edge then it will all get covered with Kilmat.

 

[HealeyRick]

That front end view looks great. Really nice work!

 

[dougie]

Nice work on the seat blanks. I love the looks of the rear seats delete...

 

[Healey Nut]

Well that’s all the Kilmat taken care of , when I find my roller I will roll it down some more .
On to my next project while I wait for the car to go to paint .
Original as sold with the car (serial number on BMHIT cert) hardtop , it looks untouched but will be getting a full makeover complete with rally vent . Can’t have a little rally car without a rally vent can we .
Oh and before anyone asks ITS NOT FOR SALE . sorry .
I have a whole box of parts from Cape with new headliner , crash pad material , quarter panels , badges , window , seals etc but it’s all got to get stripped first and cut for the rally vent .
Does anyone have a measurement of how far the vent should be from the top of the rear window ?
It will probably be determined by the position of the headliner frame members as well .

 

[John Turney]

The vent should indeed be positioned based on the headliner frame. I also recommend you put some of that foil based insulation on the inside of the fiberglass above the headliner, I have a dark top and I can feel the heat radiating down. Then again, I don't have any insulation on the top of my head.

 

[Healey Nut]

The vent should indeed be positioned based on the headliner frame. I also recommend you put some of that foil based insulation on the inside of the fiberglass above the headliner, I have a dark top and I can feel the heat radiating down. Then again, I don't have any insulation on the top of my head.

Same here John , all my insulation has long since gone , the top of my head is as bare and smooth as the outside of the hardtop .
Good idea on the foil insulation , I do have some left over anyways .

 

[Healey Nut]

I remember reading somewhere about someone spraying the inside of their hardtop with “Lizard Skin”.
Anyone with experience of this product ?
Did they apply it themselves and can you still refit all the headliner etc once it’s sprayed on ?

 

[vette]

I have used Lizard Skin. I like it a lot. But since I have never attached a hard top headliner I don’t know the implication.
I sprayed Lizard skin over the complete cockpit area of my Healey after i restored the body. Lizard Skin has 2 products, one is a sound insulation and the other is a ceramic heat insulation. It’s been a long time ago so I don’t remember the sequence but they are both very watery when sprayed. You need a large nozzle spray gun to move the fluid. I remember when I sprayed it I thought ‘my god that stuff will never dry.’ But by the next day it was quite dry with no problems. It sets up very firm and is watertight. I also believe the insulation quality is very good because I don’t feel that my Healey gets excessively hot in the interior.

 

[John Turney]

The headliner for the roadsters has a metal frame, so there’s a gap between the headliner and fiberglass top. The headliner for the convertibles is a foam layer glued to the inside of the fiberglass (I think).

The reason for using foil insulation is the heat transfer is by radiation more than conduction.

 

[Healey Nut]

A successful afternoon in the shop , got the top all apart . Had to zip wheel most of the heads of screws etc .
So it’s a pile of parts now the fun begins cleaning sand blasting fixing straightening painting dry fitting etc etc .
The black sealant they used to help hold/seal the aluminum extrusions to the shell was very difficult to break loose , lots of twisting and some cursing but I won in the end .
Anyone have any input on the writing marks inside the shell ?

 

[Healey Nut]

Work on the top continues .I painted the interior to seal the raw fibreglass , then I measured marked measured and measured and measured again before cutting the hole for the rally vent . Just used a zip wheel then die grinder with small drum sander to round the corners using the trim ring as a template .
Rally vent has now been sandblasted removing at least 6 coats of paint and primed and had its catch and hinge tweaked to perfection .
Kilmat done except for rollering in .(still need to find my roller )
The aluminum frame parts are going to need some work , dents , gouges , questionable modifications etc all need attention before I decide on refinishing them
There’s no one remotely close to have them Re anodized and shipping them would be horrendous so they will either get painted or possibly powder coated prior to assembly .

 

[Healey Nut]

So after lots of tweaking ,twisting, straightening ,dolleying and other associated cursing the hard top frame has been dry assembled and test fitted .The rear lower rail on the shroud was significantly bent and took a lot of work to get it reshaped to sit nicely flat on the shroud .Whoever used to store it didn’t do it correctly probably sitting it vertically on the lower rail .
It can now come apart for some final fettling and tidying up prior to being prepped and painted/clearcoated . The amount of metal that is actually visible once assembled is minor and once the top is on it’s staying on so that’s why I’m painting them .Also the parts are not in good enough condition to re anodize them , gouges , pitting etc which will require some minor filling and prep for paint .

 

[John Turney]

Such fun. Now you need to get the fiberglass to fit the metal frame.

 

[Healey Nut]

Such fun. Now you need to get the fiberglass to fit the metal frame.

That’s the easy bit, the shell is very flexible without its rigid frame and it all fit together kinda sorta before I stripped it all apart.

 

[Healey Nut]

Sssssshhhhhhhhh, don’t tell the wife, but I borrowed / commandeered some of her stained glass supplies to fabricate a frame for the grille on my scuttle scoop. Needs some dressing / tidying up and fixing to the scoop now.

 

[Healey Nut]

Happy days , my number came up she’s loaded and ready to go to the paint shop tomorrow .

 

[Healey Nut]

It’s like Christmas .
dropped the car off today at the painters , get home and I have parcels . My custom stainless steel knobs for hardtop retainers and side screens .
Larger ones for the hardtop
Small through hole for front side screen
Small blind hole for the triangular rear door plate side screen mount .

 

[John Turney]

Now you get to polish them.

 

[Healey Nut]

Now you get to polish them.

Got it covered , I have a buffing wheel attachment on my bench grinder