GregW
Yoda
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No Tim, I think a new thread on how you tamed the heat would be better.
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Why Do You Own a Healey Today?
- Thread starter HealeyRick
- Start date
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No Tim, I think a new thread on how you tamed the heat would be better.
TimK
Jedi Knight
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Ha!, Greg
I went the Dynamat Extreme route and tried sealing the transmission cover. I tried driving with the top up to keep the sun off. I got the engine to run cool. Maybe the answer is one of those NASCAR driver's air cooled helmets system.
Gearhead_Garage
Jedi Hopeful
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While my family drove boring American cars, I was always intrigued by rakish British sports cars. A pretty neighbor lady had an E-type, my high school English teacher had a TR6, and the drug dealer at school had a Spitfire. I decided that one day I would own one so I bought a clapped out 3000 in the late '90s. The more I fixed the more it needed so it got pushed into the back of the garage for other projects - a BMW 2002 restoration, a Spec Miata racecar, a Lotus Eleven racecar, and a 1917 Stephens. Finally the Healey got its day in the sun as I finished it last year. It's even better than I remembered or expected.
I guess sometimes there is an itch that eventually must be scratched.
I guess sometimes there is an itch that eventually must be scratched.
Let's hope this is always true!
catfood
Jedi Warrior
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When I graduated from university I had no interest in cars whatsoever, they were just a means of getting from A to B. But a group of us decided to get together and rent a cottage in Wales to await our exam results. One of my (soon to be) wife's friends came with her fiancee and his MGB that he was still running in after a full restoration. One spin out in that down the Welsh lanes was enough to have me hooked and we became great friends. At the time I couldn't even dream of owning a classic car money was so tight. But soon after we were married I wrote off my wife's mini (well more of a gentle rear-ending that showed the front end of the mini to be more filler than metal). As we both needed a car to get to work she took over mine and I had to look for something else. As my friend was an MG man I had to look for something different and hit upon a frogeye. With a little help from the loans man at the bank who seemed very happy to loan the money on a classic (might have been because he happened to race a clapped out Aston) the car was mine. Over the course of time the frogeye was traded in for a BN1 and thirty years after that Welsh holiday and 25 years after the first frogeye I have finally got around to starting the restoration my BN1 deserves.
westcirque
Freshman Member
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I've always been intrigued by Healeys. My uncle had one as a teenager in the early 60s. It was given to my dad after it had been driven into the ground, and he quickly traded it in for a '63 Corvette. I was born in 67 so this is all before my time.
My good friend Ted had a '66 BJ8 which I almost bought from him sight unseen about 10 years ago. I had given him a cheque for $15k but he never cashed it - he had second thoughts and so did I.
Sadly, Ted got ill a few years ago. I knew the car was not running and I would often talk to Ted about the car. I ordered a new master cylinder and lines, and was planning to fly out to Toronto to fix the car for him. Our Healey chats gave him great pleasure during his last days.
Soon after Ted passed I got a call from his wife. She and her girls wanted me to take the car. It was sitting in their garage gathering dust; hadn't moved in a couple years. So I flew out to Toronto and put the car on a truck out to the west coast. I had no idea what I was getting into but I had to dive in. Much to my wife's chagrin the car now sits in our garage in Vancouver (the pingpong table had to go).
The car needed a bit of TLC but it's a winner. I did a bunch of work on the engine and hydraulics last fall and now it's running great. Only 33k original miles - a terrific driver. I try to take it out for a spin once every couple of weeks. I might drive it up to Whistler next month. The car is a real treat and it gives me great memories of my good friend every time I drive it.
My good friend Ted had a '66 BJ8 which I almost bought from him sight unseen about 10 years ago. I had given him a cheque for $15k but he never cashed it - he had second thoughts and so did I.
Sadly, Ted got ill a few years ago. I knew the car was not running and I would often talk to Ted about the car. I ordered a new master cylinder and lines, and was planning to fly out to Toronto to fix the car for him. Our Healey chats gave him great pleasure during his last days.
Soon after Ted passed I got a call from his wife. She and her girls wanted me to take the car. It was sitting in their garage gathering dust; hadn't moved in a couple years. So I flew out to Toronto and put the car on a truck out to the west coast. I had no idea what I was getting into but I had to dive in. Much to my wife's chagrin the car now sits in our garage in Vancouver (the pingpong table had to go).
The car needed a bit of TLC but it's a winner. I did a bunch of work on the engine and hydraulics last fall and now it's running great. Only 33k original miles - a terrific driver. I try to take it out for a spin once every couple of weeks. I might drive it up to Whistler next month. The car is a real treat and it gives me great memories of my good friend every time I drive it.
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Glen--
I did not bother to include it in my earlier response but while at one time my Healey had all of my attention over the last ten years it has had to battle with my race cars for its share of my time. I must admit that it does not get the use and perhaps love that it once enjoyed but I still like driving it immensely and I am grateful that it gives so much enjoyment and demands relatively little in terms of time and money. The race cars are a different department as I am sure you know.
I did not bother to include it in my earlier response but while at one time my Healey had all of my attention over the last ten years it has had to battle with my race cars for its share of my time. I must admit that it does not get the use and perhaps love that it once enjoyed but I still like driving it immensely and I am grateful that it gives so much enjoyment and demands relatively little in terms of time and money. The race cars are a different department as I am sure you know.
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For me it started with my dad who bought his 100-4 (BN2) new in 1956. Here I am with the car in about 1957/8... the small guy. I remember preferring the look of a TR-2/3 at the time, but this car was driven as a daily driver for maybe 15 years (rain or shine). I received the car in about 1970 and had it for some time (before all the distractions of school, marriage and kids) resulted in my letting it get away. [so, I own it today in spirit :rolleye: ] Still ride the Bugeye.
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