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Worst jobs on a Healey

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Trying to line up the motor mount bolts has always been a pain. This time when the engine went back in I used studs in the frame mount and then I just had to wiggle the engine mounts and then put washers and nuts on....simple.
 
If that flexible oil line from the block to the oil pressure gauge goes out while you're on the road comes to mind. One end is easy; the end that goes into the block under the manifolds - not so much.
 
One-person X-mission installation with a failing floor jack on a 90+F day and pilot bushing extraction. I'm not the greatest at finessing, but replacing a fabric convertible top and seals is up there on the top 10 list. GONZO
 
I've had repair jobs on the Healey that were hard, time consuming, frustrating, backbreaking, confusing, tedious...my list goes on and on.

But the one job I 'will' find hard, time consuming, frustrating, backbreaking, confusing, tedious and yes, my list will go on and on...and I haven't even started doing it yet, is..."A NEW PAINT JOB!"

(and something tells me I'm never going to do it, at least on my own) :(

Paul
 
pkmh said:
I've had repair jobs on the Healey that were hard, time consuming, frustrating, backbreaking, confusing, tedious...my list goes on and on.

But the one job I 'will' find hard, time consuming, frustrating, backbreaking, confusing, tedious and yes, my list will go on and on...and I haven't even started doing it yet, is..."A NEW PAINT JOB!"

(and something tells me I'm never going to do it, at least on my own) :(


Paul
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And while you're painting it, you really can't do it without painting the engine compartment, so you'll have to pull the motor. And the new paint will make the interior look ratty, so you probably need to pull that, too. And rewire the car. And since the motor is out, might as well rebuild it, along with the tranny and overdrive, suspension. etc, etc. You're right, it is the worst job!
 
Selling it is not so bad, watching it roll away on a trailer, it was going out of state, is the worst. it takes quite a while for it to be less painful, but never quite goes away.
 
I vote with the painting. Not having a paint booth, stuff falls into your new paint and you have to sand and re-paint. I had the hood and one fender that were painted 4 times. Then, because I don't paint that much, you have sand and polish that paint so it looks really good. Both messy jobs. No fingerprints left after that job.
Jerry
 
Bob_Spidell said:
I've not done this, yet, but I gotta believe one of the worst jobs is selling your Healey (even if you want/need to).
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That's a good qualifier, as is Bob's comment about watching it roll away. I don't know if I could handle it (41st anniversary of its purchase was yesterday, Monday technically, since it's now after midnight).

And there are worse jobs, but one that always comes immediately to mind for me is this one...

IMG_2342-la.jpg
 
Griz said:
Not a big job, but very frustrating...getting the bottom, inside mounting nut on the rear carburetor. Recently had to take that carb off to fix a sticking choke mechanism. I finally took an old 1/2" wrench, cut a "V" most of the way through the shank and bent it at a 45 degree so I could get it on the nut.

Griz
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Harbor Freight customized 1/2" combination wrenches for lower carb nuts:

screenshot.1647.jpg
 
The hardest job I ever did on my Healey was removing the crank pulley nut. At this point I don't even remember why I was doing it, maybe I wanted to replace the front oil seal. Anyway I took a few days off of work to do this job and to swap out my transmission. The bolt just would not budge. I was a big strapping strong lad in those days and I ended up breaking the end off of one quality breaker bar (S-K Tools I think) and bending another when I tried to extend it and my leverage with a cast iron pipe. I also tried the starter trick, but did not have air tools at the time. Eventually, after a couple days of swearing and trying different types of tools and extensions I bought a large box end wrench that fit on the nut. A couple blows with the WW hammer, now also known as Mjolner, and it popped loose rather easily.

Fiddly, but not that hard, was taking off the control head for turn signal adjustment. Maybe a dozen times before they flashed reliably.
Never did get them to self cancel consistently.
 
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