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This is a pictorial story of the eventful restoration of a 1960 Austin Healey 3000 BT-7
When Dick first came to me and asked if I'd restore his car, I said, "No, I'm sorry, I don't have the time these days.
But on thinking about it, I told him I'd help as a project coordinator, and help steer him towards some good shops and craftsmen.
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We first took the car to a long time club member, Randy Cook, up in the high desert area of Southern California.
Randy has had a "patchy" history, but had displayed moments of greatness. He seemed to be doing pretty well at this time.
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Before long, I began to worry about Randy and the car. He seldom returned my calls and seemed evasive.
It was a couple of hours to drive to his shop, but I told Dick we'd better get up there.
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When we got there, the owner of the warehouse was there, and, to our astonishment,
all the Healeys Randy had been working on had been pushed out into the vacant lot beside the warehouse
and were getting picked over. With no sign of Randy for weeks, and him being three or four months behind
on the rent, the owner had just pushed his stuff out the door.
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I told Dick we had to get a flat bed trailer right then and there and salvage what we could.
We hustled around the yard, picking up the pieces and bits that had comprised his car. He was stoic, but certainly stunned.
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Since I was the one who had told him to use Randy, I felt obligated to "make it right" with Dick,
so .... we brought the car (the bits, parts and pieces) to my place and I told him I'd do the restoration after all.
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He agreed to pay for parts and a modest hourly rate, and the project was underway.
It was so much more than I had wanted to get wrapped up in!!
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So I put the car up on blocks and satrted the remainder of the tear down and stripping process.
Cleaning off all the road dirt and grime, stripping the old paint and putting new primer and paint on the chassis.
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I started with the engine bay. Cleaning it all up, installing a new wiring harness and getting
the engine in. The machining was done at a local shop. Complete head rebuild, resurfacing, reground valves,
new valve seats and springs
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I didn't tear into the tranny. Dick reported no problems with it, so I just cleaned it up,
bolted it together with the engine and put it in.
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I had the carb manifold polished and got a cast aluminum alloy valve cover.
The short block was in good shape, as Dick had never had an oil pressure problem and the car wasn't driven much.
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It started to look pretty good having that engine in there, and I started to gain enthusiasm for the project
despite the unplanned time and effort I was putting into it.
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Dick is the original owner and was getting this car ready as a wedding gift to his daughter.
After taking a look at the pistons and rings, we decided that replacing the main
and cam bearings was not necessary.
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The rest of the engine bay components were stripped or bead blasted and repainted.
Components were either painted Healey Green or with a gloss black epoxy paint.
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Next I started on the front suspension. I checked all the steering linkage and replaced the foam
seals and tie rod ends.
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For some reason I really like the front suspension work. The independent coil springs are really good
looking and replacing the wheel bearings is not too hard. The brake cylinders were OK.
The disks needed turned but had enough meat on 'em.
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All the bushings, seals and rubber parts in the suspension were replaced. Again, components were painted
epoxy black. The grease had run dry on one side, and the king pin (or whatever it's called) had become worn. We replaced both sides.
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Here it is all put together. I also painted the wheel wells with a rubberizing spray. I know it's not "stock",
but it makes the car quieter and the little chips and dings don't show up.
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Here's a shot of the car in it's "surgical configuration" with easy access under and over.
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Next I did the rear transaxle and suspension. Don't forget those rear hub nuts are reverse threaded on the right side (or is it the left?)
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All the parts are bead blasted and painted epoxy black. Those old Armstrong lever shocks actually still work pretty well.
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Here's the left side transaxle and some of the suspension components. In this view you can see
the fuel pump, the brake hydraulic pipe and the anti-sway bar.
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The rear upholstery, the "ocassional seats" and carpets went in first. Ken used all top grain leather.
He got the best he could find.
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The upholstery was done custom by a member of the Austin healey Club of Southern California.
Many thanks to Ken R. for his excellent work!
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The car really feels like it's coming together now. Ken used English Wool carpet material. The color is "coffee".
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I've started the engine and it runs nicely. A basic tune-up, timing, and carb adjustment
and it's almost there. We got new windshield glass, since the old one was pretty badly pitted.
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I've started the engine and it runs nicely. A basic tune-up, timing, and carb adjustment
and it's almost there.
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Next we put on the doors. This car has plug-in window screens, not roll-up windows,
so they are stored either in the trunk or in the garage.
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The front seats go in and the doors are installed. There are shims that set the edge gap just right. Always do
this with the engine in so the chassis has the normal sag.
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Then the steering wheel and hard top. This is a rare item, the factory original hard top.
We got a new plexiglass rear window for it and has the underliner replaced. Nice!!
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Is it done?? Yep, after months of evenings and weekends, many explanations and requests for understanding,
a very nice restoration!
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72-spoke wire wheels and Dunlop A-2 Sport 195-65/R15 tires put the rubber to the road.
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Eight months, several hundred hours of work, and ... ahem ... thousand dollars, a beautiful fresh Austin Healey Roadster!
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Da Boyz!! Congrats and cold beers all around. A few of the trophies from my own Healey are on the shelf behind us.
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