Want a big Healey?

Before you go shopping, do some reading:

http://classicmotorsports.net/articles/window-shopper-austin-healey-3000/

Yes.

Coincidentally, a friend knows a guy who will be selling a Healey "kit" he started working on 20 years ago. Apparently he took it apart, had the body rot fixed and painted BRG, the engine rebuilt and then he got hurt and never put it back together so it's been sitting ever since.

It'll be interested to see how much he asks for and gets for it.

Ian F wrote: Yes. Coincidentally, a friend knows a guy who will be selling a Healey "kit" he started working on 20 years ago. Apparently he took it apart, had the body rot fixed and painted BRG, the engine rebuilt and then he got hurt and never put it back together so it's been sitting ever since. It'll be interested to see how much he asks for and gets for it.

A Healey "Kit," you mean a kit car.... which really isn't a Healey at all. They don't bring much money even the nice ones. The best kit car and the one that brings the most money is the Porsche 550, by Beck.

No, by "kit" I mean sort of like buying a "Healey in a box - some (a lot of) assembly required". Unfortunately, I don't much else about it (year, model, etc) other than the car is fairly local.

Besides my Bugeye project, I am helping with the restoration of two "Big" Healeys.

The corrosion as mentioned in the article is spot on; these cars were pretty much dead ten years into their existence, and the measures taken to keep them around up to this point ( especially during the period when they were worthless) gets interesting.

The other thing to keep in mind if you aspire to restore one of these is the sheer number of parts. It's like Donald was getting a royalty on a per/part basis. The hood release is a good example with about 15 parts required for the full "System". Whatever you do, if you buy a car, buy a complete one.

The cheapest interior you are going to do is 5k

The good news is that akk the parts to build a new car are availble. I think there are 3 aftermarket chassis builders to chose from.

As to the finished result, not really my cup of tea. The chassis has the same design flexibility as a tobogan. This conspires with the quasi-body on frame build to create a result that is aking to "several thousand automotive parts travelling in close formation".

With the heat generated by the exhaust right under the driver, I always figured a RHD version would be the ultimate Pizza delivery vehicle with the pasenger seat removed. It gets THAT hot.

They have been known to overlap e-type prices, but I see bargains on occasion with a friend having just sold a very nice frame up restoration for 30k after 2 years of trying to get more.

If you already have a project and want to drop it off at either of the local "big Healey: restoration shops in Ontario, you can pick it up two years later after dropping of a check for roughly 60-70k. Did I mention that they are both booked for two years?

The Healey bodies were built for the most part by Jensen. You are right, the welded internal sheet metal tacked to the frame makes restoration twice as difficult and expensive as a body you can just lift off the frame.

Some other quirks, like insisting on running the frame under the rear end on all but that last cars, resulting in the rear wheel lifting offf once it bottomed on the frame made the cars a tad quirky, plus the giant boat anchor of an engine wasn't the best choice, but they do look great (my fave is the old 4 cylinder 100).

A 1960 3000 went through either Mecom or BJ this past weekend for $18k. It had a 5 speed Toy trans in it and looked good on TV. I told my wife it was a good thing I wasn't sitting in the audience.

spitfirebill wrote: A 1960 3000 went through either Mecom or BJ this past weekend for $18k. It had a 5 speed Toy trans in it and looked good on TV. I told my wife it was a good thing I wasn't sitting in the audience.

If there was no rust on it, it was probably a pretty good deal...

dougie wrote:

spitfirebill wrote: A 1960 3000 went through either Mecom or BJ this past weekend for $18k. It had a 5 speed Toy trans in it and looked good on TV. I told my wife it was a good thing I wasn't sitting in the audience.

If there was no rust on it, it was probably a pretty good deal...

The paint and interior looked very good. The engine bay looked good, but was not overly restored. I have no idea about details like what engine work had been done. Later in the week a Kurt Tanner (??) restored 3000 went (I think) in the $80ks. Down a bit for his cars.