Sad News in Victoria

This post is not a happy one as I have to deal with the loss of a friend and mentor today. My friend Roy Moore passed away Wednesday Nov 23 2011, I will miss him very much. Roy was a friend and mentor in the restoration of my 100/6 over the past couple of years. Known around Victoria as Mr Healey his knowledge and ability's will be lost and leave a large gap in the restoration community, I don't think there is any thing that Roy  didn't know about the Big Healeys and if he didn't know he knew where to go to get the answer. Roy almost finished his 33rd full restoration of a Big Healey a metalic blue 100/6 BN6 two seater, but it wasn't to be because the upholsterer was too slow to finish the job he started in the spring, hence Roy never saw it finished, it is a shame. Every one please raise their wrench to Roy.

Interior hard work but worth it

 

Over the last few days Progress has moved forward I now have the vinyl attached to the rear fender wells and back compartment. Getting them right was a bit of a challenge but with planning and setup it worked out not too bad, the pieces in the kit fit really well with just enough extra  to do the job. I have also secured the rear deck carpet and then the vertical carpet in front of the rear seats.

More progress on the inside

I haven't been doing the inside of the car because I just haven't had the energy. Today I pushed my self and started some of the basic stuff. I  started with locating the securing points on the under felt and on the mats. I then  put the snaps on the carpet. The first one I had the under-felt  but the retainer ring would not go through the under-felt and the carpet so I cut holes in the under-felt for the snaps to go through. I then glued the felt to the carpet and secured the clips to the floor using the original holes in the floor for the other half of the fastener.

The insides are here

I received the interior last week and am I impressed. Skinner did a great job and the colours are perfect (no room for improvement) The carpets are darker than the original samples I have, but it is most likely due to fading over the years,and the look is just what I think it was the day the car was completed.

I haven't had a chance to start installing things yet and I think I will let Jason do some of it as well. The under-felt is quite different than what I am used to and I think it will be better than what I had planned on using. The sewn panels are fantastic, the stitching is incredible it appears the start and stop location is done to minimize the ability to see it although I had a hard time finding it in the bright sun light, that's how good it is.At first glance the sizing is the same as the original, and includes the screw holes already drilled in the right locations.For example there are three screws to hold the door handle in place that uses pan head screws, even those holes are drilled in the backing to allow the screw heads to fit into the panel not under the panel allowing things to fit properly. The mounting holes all seem to align with the ones in the door sheet metal and kick panels

The next step.................................

The next step will be the interior panels. I ordered them from John Skinner Mfg. in England last week so all I have to do is wait for them to arrive. I ordered dark green carpets and stone vinyl panels with dark green piping so I think it will be very pretty when it is done. They were more reasonable than I thought, I saw some on another Healey recently and I was very impressed with the quality, that made my mind up to go with Skinner.

There are several other things that have to be done one is the side screens I have one out being polished once it is back I will send the other one away to be done. The Plexiglas is in reasonable shape but there are several deep scratches I don't think I can get out but I will try. There are several unimportant pieces like the tonneau bar and the top frame that needs to be done The last is the wheels need to be gone over and painted and new tires installed and that is about it

Brits on the Beach

Every year there is a gathering of English cars in a small town called Ladysmith about an hour easy drive north of  Victoria our home town. This is the first year I have attended it in an English car and participant.

We were there about 10:00 AM and certainly weren't the first ones there. A rough count of 250 to 300 cars of  all sizes shapes and ages, here were many pre-50's cars to a couple of year old Aston Marin DB9, one of the cars was a 30's Bentley marvelous car, it was great to have it blow past us on the highway on our way home. There was a sweet black Jag XK140, lots of Morgans,Mini's,Land Rovers, MGs of all kinds, and Rolls Royce's to name a few. One of the rarest that was there was a BSA car from the 40s I think.

And on it goes

I received samples from Jonathon Skinner (John Skinner (Manufacturing) Ltd http://www.john-skinner.co.uk) today and I have now got a match for the upholstery. I will  be going with the original dark green wool carpet and original grained stone covering with dark green piping these are all as close to the original as I can find. I think this will  set every thing off perfectly.



















I have had a couple of small problems and unfinished details to do as well. I couldn't get the wipers working at all so I got the motor out and found a jammed gear, that is now running well with no problems. I also needed parts for the crankcase ventilation pipe and new wiper arms with wiper blades, so I contacted Bob Yule at AutoFarm Ltd. (www.AutoFarm.net) for those parts as well as parts to refurbish the side curtains.  A few days later they arrived and now there are more things stroked off the punch list, which is getting shorter each week.

I still have several major things to complete (upholstery the biggest) but those will have to wait as the weather is good enough for another drive, and the road is calling.

The joys of old cars

I haven't added any thing t the blog because I have been out enjoying the car. I have put about 1000 miles on it since I got it on the road, and have enjoyed it immensely, none of the trips have been too long but just being out in it is enough.

I would say though that the shortest trip was the most heralding, I had just gone up to the bank and as I pulled out of the parking lot to come home when the prince of darkness struck. I got to the middle of the road and it died, no life at all, so I was able to push it to the side of the road. I did some trouble shooting and found there was no spark at the plugs. I was standing with the bonnet up and a familiar face stopped and asked if I needed help, it turned out to be a fellow member of the OECC (Old English Car Club) Wayne. By this time I had decided the problem was the coil as it was the one ignition piece I didn't replace. Wayne said he had one for a Rapier of the same vintage just a block or two down the road, he went off to get it. Well it wasn't that so a call to my local tow truck I got it home, and tinkered for an hour or so to find out that it was the new rotor that had failed, couldn't tell by looking at it but I guess it was shorting the spark to ground. A new $5 rotor from the local auto store fixed that, and started my spares box that now lives in the boot.

Our first club function with the OECC

Laura telling a viewer all about it

Even though it is not finished (interior mainly) I took it to the local restoration show at Heritage Acres this last weekend. There were many club members that saw it for the first time. All were happy to see it, and said I did a good job of restoring it, a nice vote of confidence to my efforts. The most asked question other than what year  is it (57) was "is that the original colour?" to which the answer is yes not common but original.

I enjoyed getting out in the nice weather with it and showing it off. It seems that every where I go in it someone comes and wants to see it and compliment me on restoring it as so many end up as rubbish at the dump.  Beside us was a Sunbeam Tiger (the red one) and a Daimler 250 just visible (the white one) both restored to original, and absolutely stunning. On the other side were three Morris 1000's a woody wagon, a coupe, and a drop top (convertible) also all were in wonderful condition.

The next  outing will be the Father's day gathering at Beacon Hill Park there is usually 250+ English cars
in attendance. I am also thinking of going to Van Deusen Gardens in May in Vancouver not sure about that one.

It drives Igor It drives!!

Today was the first day that the car was insured. I just had to go the Sidney and let Jason and Shawn at Jetstream Custom Auto see it first. I think they were impressed that it was in a drivable in such a short time and that it ran and looked super. I then went to my oldest brothers place (on the way home) and showed him that it was on the road. In the sun and on the side of the road it really did look nice.

The main  three things that are left are the front grill I have to assemble the bits for it and rivet every thing together, I am still waiting for the right rivets. The next thing is the carpet, I have to order the kit from England and install it, it is just the cost at this point holding this back. The third thing is the rest of the trim panels, and again this won't be done until next winter because of the costs involved, just a matter of time.

Even though it is not complete it is drivable and I still can't get the grin off my face. I will try to enjoy it the way it is, I think that is fair to it and to me. I will be up loading pictures as I get them from the different places Laura and I go for the fun of it. The first is this weekend, I am expecting to take it to the Old English Car Club swap meet, assuming the weather cooperates hope it does.

More finishing work

I was supposed to be at a dog race this weekend but I  got sooooo  tired I came home and slept for 12 hours. I then was a little sluggish getting going but managed a couple of cups of tea before I started working on the car.

I started on the headlights and got the retainer clip installed and the buckets permanently installed, I then had to clean up the chrome pieces and get the pigtails installed for the lights them self. I had to be very careful as these are the original LUCUS lights and I realy want to use them

Door Piller
The next was the door catches. I have powder coated the backer and spacing plates and installed them with the piping for the door shut panels. The passenger door went together very easy but the drivers door is a brute and is not co-operating. The shut plates are the original ones and have been cleaned up and refinished.  I think they look good as the original finish and shapes are not available any more. 

More puttering

Over the last couple of weeks I have been puttering on the car. I have done several small jobs on it, and realized that they have made a significant difference to the look of the project. Here are some up to date pictures

The continuing rebuild

Recently I have been trying to get a bunch of small things done on the car. Things like the turn signals and headlights little things that take a lot of time.

After getting the car running at Jason's it was discovered that the tank was leaking so off to the repair shop it went. Townside got it fixed with several holes being discovered, I  still haven't quite got it back in yet , maybe this weekend. It seems that every thing from now on is going to take a lot of time and be difficult to do, and ultimately won't be noticed unless it is not done.

Hope the weather cleans up soon so I can get more pictures to post since the garage is too small to get decent pic's

A mere 24 hours later

24 hours later the car is painted and finished in the booth. Just some wet sand and polish to get rid of the very few zits will do the rest. Lastly lighting, and the chrome will go on, then the upholstery will go in and finito. Well that is the hope, I hope it works like that.

Its really happening

Captain there be white

I can't really believe that it is happening. Today I dropped off more parts for Jason, well that's my story and I am sticken t't't'to it. The Old English White is on the car and looking just as I had hoped. Shawn is starting to mask for the Florida Green all those bits and pieces to mask off and make sure no paint will over spray.Shawn is hoping to have it painted by tomorrow afternoon so he can move on to the '52  Bentley then on to my brothers metallic blue BN7.

Shawn Doing his masking thing.

Painting has started

Door inside painted

A visit to the paint shop reveled that the inside of the fenders and shroud were painted and that the front shroud and the fenders were on the car. Shawn and his helper were installing the doors and loosely fitting the fenders readying it for the outside paint. The Old English White will go on the coves first then more masking and the rest of the Florida Green. The car then will look like an real Austin Healey.

 

Looking almost like a Healey

Moving on

Yesterday I arranged and dropped the car off at Jason's again for the rest of the body work.

As I left the house there was a truck that came out of the Coop gas station and followed us all the 20 km. to Jason's. Once there he asked questions about the Healey then said he had a late 20's Rolls. Since Jason has a 34  Rolls in the shop it was  perfect timing, Jason showed him around, the Rolls the Camaro and the Model A  I hope he comes back for body work and or paint.

I will keep an eye on things and keep the posts up to date.

2011 time to get going again

Its late January 2011 and not much happened since mid November. We had holidays then Christmas and then out trip to the Caribbean (our travel blog aaronandlaurasholiday.blogspot.com). It is all over for several months so it is time to start planning the finishing the car. I have the wiring ready to check and the engine ready to turn over, all I  have to do is static time then the engine is ready to start.

I have been out to see Jason a couple of times and it looks like the week of Feb 1 will be a good week to take the car back to him to finish assembly and painting. I will arrange it the best I can assuming the weather cooperates.

Trials of the exhaust system

A couple of days ago my friend Roy came over to bend up fuel pipe for my brothers BN7. After removing the line we bent one for the car and Roy offered to help install the rest of the exhaust system. After a couple of hours it was all done and ready to breath. The biggest problem was to install the bolt that holds the muffler on, only in England would someone design a system like that, no matter what you do it is going to be tough to install. I needed 4 extensions with a 14 mill socket to get it tight, it is all sealed with Ultra Copper so there is no blow by ( there was a little blue air also and it wasn't engine generated).

While I had the car on stands I finished installing the rear transmission mount and manifold bolts.