I haven't forgotten

Recently I have been working on the upholstery and on getting the car ready for licensing in April. One of the most important things to do is the tires. Last year I ran the car on a set of Uniroyal Tiger Paws, great tires and I wish they were still available. the biggest problem was that even though they had 90% tread on them they were 25 years old and the insurance company would deny coverage if I got into an accident using them. Last year I tried a set of Vrendestine tires for a short while and didn't particularly care for them, so I hunted for replacements and finally ended up with the Toyo Eclipse tires. They have great specs and great reviews from all kinds of drivers all over North America.

I had John at Quickstrip blast the rims and Jason painted them up for me so they look almost new. I got the tires at my local OK Tire store in Saanichtom and got great service from all the guys there, needless to say I got a very competitive price as well. They are now on the car and I am just waiting to give them there maiden run.

I have also been working on the interior and the end is near. All is done except for the transmission tunnel and shroud under the heater might get it done this weekend. Once that is done I am at a stand still until I can find some one to redo the anodizing of the trim.

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.