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Austin Healey 3000 MK IIa
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Ashley



Joined: 02 Jan 2008
Posts: 1426
Location: Near Stroud, Glos

PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 6:00 pm    Post subject: Austin Healey 3000 MK IIa Reply with quote

I've had my Healey for three or four years now and spent a fortune getting it right. It's looks excellent and has a lovely smooth engine in it that pulls from tick over in top even on steep hills.



It's a BJ7 which doesn't go as well as a BJ8 and I had the chance to buy a rebuilt BJ8 engine in Los Angeles. I'm guessing it got left at an engine shop because the owner found it was cheaper to stick a V8 in his car. Therefore I bought it and had it shipped home. I stripped it out and found it mostly in really good condition and nicely bored and ground, balanced etc. Only issues was the head, so I had it gas flowed by www.spamspeed.com who's local and has a rolling road where we can prove his work.



I got it all back together last week and am very pleased with how it looks.



This week I've summed up the courage to remove the old and perfectly good engine to replace it with my carefully blue printed and as new one. It's easy enough to get the old one out but quite a fiddle to get the new one in, but we managed it an hour or so ago. I'm feeling quite please now and praying that it runs as well as ts predecessor, but with more power.

Here is the old one coming out.



And the new one in.



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Rick
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Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 22429
Location: UK

PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great to see your car Ashley - when's the first test drive scheduled for? Smile

RJ
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Ashley



Joined: 02 Jan 2008
Posts: 1426
Location: Near Stroud, Glos

PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 8:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Won't be long Rick, I've got a friend drilling out and replacing exhaust manifold studs and as soon as I have them back, I can finish reassembly.

The carburettors are almost ready.

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JC T ONE



Joined: 30 Oct 2008
Posts: 1139
Location: Denmark

PostPosted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 3:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice Work Cool
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bob2



Joined: 06 Dec 2007
Posts: 1727
Location: Malta

PostPosted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 10:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice job!!
Is that inlet chromed or is it polished alloy cause the shine is great!
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Ashley



Joined: 02 Jan 2008
Posts: 1426
Location: Near Stroud, Glos

PostPosted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

bob2 wrote:
Nice job!!
Is that inlet chromed or is it polished alloy cause the shine is great!


It's polished by an excellent nearby polisher.

Only BMC would use a lovely bit of alloy like that and paint it a deadly metallic green, so I got it polished and fitted a rocker cover from a Vanden Plas 3 litre.
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47Jag



Joined: 26 Jun 2008
Posts: 1480
Location: Bothwell, Scotland

PostPosted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 11:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ashley,

Quote:
Only BMC would use a lovely bit of alloy like that and paint it a deadly metallic green,


Surly the original heads on the big Healeys were cast iron and yours is an upgrade.

Art
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peter scott



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 7113
Location: Edinburgh

PostPosted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 6:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

47Jag wrote:

Surly the original heads on the big Healeys were cast iron
Art


Heads yes, manifolds??
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Ashley



Joined: 02 Jan 2008
Posts: 1426
Location: Near Stroud, Glos

PostPosted: Sat Jun 20, 2015 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

peter scott wrote:
47Jag wrote:

Surly the original heads on the big Healeys were cast iron
Art


Heads yes, manifolds??


As the picture of the carbs shows the inlet manifold is very nice cast aluminium that BMC painted their metallic green.
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peter scott



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 7113
Location: Edinburgh

PostPosted: Sat Jun 20, 2015 12:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ashley,

How do you polish such an item with all its inaccessible corners?

Peter
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Ashley



Joined: 02 Jan 2008
Posts: 1426
Location: Near Stroud, Glos

PostPosted: Sat Jun 20, 2015 1:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very easily! There's a very nice old chap down the road from me who's about as good a polisher as I've found. It's the sort of job that needs a professional and specialist equipment.

Only trouble with all this is that I now have a perfectly good spare Healey engine and have been banned by my son from buying a late fifties Wolesley 6/90 and hotting it up.
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