I bought my 1960 BT7 a little over a year ago. It was a Southern California, 2 owner car which the previous owner purchased in 1965. The car was complete and running when it was stored, outdoors under a tarp, in 2002. The chassis is solid, but there was plenty of surface rust and some rust in the sections in front of the rear wheels, trunk and the lower right front fender due to a minor "off road" event by the previous owner in his youth. The interior was in bad shape. I posted some background in my introductory post to BCF.
I decided to approach this project in three phases. 1) Get the car running and road worthy. This step lets me become familiar with working on the Healey and establishes a baseline for the car. 2) Complete the exterior body panel work (no paint, just panel repair/preliminary fit). Study the technical material, decide what upgrades I want to make, plan the work, refine the budget (Ha!). 3) Full body off restoration.
My 89 year old dad and my younger son have helped me out on this journey. We started with a lot of cleaning, and then proceeded to the mechanicals. We have gone through the brakes, hydraulics, fuel system, cooling system, changed all fluids, (including dropping the oil pan and cleaning out accumulated sludge), suspension (mostly inspection, some bushings), some interior work (floor pan insulation, seat foams/covers, dash pad), and replaced the door seals, scuttle and windshield seals. We had the engine running last December and the car is back on the road as of May. The Healey is a joy to drive. The engine idles smoothly and pulls strong, the transmission shifts well, the overdrive works and the steering is much tighter than I had expected. With its 4 row re-cored radiator and sleeved thermostat the car has been running between 170 and 180 degrees during my drives to date (80 degrees, hilly). It does tend to heat up when sitting in traffic and this is something I intend to address over the summer.
I've been fortunate enough to find a nice original right front fender and trunk lid on Craigslist during the past year. I don't do bodywork, but know a good body man who is interested in the project.
I have completed one other frame off restoration (not a Healey) and have multiple Healey manuals. However, I have found this forum to be a huge help in understanding what to look for when purchasing the car and tips how to best accomplish whatever jobs we have tackled. Generally, I have found that I can search the forum and find an answer to a question I have and I've had nothing to add to forum questions answered by other members. Hence, this is only my second post this year. However, I have enjoyed reading about other Healey owner's projects and visit the forum almost daily. I have a spreadsheet full of tips from things I have learned on this forum.
I want to thank the many contributors to this forum. Your willingness to share your experience and knowledge has made this project so achievable and enjoyable.
Here's a few photos of the project to date. We have a long way to go...but it's going to be a great trip!
Joe
I decided to approach this project in three phases. 1) Get the car running and road worthy. This step lets me become familiar with working on the Healey and establishes a baseline for the car. 2) Complete the exterior body panel work (no paint, just panel repair/preliminary fit). Study the technical material, decide what upgrades I want to make, plan the work, refine the budget (Ha!). 3) Full body off restoration.
My 89 year old dad and my younger son have helped me out on this journey. We started with a lot of cleaning, and then proceeded to the mechanicals. We have gone through the brakes, hydraulics, fuel system, cooling system, changed all fluids, (including dropping the oil pan and cleaning out accumulated sludge), suspension (mostly inspection, some bushings), some interior work (floor pan insulation, seat foams/covers, dash pad), and replaced the door seals, scuttle and windshield seals. We had the engine running last December and the car is back on the road as of May. The Healey is a joy to drive. The engine idles smoothly and pulls strong, the transmission shifts well, the overdrive works and the steering is much tighter than I had expected. With its 4 row re-cored radiator and sleeved thermostat the car has been running between 170 and 180 degrees during my drives to date (80 degrees, hilly). It does tend to heat up when sitting in traffic and this is something I intend to address over the summer.
I've been fortunate enough to find a nice original right front fender and trunk lid on Craigslist during the past year. I don't do bodywork, but know a good body man who is interested in the project.
I have completed one other frame off restoration (not a Healey) and have multiple Healey manuals. However, I have found this forum to be a huge help in understanding what to look for when purchasing the car and tips how to best accomplish whatever jobs we have tackled. Generally, I have found that I can search the forum and find an answer to a question I have and I've had nothing to add to forum questions answered by other members. Hence, this is only my second post this year. However, I have enjoyed reading about other Healey owner's projects and visit the forum almost daily. I have a spreadsheet full of tips from things I have learned on this forum.
I want to thank the many contributors to this forum. Your willingness to share your experience and knowledge has made this project so achievable and enjoyable.
Here's a few photos of the project to date. We have a long way to go...but it's going to be a great trip!
Joe
Attachments
-
1-Healey_B_Eng.jpg40 KB · Views: 264
-
2-Healey_B_LS.jpg56.1 KB · Views: 259
-
3-Healey_B_RS.jpg84.2 KB · Views: 271
-
4-Healey_B_I.jpg61 KB · Views: 289
-
5-Healey_P1_Eng.jpg36 KB · Views: 284
-
7-Healey_P1_LS.jpg82.8 KB · Views: 249
-
8-Healey_P1_RS.jpg82.5 KB · Views: 268
-
6-Healey_P1_I.jpg59.1 KB · Views: 263