Identify these BJ8 springs?

[CLEAH]

BTW, always enjoy you BaT comments.

Thanks Rick, I always enjoy yours also! It is nice to have someone familiar in the wild, wild world of BaT. You and stuntflyer.

 

[CLEAH]

I'd throw away the Phase II exhaust system as well.

That has also been on my mind. I'd guess that has been covered here on BCF, but if not, sounds like a good future thread!

 

[CLEAH]

I thought I would update this thread I started some time ago. One of the things that concerned me about the restoration of my car was getting the ride height correct. So many cars, particularly BJ8’s, ride too high, especially in the rear. Of course I understand that BJ8’s had altered ride height from the factory, but many restored cars are just plain wrong. And look silly.

Partway through my restoration, I decided to have it all done professionally—I made good headway, and enjoyed it, but I wanted to drive the car prior to my 116[SUP]th[/SUP] birthday, so I sent it away for the full spa treatment. (It deserved it, after all.)

In the end, my restorer created the perfect ride height, and I am thrilled. But to get that, they had to do custom work. They start with standard Moss springs, then send them away to a spring shop to be re-contoured to the template that they created a long time ago. I suppose that is the attention to detail that you get (or should get) when you spend a lot on a restoration, but it seems odd to me that a properly contoured spring is not an off-the-shelf item.

In any event, I solved my concern by having a pro take care of it for me!

 

[Healey Nut]

Looks good Hugh however once the car is driven for a while and the springs and bushings etc all settle in do you not think it will be too low .
Look at my BJ8 pic . I took this right after I pushed it out of the garage on its first sunny day after I restored it. This was taken before I had even driven round the block . Stock springs everything no custom at all . Yes its a wee bit high but now after a couple of years its perfect .

 

[RAC68]

Hi Hugh,

The car height looks great. Now, with some minor modifications, you can have an Original BJ8.



With your lower riding car, your BJ8 exhaust is more vulnerable. I like the BJ8 system...especially the Ansi I installed on my car a while ago. To extend its longevity, I installed a skid bar along the bottom of each muffler that extend forward and up on an angle to the pipe. Instead of the flat front of the mufflers catching on such obstacles as railroad tracks or pot holes, they now ride up and over.

Ray(64BJ8P1)

 

[HealeyRick]

If you want a really low Healey, you need to airbag it:

https://www.speedhunters.com/2016/1...escuing-a-58-austin-healey/#livefyre-comments
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[steveg]

I wonder if that car can actually move in that state. The muffler's probably sitting on the ground.

 

[HealeyRick]

I wonder if that car can actually move in that state. The muffler's probably sitting on the ground.

Hence the air bags. When you want to drive it, you air up the suspension. Even still, the muffler is still apparently too low. Take a look at the article: https://www.speedhunters.com/2016/10/...efyre-comments Pretty neat looking ex-California car.

 

[CLEAH]

With your lower riding car, your BJ8 exhaust is more vulnerable. I like the BJ8 system...especially the Ansi I installed on my car a while ago. To extend its longevity, I installed a skid bar along the bottom of each muffler that extend forward and up on an angle to the pipe. Instead of the flat front of the mufflers catching on such obstacles as railroad tracks or pot holes, they now ride up and over.

Ray(64BJ8P1)

Ray, your car looks great. Yes, the idea of a exhaust slider of sorts is a good one. My dad had fabricated something like that many years ago for our car. Even with it, I managed to smash a hole in one of the mufflers as a 16 year old. Came down onto a driveway crest and broke the muffler right in the middle. I tried to "fix" it by wiring a flattened soda can over it--not surprisingly the thing got blown right off when I accelerated during the test run of my ingenious fix. Dad just went ahead and ordered a new muffler.

My car is no lower than it always has been for the past 39 years of our ownership. Also, I no longer have a BJ8 exhaust. My restorer routinely fits earlier systems to the cars they restore, so that is what I have. Sounds great.