healey3000’s 1963 Austin-Healey 3000

My next sports car is a 427 Cobra replica. The body was a piece of crap I bought for $500 and it wasn't worth it. I had to make doors, trunk lid and the hood all from scratch as the originals did not fit at all and had the wrong curve. It took years, yards of fiberglass cloth and gallons of resin and a lot of beer to finish it. To complicate things further, I was in graduate school and working 40 hours a week at the same time. I did everything on this car by myself and usually the hard way. It was quite a learning experience. I finished the body last summer and took it to a friends paint booth and shot it with Martin Senour Tech series paint. I have a high build primer underneath (Marson) and I let it shrink for a couple of months before I painted it. I shot a sealer coat which I tinted with body color on top of the primer. Next I shot a base coat of 1964 Ford Guardsman Metalic Blue. I let that dry then taped the stripes which are Wimbledon White. Then I cleared it with three coats.The engine is a 351W out of a 1982 cop car. Holley four barrel, Edlebrock Performer RPM manifold, extensively worked heads with big Chevy valves, roller rockers, It is built up to somewhere around 400 hp. It has a four speed toploader, posi rear end, NASCAR four link suspension, 10" wheels rear, 8" wheels front with huge 295/70 x 15 tires on the rear. I have an oil cooler for it but it is not mounted in the pics, nor are the side vents in the fenders. I made those from scratch like a lot of other parts for the car. The dash is wood and I made it in my wood shop. It is tiger maple. I split a board in half on the table saw, planed it, then I butted the bookmatched ends together and epoxied it to the metal dash. It is a beautiful highly figured piece of wood and looks like a 1950-60 era Fender Telecaster guitar with a bookmatched front. I drive this car hard and it is very quick and very loud and a lot of fun.

This is my buddy Karl's 1960 BT-7 Healey. He bought it in southeastern Iowa three years ago. It had spent many years lying on it's frame rails in an apple orchard. The acidic soil totally destroyed the mail frame rails so he made new ones out of 3 x 4 steel box tubing 1/8 inch thick. He then carefully measured and welded new suspension and engine mounts, hinge panels, floor boards, sills, rockers and front and rear sheet metal. These pics are over one year old. As of spring 2004 he has the shrouds mounted, fenders mounted, doors mounted (and the gaps look good) gearbox and overdrive in and is preparing to start the beast. This car has come a long long way. It just shows what someone with no prior experience can do to restore a car and bring it back from the dead. All that you need is patience, determination and confidence. Lastly, one needs a wife/girlfriend that understands or has given up on your obsessive/compulsive behavior.

The following pics are of my buddy Karl trying to wire weld up an old Healey oil pan with a wire welder. I tried too on my oil pan to no avail. I think that the problem might have been that the metal was too impregnated with oil. I don't know. Anyway, we fixed the oil pans eventually using other methods.Isn't my shop a pit?The other two photos are of the chassis going back together. It has been painted Colorado red. The original car color was white but that is too boring for me. The other pics are of the new wheel well going in which was a BITCH!!!!,...tack, grind off, re-adjust, repeat 40 times,...and my buddy Karl helping adjust the rear sheet metal. This took weeks and was by far the most difficult thing to do on this Healey. Karl is so hung over in this pic that he can barely stand so he's leaning on the car.

The next couple of pics are of our engines. My engine was original to my 1963 MkII Healey. Karl's engine was a conglomeration of parts that we put together. It is a 100-6 block bored out to 3000 std specs. Only one cylinder has to be resleeved. A local reputable machine shop did all of the machining and Karl and I put the engines together. We had our cams and lifters ground by Elgin cams in California. The cylinder heads are just lightly cleaned up and the ports are just smoothed out. I didn't want to open up the ports too much and reduce gas velocity.Also, my engine temporarily has a tri-carb setup going on it in two pics. I went back to the stock two 1 3/4 SU carbs just to get the engine running but I will eventually go to three 1 3/4 SU carbs.

The next three pics are where my Healey was at early last winter. I will load updated pics soon. Anyway, the drivetrain is in and the engine runs. The brakes and clutch work. Most of the wiring is done. It is ready to head out on it's first drive in over 20 years. My shop is a pit, I know it. It is an old body shop. I just have way too many projects going on at once. I have two sports cars and two Toyota pickup trucks and all four of them always need something and I'm always having to fix something in my shop for someone. Plus I have a ton of bicycles and parts. I also have huge shelves filled with Healey parts. I have sold most of them but still have some left. A dirty shop is good,...that way my girlfriend never wants to come out and bug me.

The following pics show the initial disassembly of the Healey during January in Wisconsin. Not exactly a hospitable climate for working on old rusty Healeys. At least it is too cold for blood to flow from barked knuckles. That is my buddy Karl in the pics. He has a 1960 BT-7. In the third pic he is lying on the cold concrete loosening the overdrive and gearbox for removal. At least attorneys are good for something. The other pics are of the greasy engine compartment.

The next couple of pics show the paint stripping process with aircraft stripper. This is nasty stuff and I did it outside wearing an OSHA mask and heavy rubber gloves. The stratigraphy of the paint showed many episodes of painting. I think that I counted five. That does not include the applications of primer before the paint. The last paint job (British Racing Green) was not sprayed on but more like poured on with a bucket.No, that is not modern art. It is a wire wheel trueing stand made out of old Healey parts. The construction of it was inspired by Jack Daniels. The last pics are of stripped panels. I used scotch-brite pads (the name escapes me) mounted on a 4" disk attched to my angle grinder. It worked great and didn't distort the metal nor did it scratch it.

The next pics show the disassembled parts loaded up and about to head off to the sandblaster/mediablaster. Once I got them back I cleaned them up and painted them with PPG DP90 LF, a very good epoxy based self-etching bare metal primer. One must do this soon before the parts start to oxidize. The other pics are of the media blasted chasis or carcass as I like to call it. The ugly weld was a result of wrong wire and too much of a voltage drop. It was later ground off and done correctly.

The next couple of pics show the paint stripping process with aircraft stripper. This is nasty stuff and I did it outside wearing an OSHA mask and heavy rubber gloves. The stratigraphy of the paint showed many episodes of painting. I think that I counted five. That does not include the applications of primer before the paint. The last paint job (British Racing Green) was not sprayed on but more like poured on with a bucket.No, that is not modern art. It is a wire wheel trueing stand made out of old Healey parts. The construction of it was inspired by Jack Daniels. The last pics are of stripped panels. I used scotch-brite pads (the name escapes me) mounted on a 4" disk attched to my angle grinder. It worked great and didn't distort the metal nor did it scratch it.

The next couple of pics are of our engines. My engine was original to my 1963 MkII Healey. Karl's engine was a conglomeration of parts that we put together. It is a 100-6 block bored out to 3000 std specs. Only one cylinder has to be resleeved. A local reputable machine shop did all of the machining and Karl and I put the engines together. We had our cams and lifters ground by Elgin cams in California. The cylinder heads are just lightly cleaned up and the ports are just smoothed out. I didn't want to open up the ports too much and reduce gas velocity.Also, my engine temporarily has a tri-carb setup going on it in two pics. I went back to the stock two 1 3/4 SU carbs just to get the engine running but I will eventually go to three 1 3/4 SU carbs.

The following pics are of my buddy Karl trying to wire weld up an old Healey oil pan with a wire welder. I tried too on my oil pan to no avail. I think that the problem might have been that the metal was too impregnated with oil. I don't know. Anyway, we fixed the oil pans eventually using other methods.Isn't my shop a pit?The other two photos are of the chassis going back together. It has been painted Colorado red. The original car color was white but that is too boring for me. The other pics are of the new wheel well going in which was a BITCH!!!!,...tack, grind off, re-adjust, repeat 40 times,...and my buddy Karl helping adjust the rear sheet metal. This took weeks and was by far the most difficult thing to do on this Healey. Karl is so hung over in this pic that he can barely stand so he's leaning on the car.

My next sports car is a 427 Cobra replica. The body was a piece of crap I bought for $500 and it wasn't worth it. I had to make doors, trunk lid and the hood all from scratch as the originals did not fit at all and had the wrong curve. It took years, yards of fiberglass cloth and gallons of resin and a lot of beer to finish it. To complicate things further, I was in graduate school and working 40 hours a week at the same time. I did everything on this car by myself and usually the hard way. It was quite a learning experience. I finished the body last summer and took it to a friends paint booth and shot it with Martin Senour Tech series paint. I have a high build primer underneath (Marson) and I let it shrink for a couple of months before I painted it. I shot a sealer coat which I tinted with body color on top of the primer. Next I shot a base coat of 1964 Ford Guardsman Metalic Blue. I let that dry then taped the stripes which are Wimbledon White. Then I cleared it with three coats.The engine is a 351W out of a 1982 cop car. Holley four barrel, Edlebrock Performer RPM manifold, extensively worked heads with big Chevy valves, roller rockers, It is built up to somewhere around 400 hp. It has a four speed toploader, posi rear end, NASCAR four link suspension, 10" wheels rear, 8" wheels front with huge 295/70 x 15 tires on the rear. I have an oil cooler for it but it is not mounted in the pics, nor are the side vents in the fenders. I made those from scratch like a lot of other parts for the car. The dash is wood and I made it in my wood shop. It is tiger maple. I split a board in half on the table saw, planed it, then I butted the bookmatched ends together and epoxied it to the metal dash. It is a beautiful highly figured piece of wood and looks like a 1950-60 era Fender Telecaster guitar with a bookmatched front. I drive this car hard and it is very quick and very loud and a lot of fun.

The next three pics are where my Healey was at early last winter. I will load updated pics soon. Anyway, the drivetrain is in and the engine runs. The brakes and clutch work. Most of the wiring is done. It is ready to head out on it's first drive in over 20 years. My shop is a pit, I know it. It is an old body shop. I just have way too many projects going on at once. I have two sports cars and two Toyota pickup trucks and all four of them always need something and I'm always having to fix something in my shop for someone. Plus I have a ton of bicycles and parts. I also have huge shelves filled with Healey parts. I have sold most of them but still have some left. A dirty shop is good,...that way my girlfriend never wants to come out and bug me.

This is my buddy Karl's 1960 BT-7 Healey. He bought it in southeastern Iowa three years ago. It had spent many years lying on it's frame rails in an apple orchard. The acidic soil totally destroyed the mail frame rails so he made new ones out of 3 x 4 steel box tubing 1/8 inch thick. He then carefully measured and welded new suspension and engine mounts, hinge panels, floor boards, sills, rockers and front and rear sheet metal. These pics are over one year old. As of spring 2004 he has the shrouds mounted, fenders mounted, doors mounted (and the gaps look good) gearbox and overdrive in and is preparing to start the beast. This car has come a long long way. It just shows what someone with no prior experience can do to restore a car and bring it back from the dead. All that you need is patience, determination and confidence. Lastly, one needs a wife/girlfriend that understands or has given up on your obsessive/compulsive behavior.

The next pics show the disassembled parts loaded up and about to head off to the sandblaster/mediablaster. Once I got them back I cleaned them up and painted them with PPG DP90 LF, a very good epoxy based self-etching bare metal primer. One must do this soon before the parts start to oxidize. The other pics are of the media blasted chasis or carcass as I like to call it. The ugly weld was a result of wrong wire and too much of a voltage drop. It was later ground off and done correctly.

The following pics show the initial disassembly of the Healey during January in Wisconsin. Not exactly a hospitable climate for working on old rusty Healeys. At least it is too cold for blood to flow from barked knuckles. That is my buddy Karl in the pics. He has a 1960 BT-7. In the third pic he is lying on the cold concrete loosening the overdrive and gearbox for removal. At least attorneys are good for something. The other pics are of the greasy engine compartment.

The next couple of pics are of our engines. My engine was original to my 1963 MkII Healey. Karl's engine was a conglomeration of parts that we put together. It is a 100-6 block bored out to 3000 std specs. Only one cylinder has to be resleeved. A local reputable machine shop did all of the machining and Karl and I put the engines together. We had our cams and lifters ground by Elgin cams in California. The cylinder heads are just lightly cleaned up and the ports are just smoothed out. I didn't want to open up the ports too much and reduce gas velocity.Also, my engine temporarily has a tri-carb setup going on it in two pics. I went back to the stock two 1 3/4 SU carbs just to get the engine running but I will eventually go to three 1 3/4 SU carbs.

This is my buddy Karl's 1960 BT-7 Healey. He bought it in southeastern Iowa three years ago. It had spent many years lying on it's frame rails in an apple orchard. The acidic soil totally destroyed the mail frame rails so he made new ones out of 3 x 4 steel box tubing 1/8 inch thick. He then carefully measured and welded new suspension and engine mounts, hinge panels, floor boards, sills, rockers and front and rear sheet metal. These pics are over one year old. As of spring 2004 he has the shrouds mounted, fenders mounted, doors mounted (and the gaps look good) gearbox and overdrive in and is preparing to start the beast. This car has come a long long way. It just shows what someone with no prior experience can do to restore a car and bring it back from the dead. All that you need is patience, determination and confidence. Lastly, one needs a wife/girlfriend that understands or has given up on your obsessive/compulsive behavior.

The next three pics are where my Healey was at early last winter. I will load updated pics soon. Anyway, the drivetrain is in and the engine runs. The brakes and clutch work. Most of the wiring is done. It is ready to head out on it's first drive in over 20 years. My shop is a pit, I know it. It is an old body shop. I just have way too many projects going on at once. I have two sports cars and two Toyota pickup trucks and all four of them always need something and I'm always having to fix something in my shop for someone. Plus I have a ton of bicycles and parts. I also have huge shelves filled with Healey parts. I have sold most of them but still have some left. A dirty shop is good,...that way my girlfriend never wants to come out and bug me.