I agreed to purchase the Healey back in January; however, I
didn’t have the time to pick her up until May. Fortunately, the owner was
gracious enough to keep the Healey in his barn while I finished moving.
Finally, in late May we loaded the Healey up onto a flatbed truck and took her
to her new home.
Once the Healey was in our garage, we got to work right away
to get her up and running again. We flushed the gas tank and radiator, changed
the oil, etc. Once we put in a charged battery, we were ready to see if she’d
start up. She didn’t. We took apart the electric system and found the point
set, condenser, and rotor were worn out and needed to be replaced. We obtained
the required parts from a local mechanic, and they did the trick! Here are the
results:
The timing is still a little off and there's couple of leaks to fix (well, British cars always leak, but I just need to get it to the normal amount for a British car). The rumbling of the Healey engine is invigorating!
Next, we wanted to see if the Healey would shift in gear. However,
the clutch did not engage when the clutch pedal was pushed down. After
adjusting the connecting rod, the clutch engage perfectly! I started her up and
drove her in first gear. The brakes needed to be redone, so I couldn’t go very
far or very fast.
My next step is to get all the brake parts (shoes, rebuild kits for the cylinders) and to detail the Healey from bumper to bumper. Stay tuned for more updates!
