Things have taken a new shape in the challenge that they present.  I ordered a pair of shims for the differential that are required to create the correct pre-load for the bearings at the front of the unit.  They arrived with the rest of the axel parts order and I thought nothing more of it until I went to fit them at the weekend only to discover that they are the wrong size.  Not to worry I thought and sent them along with one of the originals back to AH4H.  I received an email today to say that they don't have stock of the parts I need.

Now this may sound glib or even idiotic but it never occurred to me that I wouldn't actually be able to find a part for the car off the shelf.  I realise that there are lots of parts that are sold as reconditioned by the major Healey suppliers but it never occurred to me that I would get caught out by it.  This is mainly because I have the key components with the car and the suppliers have catalogs that have lots and lots of pages of 100 BN1 parts for sale.  Body panels I could make.  Bearings, nuts and bolts are all widely available at the click of a button, and so on.  What could go wrong?  After a look at the main Healey suppliers and a google search it dawned on me that I am hunting a part that doesn't exist anymore and I feel a little stupid.

Falling back into my glib / cocky mode of operation I comfort myself by thinking that it will be alright, won't it?  You see that whilst these shims are important for setting pre-load and therefore the correct operation of a fundamental part of the drive train they are, well, just thin washers aren't they?  Surely I must be able to find somebody that can make two shims, surely?