Healey BN1 wheel colour?

Whilst surfing, the net variety just in case you are wondering, I came across this photo:

Now I mentioned earlier that I felt the shade of BU2 Healey Ice Blue Metallic that I have on the inner body seems pretty dark.  I like it but it does seems dark.  In the sun light it is bright blue and even in the tin it is bright blue but in the garage it looks dark.  Just like this 100 in the twilight looks dark.  But it looks very cool with the wheels that colour.  I sense it already, I'm going black with the wheels.

So I have the 4 wheels I collected last week and I will look for another to make a set of 5.  I have seen what people do for truing wheels on youtube and having successfully built wheels for my road bike from scratch I know that I have the equipment and ability to sort them out if needed.  Then I will get them blasted and stove enamelled in black, lovely.

Looking at the photo again I realise that I will need to paint the drums black.  It feels like I do everything twice on the car.

That does look good though, time for a day dream or two,....

I knew about the tray, but,....

I'm adjusting to life of the long holiday, miles from home and nothing to do apart from read, swim, food and drink.  I can't pretend that it is hard but every year it takes a while to settle into.  This year I decided that one of the things I would do is to watch all of the 100/6 restoration videos created on youtube by Matthew Randell.  Oh how I wish he had bought a BN1 rather than a 100/6.  So I was settled down for the night and gently ploughing through #38 when I noticed this:

There are many things to admire about his work, his attitude and his skills so it should be stated quickly that what shocked me about this is that it highlighted what I haven't done.  Damn, I'm such a donkey.  It is only five days since I happily finished spray painting the chassis and I know now that I have got more damn, big bloody damn, welding to do.  I never got round to welding on the bracket for the panhard rod, damn, damn, big bloody damn.  I wouldn't mind but the bracket has been kicking around my bench for years, I'm sick of the sight of it.  It would have taken about 3 minutes to weld on. Damn. Seriously, how could I be such a donkey?

Now there has been a little elephant in the room for some time, I know that I haven't welded on the sets of steel U channels that are mounted upside down on chassis in the very same area as the panhard rod bracket to support the batteries.  I remembered that I'd cut them off the original chassis a year or two ago (18 months to be precise) and that I'd had no option but to butcher them to get them off.  I'd been somewhat perplexed that Ahead 4 Healey's hadn't sold them and that I'd need to fabricate some for the car.  I haven't done this because I am not entirely convinced that I should go for one battery rather than two.  And, what type and therefore size of battery.  I'd consciously decided to leave this and make some brackets up at a later date and bolt them to the car rather than weld them.  Deep down I suspected that I might come to regret this approach but I was none then less aware of it.

So I took a look through the photos to find my recollections from the day that I cut the last bits and pieces off the original chassis and found these:


The collection of brackets taken from the original chassis in February 2016

Included in them are picture of the battery mounting

channels, seen here from the underside.

This is what I managed to salvage.  The bracket 

includes a threaded section for the battery clamp

The final part of my discovery was this bracket:

This is the bracket that the flexible brake hose mounts to.  

So I guess that I should bite the bullet and manufacture a set of U channels for the a battery mount, a bracket for the brake hose and weld the lot on along with the panhard rod to the one chassis leg that is exposed in the rear axel area.  I really hope I contain the damage caused by the grinding and welding to a very small area.  Oh well.

Healey BN1 plans for the next stage of the rebuild

So now I'm on holiday for 4 weeks and unable to do anything on the car; essentially this is great research time.  My plan is to fit the mechanicals, get it running then refit the outer bodywork and paint.  This is the state of the nation in a list:

Axel - ready to instal
Engine - rebuilt by previous own, needs painting
Gearbox - unknown although a visual inspection through the side case looked ok
Overdrive - unknown
Front suspension - needs work, have new king pins and some brake parts but not all
Gauges - ok - petrol has been restored, need a new capillary tube for the temp/pressure gauge.
Wiring - need new loom, have some ancillaries but not sure what
Seats - incomplete and needing work
Steering - complete but needing work
Engine ancillaries - dynamo, starter, oil pump etc. all need work
Petrol tank - needs tlc

That lot will take some time for sure.  Feels quite exciting though.  I am going to start by watching as many youtube videos on Healey restorations as I can find, should be a good summer.

When I packed the garage up before coming on holiday I pushed the mig welder in and wondered when I would next use it, after all these years it has found rest, the car is blue.

BN1 in Healey Blue

The thing is blue, thank goodness for that.

I managed to persuade a friend of my wife's to help me get the car back onto the trolley early on Sunday morning which was a relief.  The day started at about 6 with the old masking tape coming off, new tape applied and a wash with panel wipe.  I also covered the trolley with a new layer of plastic sheeting to reduce dust in the paintwork and cleaned the garage out.  Derek arrived before 9 and we got the car on the trolley before a quick sausage sandwich for breakfast.

Fuelled and ready to go I started with the base coat.  It went well, just the one run on the first coat, but a big one at that!  I used a lot of paint though so I thinned down the next batch to make it cover the car better.  Apart from the area between the front wheel arch and the chassis leg that comes down from the bulkhead I got a good layer on the whole car.  The second coat also went well so I returned the unused paint to the tin, cleaned the gun and mixed some lacquer up.  At this stage I noticed the time and it was not good.

My wife and I are lucky enough to get the summer off, comes with the territory of being teachers, so we generally swap our homes with somebody from a far flung place.  This year our swapping partners were flying in from Thailand and landing at 12:30 in Gatwick.  It was 12:00 and I hadn't even started mixing the paint let alone pack, damn.

I started rushing a little from here on in which with the benefit of hindsight was a shame.  I like the saying 'less haste, more speed' and I started to make some silly errors.  I threw the paint into the gun pot with such vigour that I spilt it. When I cleaned the gun I changed some of the settings without realising so I found the painting harder work, until I realised, I kept pulling the air hose across the bodywork and so on.  I also got a few more runs than I should have.

When I finished I washed myself down in thinners and then jumped in the shower.  Clean, I packed for the holiday and then took a look at the car.  I am very happy to have it in blue and despite the challenges of painting to a time frame I think it looks good, very good in fact.  It has been 25+ years since I sprayed a car and it doesn't look bad.  Mind you I have made my mind up to get the outer bodywork done professionally, what I've done today will be covered by carpet or grease in no time at all so it isn't quite as crucial.

I'm still a little perplexed by the colour.  The pictures below look like it is a completely different shade of blue to the pictures above.  I am a fan of the colour but somewhat surprised how dark it is compared to my memory of Healey Ice Blue Metallic.

Underside done

Well I painted the underside of the car today and it feels good.  I used a smaller spray gun that was better quality and it showed.

All in all it went quite well.  The colour looks darker that I remember the blue being but until I get it in the daylight I won't know.  I like the colour though.

My next challenge is to find somebody who can help me get the car onto the trolley early tomorrow so that I can paint the top of the inner body work.  I am leaving for Thailand in the afternoon so I need to get that resolved urgently.

Last minute Billy

It is the end of school for the year on Friday and I can't wait.  I have left the car painting until the last possible minute.  On Sunday my wife and I are swapping our house with a couple from Thailand and will fly from Heathrow for a summer of rest and relaxation.  I have promised myself that I will have the inner in blue by then.  Now, Wednesday morning it is in primer with all the joints sealed and completely rubbed down ready, and waiting for some colour.  I am out tonight and Friday night with work which leaves Thursday evening and Saturday to get it done.  I haven't collected the paint yet either.  There is much to go wrong and lots to ponder.

On a brighter note I did see a set of 15" 48 spoke wheels on eBay.  The chap had owned them for 30 years and decided he needed the garage space.  They were off a TR2 but after some digging I established that the TR, MGA and 100 cars all shared the same components so I asked my lovely wife if they could be a birthday present.  The owner kindly brought them into his work which was conveniently located in central London and I collected them last night.  A blast and a stove enamel will leave them looking top notch for a hell of  a lot less than a new set.  Very happy.

Well I was in the garage at just after 6 and it hurt.  JP came round at about 9:30 by which time I had just about finished the sealing on the upper side of the inner bodywork.  I then started to rub down the underside having go it successfully off the trolley.  I hardly stopped and when I left the garage at 5 I still have a lot of sealing to do and this I will have to do in the week otherwise I'll no get it painted at the weekend.  I'm tired now but conscious that'll be lovely to have it painted before the summer.

Without surprise I didn't get the top of the car rubbed down and sealed during the week.  Didn't even finish it today, Saturday.  But I did manage to get JP to agree to pop round tomorrow at 9 to turn the car with me so I guess I have an early start,.....

I've been toying with the options ahead of me pre and post summer holidays which are rapidly approaching.  I had this weekend and two more before we head off on our annual house swap (teacher = time rich / cash poor hence swapping one's house for the summer).  I could have gone to Brooklands on the Thruxton for the annual motorbike show but had our mobile mechanic round to service the tt and replace its cam belt.  This meant that I really had to get on with rubbing down the 100 and therefore paint it before the summer.  So I spent the day rubbing, rubbing and rubbing some more.  My fingers are down to the knuckles.  I have nearly finished the top of the car so I will do that this week and seal the joints.  Then next weekend I'll rub down the underside and then stone chip it.  That leaves me with one day to paint the top and the bottom, urmmm, doesn't add up.  Oh well.