I did adjust the throttle tick over and got it down to 700 RPM. This made a big difference when driving in traffic on the heat produced by the engine. The new cylinder head is really helping as well. I took the car to work in Islington and greatly enjoyed showing it to everyone else.
The slowly does it Austin Healey 100 BN1 rebuild
Austin Healey 100 rebuild
Sunday 20 December 2020
Sunday 27 September 2020
I discovered that I should have had studs in the block that are sealed rather than bolts, phew.
Having found TDC and painted it and the small arrow on the casing I refitted it and it seems to be okay. I then found that my old timing light couldn't see the marks that I had put on the engine which was very frustrating. I even used some of my wife's metal flake nail polish but couldn't see. I spent a few days doing some research and bit the bullet and bought an Accuspark kit including a fancy timing light and the Gunston colourtune for sorting out the fuelling. This morning I sorted the timing in about 20 minutes and the fuelling in about an hour and when I test drove the car it felt better than I could have hoped for.
I have lots of things to do still. The tick-over isn't right and I think it is something to do with the choke linkages. The overdrive still doesn't work although I know it isn't the relays as I have had them out and tested. I also need to install the cavity wax in the chassis but for some reason I just don't want to do it. I haven't tightened up the throttle linkages. Despite changing the oil seal I am still getting oil thrown out of the rev cable so that needs more work. I really should check every nut and bolt on the car but again I can't be bothered. And so it goes on. It is getting closer to being usable and I love it.
Sunday 6 September 2020
It's been a few weeks since I got the car on the road and it is fair to say that it has been an eventful journey.
I decided to do some routine checks on the car after two drives totalling 20 miles when I discovered that the oil was completely emulsified. It looked like a coffee frappe. I was devastated. I had replaced the gasket a year back when I first got it running as I had an issue with water coming up one of the studs and bubbling out of the nut and washer so I knew it wasn't the cylinder head gasket. I contacted John who offered to lend me his tools to test pressure and compression which showed what I suspected all along, the head was knackered. I took the head off, using an engine hoist as it is so damn heavy, and discovered this lot.
One doesn't need to see that much water in the cylinders to know something is seriously wrong.
I have spent a lot of money, well in teacher terms that is, over the past month getting the car to the final stage and I didn't have any left to spend. My wife suggested we cash in our rainy day fund and get the job done properly and that meant it had to be an aluminium head from Denis Welch Motorsport. I spent a few days contemplating selling the motorbike and then relented and ordered it. A few days later I had been to the factory and collected it.
It is a very impressive thing and I enjoyed installing it with the slight exception being that I thought I had over tightened two of the heavy duty studs. Oh, and despite all the evidence I was still worried that I had got it wrong and the head was ok and it was in fact something else.
Sunday 9 August 2020
Two things left to do: bolt the bonnet on and get it to release correctly and finish and install the screen.
The bonnet first, Vic and I spent a happy half hour bolting the bonnet on, it fits in the aperture quiet well although one side is a little higher than I would like but that will be another task for the winter. I mounted the bonnet catch and aligned it using the masking tape and paint technique learnt on the AH Experience website.
Then this happened:Saturday 8 August 2020
Started the day with three jobs between me and a first ever road trip in the Healey: Grille, windscreen & bonnet.
The grille was first. I trial fitted it and thought that the inner section was still not as good as it could be so I made some adjustments and then bolted it on.
Very pleased with that so onto the screen. I laid out a sheet in the garden to remove the broken used one from the frame and set about pulling it apart. It was very hard to get the U channels off the glass and I am already glad that the new glass appears to be thinner. I did get it off though and disposed of the old glass. I had marked the frame with what I thought would be the required adjustments before I took it apart.
I checked all of the brackets and replaced two of them with brackets from the new set bought from Moss. These appeared to be identical to the original set supplied by AH4H.
Friday 7 August 2020
I finished the tunnel on the understanding to myself that I would research it in greater detail before I carpet the car. You see the tunnel doesn't sit cleanly on the chassis and upon research I realise that it should sit on the underlay. This strikes me as odd because that will enable water ingress.