I am thinking of the next steps now.  I have decided to buy the gas welding equipment from Tinmantech rather than go for a cheap TIG or pay a professional to do it.  I am essentially troubled by the prospect of a professional charging me a lot of money and then finding another fault that requires welding.  Also, I think I must be able to learn how to do it myself, it might be fun even.  My wife is going to Miami in 5 weeks which means she can collect it and bring it back to avoid me paying the import duties.  Working out what I need to order at the moment.

I am also thinking of getting the wings dipped, I realise I have been here before but it seems the safest option.  I think I could take them to be dipped in my next holiday in 5 weeks.  They are basically ready but I need to get them fully bolted on first.  I mean that I have been using just a few of the bolts to put them in place rather than every single bolt hole.  I am a bit troubled that when I bolt them up properly that some of the holes won't line up.  I think this would be good thing to get done before I take the wings to be treated.

Once done I can then weld up the chassis.  This will be fun.  Then I will have a choice, do I start to fit up the drive train or do I do all the filler work on the wings?  I know the filler work will make a lot of mess so I am thinking that this should be done first.  Against that though is the problem of what I would do with the wings whilst I do the mechanics.  After all, I wouldn't want them getting scratched or knocked if they are ready for paint.  Decisions, decisions.

Christmas is a good time for garage time and I got a few days in the garage this week.  I put the wing back on and got a sensible door gap, all good.   I did need to reshape the lower front edge of the wing and was happy with how it turned out.

Feeling quite happy with that I took the car out of the garage to get some photos:

Wow, it has been over a month.  I did go to the classic car show in the Birmingham NEC and had a lovely, though very damp time.  I had intended to drive the regular run around but when I went to leave I noticed that the front tyre was flat.  So flat in fact that it would not trigger the pump in the garage so I brought it back home.  I could have pumped it up at home but decided that if it gets that flat I probably should get in replaced rather than contemplate a 250 mile round trip.  So even though it was absolutely lashing it down with rain I took the Triumph.  I discovered within 10 miles that my waterproof clothing wasn't actually waterproof.  It was awful.  Anyway, once there I had  lovely time.

I have found a mobile welder that will do the shrouds for £300 plus a bonus for working at a weekend.  This is troubling me a little as I can buy an AC TIG machine from China for £400 and then get the gas for another £100.  I realise that this is more but I would then have the equipment for life.  I have posted the question on a UK welding forum and the responses leave me feeling very demotivated. The people that say I should get the professional to do it outnumber the 'have a go yourself' brigade by some margin.

Talking of demotivated I looked at the car again this morning and knew that I needed to finish the door gaps, again.  So I removed the rear wing and B post before cleaning it up:

I then took to the rear edge off the front wing with a grinder and literally ground the wing back to provide a better level of gap.  I spent a few happy hours welding and grinding before repeating it again, and again.

I have manage a few days with the Healey this week which has been very enjoyable.  I cleaned up and finished off some of the welding that is required in the areas covered by the inner wings.

I then decided to look at the driver side wing as it was looking a little out in the length with the new shroud position.  This means that the process I went through a long time ago to remove a piece of metal was in need of reversal, frustratingly.  I could see the required length by looking at the front and by measuring the gaps between the wheels and the wheel arches of both front wings.  The replacement went quiet smoothly and now the car bodywork is looking very much closer to being ready for the next stage.  One of the other developments created by the movement of the shroud is that whilst the driver side needed extending the passenger side needs the reverse; the dreaded door gaps are not ideal.  This will require visiting before I move much further on and I need a little strength for it so I will leave it a few days.

I have decided to get the shrouds welded professionally rather than buying the equipment and doing it myself.  In an ideal world I would like a mobile welder to visit me and do the shrouds in situ.  I have contacted several suitable looking companies and await there views on the project.  I am off to the classic car show in Birmingham in a few weeks and this is one of the topics I will investigate whilst there.

Now that the half term holiday is coming to an end it is back to work for me.

These are the pictures that should have been with the last post but for some reason my phone didn't import them for a few days?

Anyway, the wing looking tired:

This is the inner wing on the near side:

And on the off side, except I forgot about the mole grips whilst taking them so one can't see what I was hoping to show, sausage features springs to mind.

The inner wings on both sides trial fitted and looking ok from the inside:

The next two photos are cool, they show a similar position with regards to the inner wing joint for both sides.  Phew.

The next two show one side with a tab for connecting to the top of the shroud / wing on one wing with it missing on the other.  I know it was there and I don't remember removing it,......

Yesterday I got the puller from my pal and started to attack the shroud.  Being aluminium it moved easily and after a lot of crashing and banging I stuck the wings on and took a step back.  I liked what I saw.  The wings line up reasonably well along the length of the car, the door gaps are ok, the wheels look equally set back in the arches.  It feels like I should move on.

This feels odd.  I should feel elated but I actually feel a little confused, as if I can't quite believe it is time to make some progress.

Today, after a trip into central London on the Thruxton and a posh breakfast at the posh biker hang out in Shoreditch (a trendy party of London that used to be run down but is now rejuvenated and hip) I got back in to the garage.  I started by putting the inner wings on the car again.  This time they sat nicely on both sides.  I can't quite believe it.

I do have some issues to worry over though.  The shroud is very tatty in places and needs lots of welding.  I can't decide if I should take the shroud to somebody professional and let them work their magic or if I should learn how to weld aluminium, buy the equipment needed and do it myself.  In the long run it would be better if I could weld aluminium but the equipment alone will be £600 plus if I get it from the main man in America.  I could possibly buy something similar in the UK but after an afternoon sat on the sofa whilst surfing I am no nearer finding somebody that could supply the required stuff.  Decisions, decisions.  I am going to weld the inner wings on and then start the lovely job of welding the car up properly, something I have dreamed of for years, lovely, bloody fantastic.

I've been distracted, it was impossible not to be:

OK, so I was 50 in the summer and my lovely wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday the very same weekend that I had discovered one of my neighbours owned a classic BSA so I flippantly said 'A motorbike'.  She replied, what a good idea, what type would you like?  Now I would love a classic bike but the Healey is struggling already and the thought of it being sidelined by a bike was too much so I started to look at newer machines and eventually ended up on a Triumph Thruxton.  I went to test ride one a few months back and liked it but it wasn't just meaty enough.  Then I discovered the new 1200cc R version and the rest is history.  I collected it three weeks ago and have it already run in.  I love it.  Of course it hasn't helped the Healey that every weekend I want to be on it but today it rained so I opened the garage door again.

Actually I should talk about yesterday first.  My wife, Wilf the bulldog and I went to the annual Rawles open day.  It was fantastic as it always is.  One gets the opportunity to roam around their premises unhindered and it is fascinating.  I always hope there is a 100 being worked on but the last few years there hasn't been which is a shame.  Anyway, lots of people drive out there for a free burger, coffee and a chat so it becomes a classic car show with predominantly Healeys on show everywhere.  It is fantastic.  Now I always like seeing other peoples Healey 100's because it calms my nerves a little on what is acceptable.  One of the things that has sat on my mind a little is that my shroud doesn't have a return for a rubber trim where it sits up against the doors.  John (Healey 100 register fame) tells me that this isn't uncommon but every car I have ever seen has had them; until yesterday:

I desperately wanted to open the door and see what the trim looked like but I couldn't see the owner anywhere to ask so I settled for some pictures.  I got the gist though and it settled my mind wonderfully.

Note: the sunshine, it was lovely.

So back to today.  Too wet to ride the Thruxton to a posh cafe for a slap up breakfast so I made a bacon sandwich and opened the garage door.  Now, next week is half term and we are not going away so I am determined to borrow the puller tool off my panel beater pal, Rob and have a go at the shroud.  Having procrastinated by clearing up the garage I realised that the only thing I could do in advance of that is bolt the shroud back to the front chassis mounts so that it is fixed and therefore less likely to move when the pushing/pulling goes on.  I got down to check that the shroud was in the centre of the chassis legs when looking at the bottom of it and noticed the mark I had previously put to signify the centre of the shroud.  Something went off in my mind and I got the laser leveller out and set it up.  I then started to measure from the centre of the shroud to various points on the right hand side and was able to establish exactly how far I need to pull the shroud to get it even.  This felt very satisfying.

I marked the required measurements on the shroud and then moved on to the grille.

The last time I tried the grille on the car it was a nightmare because the shroud was being held in a position that forced the grille aperture to warp a little.  But because I have moved the shuttle the shroud now sits move comfortably on the car and the grille fitted wonderfully.  I couldn't help but notice how dull it was so started to clean it.

I rubbed and rubbed with wire wool and got bored and gave up.  I'll have to do it bit by bit I think.


When I took the grille apart I discovered that some of the studs that mount it to the grille surround were broken.  I set about trying to find suitable studding to repair it when I discovered the exact same threaded bolt in my stores, complete result.  I set about cleaning up the original studs then mig welded the bolts to the grille before cleaning it all up.


Broken studs:

Repaired stud:

I enjoyed today.