School him: Neighbor considering Austin Healey 100-4

[wdfifteen]

Leave the windows down and pull half the fuses in your daily driver. Give the $65k to your mechanic. Same experience, except you won't be left with a boat anchor in your driveway when you've finally had enough. In all honesty, my experience is with a Spridget and a TR4A IRS. Healys may be different.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

Tell him to give me $25k, I'll let him down constantly and make his life miserable for 1 year.

Perfect, simply perfect.

Beyond the visceral beauty of the Austin, what does he really want in a car?

With a 65K budget, I could make it rain in a strip club for a week and still find an alternative to the Austin that would be superior in every way except, perhaps, looks.

[sugarwood]

The only thing I didn't ask him about was legendary reliability of English roadsters.
I assumed he's a big boy and knows what he's getting into, as those are his kind of car.

[LakeCleElum]

Originally Posted by nota

do they still make the sebring ? a plastic body re-pro of a AH with chevy V-8

a buddy had a 100LM an alloy race body he found in a junk-yard
that he swaped in a 283 in to back in the late 60's

Would Luv to have one with a Chevy V-8, where did they all go? Kid in high school had one, crashed and killed my friends sister, but no fault of the car........

Knee-Action Shocks - I almost forgot: I worked in a service station, so when the shocks got limp, I'd put in heavier oil.......I recall my last try to get to "Stiff".....Mixture of 90 weight and STP........Suspension was then beyond stiff.......

[manbridge 74]

Also, 1st and I believe reverse were not synchronized.

[Robert Adams]

Submitting my 2 cents:
My vote is for 1961→1962 Austin-Healey 3000 MKII BT7.
Steel body with aluminum panels. Production was around 355. Have a friend with one he has raced and rallied since mid 60s. Very awesome car! As for the engine mods, well lets just say the engine's tunes can be heard 2 miles away! Screw the windows and if the top leaks, this is what these cars were made for. FUN!

[1990C4S]

Buy this. Minimize the heartache.

Austin Healey 3000 MK III for parts / scrap metal

[Laneco]

A discussion of Healeys never comes up without me thinking about my friend Dan. Dan had a Healey in the garage that he always intended to restore but never got the money or time to do it. He was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given about a year or so to live. Dan had a fellow who does restorations come look at the car. After examining it, he agreed that he could indeed make it as new again, but that he certainly could not do it in time for Dan to enjoy. He did have a customer who had a nice driver quality restoration that was nicely sorted and available. On his advice, Dan bought that car sight unseen.

Dan drove that car every day and to every place. As he became more ill, he turned the driving duties over to other people. We would take turns driving Dan around the mountains and backroads of beautiful southern Oregon. He let EVERYONE drive that car... Friends, co-workers, people he met in town. Literally probably at least 30 different people drove that Healey. The only issue was a failed clutch mechanism that was quickly fixed by a local wrench. That car ran like a Timex.

Until Dan died. It refused to start and we had to push it out of the garage for his wake. This car had a purpose - to blow the wind in Dan's face and bring him joy in his last days on earth. And it did that. Without flaw...

A Healey is not a good car. It is not fast, the suspension is crude and creature comforts are thin at best. If that weren't bad enough, it's also British with all the issues that brings to the table... But if the Healey is what speaks to your friend's heart, then by all means he should buy one. Buy the best sorted driver he can find and use the left-over money to take the trips he dreams about. Best to get to it now.

angela

I think this is the last picture anyone has of Dan in his car.

[Evans, Marv]

Angela. That was a wonderful story and the advice was excellent.

[obrut]

I'm loving this:

SBC/5-Speed Swapped Monster: 1960 Austin Healey 3000 | Bring a Trailer

[LakeCleElum]

Angela: Well said as always........No one can deny the great, classic looks of an AH....

[sugarwood]

Originally Posted by obrut

I'm loving this:

SBC/5-Speed Swapped Monster: 1960 Austin Healey 3000 | Bring a Trailer

Will those tires rub as soon as he hits a speed bump?

[lin7310948]

if he has good springs that should not be a problem....more likely to toss him out of the car if he does not have his belts on! i just dont understand why he did not narrow the ford rear so that he could have a much nicer conversion....and those side pipes are way out of date for me. the stock healey rear end will hold up unless you abuse it to much. but the healey rear end ratios are not conducive to interstate speeds ...most are 3.90 or 4.11 ratio. healey offset this with an overdrive transmission. one of the best conversions for these cars is to convert to tube shocks front and rear.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Angela. That was a wonderful story and the advice was excellent.

Indeed. What a great way to start the day. Very inspiring.

[J P Stein]

I gotta quit looking at BAT.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by J P Stein

I gotta quit looking at BAT.

I deleted it from my 'favorites'.

Now I waste even more time typing the address in every day...

[sand_man]

The 100-4 is a car that has been on my list of all time faves for as long as I can remember. A list that also has many 1950s-60s Ferraris, Maseratis, Porsches, Astons, and Mercedes on it! It is such an unbelievably beautiful car!!! There is a certain purity in the design, to my eyes. DROOOOL! That grill! That layback windshield with adjustable rake! That spartan interior. Beyond doors and seats, there are no creature comforts to speak of, and I like that!

I remember a short R&T article from the 1990s (I think), where a couple of guys took a 3-speed overdrive 100-4 on a backroad excursion through the Smokey Mountains in TN to the Martin Guitar factory in PA. It really left an impression on me! The car has a certain charm and character that is seldom (never) seen anymore.

Having owned 1960s British cars myself (Triumphs and MGs), I’m well aware of the pitfalls, and for me, they proved mostly very reliable. If this is the car you (or your friend) like and lust for, well…what’s a man or woman to do? I’m not in favor of the V8 conversions, but to each his own. If I were going that route, I’d rather have a Cobra replica.

Other “Big Healeys” that I love include the unobtainium 100-M and 100-S. And if I had to go with a 3000, then I like the 1962 MK2 BJ7 (I think sometimes unofficially referred to as a “2A”) which had roll-up windows and the folding top attached to the body.

I like this article:
Purity of Form & Function: 1956 Austin-Healey 100 | DrivingLine

[sand_man]

I also agree with others who say to buy the best example he can! I don't do restorations anymore!!! What a nightmare all of that is! I just want to drive!

[lin7310948]

im with sand ....man i am ready to drive....been working on this 100/6 for a while and am about 75 per cent of the way!!! at age 76 i just dont have the drive nor patience any more!!

[LakeCleElum]

Lin - You look like you are close....Keep at it....Your Trans photo brings back another memory:
Went home to my parents one weekend in my 100-6. A spring popped out of the clutch disc, locking up the clutch. I was dead in the water. Returned the next weekend and it was great to lower the top, remove the tunnel over the trans and do the clutch w/o getting under the car.........Happy Times........