The Big Healey Ten-Year Renewal Blog – last update 12/10/2020

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If you scroll down to the October 2018 entry to this Blog you can read about the motivation for what I then called the Ten-Year Renewal Project for my 1960 Austin-Healey BT7. True to my history with this car, everything takes longer than expected! While the care and maintenance of a classic car never ends, now in October 2020 I am going to proclaim that the Renewal Project has come to its conclusion.

The good news is that I have accomplished quite a lot and I am pleased to say that the Bloody Beast is running better than it has ever run while in my ownership, and that covers forty-nine years!

This website has a separate entry for all of the major renewal efforts, so one does not have to read through everything in order to obtain more information about a particular project. However, in no particular order, the following is a summary of all that has been accomplished in the past two years:

  • Greased all suspension, steering and handbrake grease zerks.
  • Installed a fresh smear of white lithium grease on door locks, bonnet catch and boot lock.
  • Checked the ground strap in the boot for tightness.
  • Checked tightness of engine mount and shock damper bolts.
  • Checked rubber boots on on suspension ball joints.
  • Checked king pin wear.
  • Replaced fluids in gearbox, engine, hydraulic system, cooling system, rear differential. Replaced the Penrite oil in the steering box and idler with John Deere Corn Head grease to help prevent leaks.
  • Checked all dash lights for functionality.
  • Checked tightness of prop shaft bolts/nuts at both ends of the shaft.
  • Replaced the oil sump gasket with a neoprene gasket from Tom’s Imports and ceramic coated the aluminum sump.
  • Removed the PCV system components and installed an oil catch can system.
  • Replaced my intake manifold, which had two broken mounting ears due to improper installation, with another good, but used unit, sourced from Michael Salter. Jet-Hot coated the manifold before installation.
  • Cleaned and repainted the carburetor heat shield and refreshed the insulation.
  • Replaced the chromed “Austin-Healey” front shroud badge with a new component as the paint had chipped away on mine.
  • Replaced a leaking RH front Armstrong damper with a newly rebuilt unit from World Wide Auto Imports.
  • Replaced ill-fitting rear rally bumper irons with proper irons sourced from AH Spares. The first set had the bumperettes sitting too far from the rear shroud.
  • Had the HD8 SU carburetors rebuilt with delrin bushings installed by Thomas Bryant. Replaced both fuel bowl floats with nitrophyl floats. Added fuel bowl “Kouzies” from Joe Curto to insulate fuel bowls from exhaust heat and prevent vapor lock.
  • Sealed a persistent oil leak at the rear differential drain plug.
  • Adjusted valve clearances to spec. and sealed the cylinder head stud holes to prevent oil leaks.
  • Replaced the plastic (nylon?) breather fitting on the rear axle with a brass unit sold by Land Rover.
  • Replaced the clutch and brake master cylinders. Inspected the clutch slave cylinder and left it in place. Replace fluid and bled the system.
  • Installed a remote clutch slave cylinder bleeder hose from Ol Phartz Parts.
  • Replaced the original fuse panel with a seven fuse/fourteen terminal unit sourced from Charlie Hart.
  • Fabricated and installed a rear main drip tray below the engine backplate/gearbox to catch oil leaks.
  • Replaced the front cylinder block cover gasket to eliminate an oil leak.
  • Replaced the alternator with a “new” rebuilt unit.
  • Replace the Halogen sealed beam headlights with aftermarket Lucas PL 700 headlights.
  • Replaced the original fuel hose delivery system from the hard fuel line to the carbs with a new design and fittings.
  • Added carburetor ram pipes and ITG air filtration socks.
  • Added an electric pusher fan in front of the radiator.
  • Modified the design of the throttle cable routing to the carburetors from the accelerator pedal.
  • New vinyl for the RH door shut face finisher panel side. Will replace the LH side at a later date.
  • Installed new ignition wires, rotor, and distributor cap and checked the ignition timing.
  • Added a bell housing drain hole for oil leaks from the rear main bearing.
  • Replaced the water pump, mounting studs and gasket, fan belt, and upper and lower radiator hoses. Replaced the stainless steel flex fan with an asymmetric yellow plastic (nylon) fan sourced from AH Spares to reduce noise.
  • Replaced the 195 degree thermostat (for Virginia) with a 160 degree sleeved thermostat (for Florida) sourced from British Car Specialists.
  • Washed, clayed, compounded, polished and waxed the car.

A few things yet to do:

  • Replace rubber in wiper arms.
  • Replace bristle flex draught excluders (door seal) – will complete when hardtop is off the car.

October 2018

It has been approximately ten years since I wrapped up (if you ever really complete a restoration of a Healey) the restoration of the Bloody Beast. He has weathered the ten years quite well – better than me, that is for sure! I have taken good care of the Beast and completed periodic maintenance as one should. There have been a few things along the way that have required attention, such as the failure of the brake master cylinder that led to the replacement of both masters and the clutch slave cylinder while I was at it. However, for the most part, it has simply been fluid changes, tire replacements and etc.

I am sad to report that I have not driven the Healey as much as I should have during the time since I finished the restoration. About a month after I completed the restoration work I drove the Bloody Beast 8,000 miles in a cross-country trip from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to California, up the coast to Victoria, BC and then back to Harrisonburg, VA. Between helping my son with his Bugeye, restoring a 1964 Jaguar MK2, and maintaining the 1987 Alfa, a 1969 MB 280SL and the Porsche in addition to the daily drivers there just wasn’t much time to drive! I am ashamed to say that I only put an additional 2,878 miles on the Healey in the ensuing nine-plus years. Driving, however, is the whole point of having a sports car and that is certainly true for an Austin Healey roadster. My son has now taken the Bugeye to his home. I have sold the Jaguar and the Mercedes. I now intend to spend more time driving the Bloody Beast!

After almost ten years I thought it might be healthy to go over the car carefully and examine the condition of components, check tolerances, and replace items that typically wear – even though they might be in operable condition at the moment. I will be making myself a list of items, that will probably not be in any particular order, and I will undertake some of the work as the list is added too over time. I will gradually need to accumulate parts for the work to be done.

For those who read this post, I hope you will contribute through your comments and make suggestions about anything, but particularly about items that should be added to my ten year renewal list. To be clear, an item on the list, an oil change for example, doesn’t mean that it is only to be done every ten years. I will make entries on this post chronologically as items are accomplished. I will keep a ten year renewal checklist as a separate post and add to it as I think about items to address. I will organize this list based on the categories of the Workshop Manual.

So, lets start this project! The most recent actions are listed first: Ten Year Renewal Blog

Rear Suspension, Axle and Fuel Tank Install

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The Bugeye’s rear springs as originally configured had 15 leaves. the only commonly available leaf spring for the bugeye now is a 10 leaf “Rally Spec” spring. This spring is stiffer and causes the car body to ride higher. The solution to that issue is to use five or six degree wedges or shims under the spring at the spring perch. Tom Colby of Speedwell Engineering also recommends removing three of the leaves in the Rally Spec spring to give an improved ride. We decided to give Tom’s suggestion a try and details of the modification are included in the Bugeye Restoration Video Sixty-four below. We also installed some stainless steel dust shields at the opening of the spring perch to prevent the area from becoming a dirt trap and rust promoter. After the installation of the rear leaf springs, the rear shock brackets were mounted to the chassis.

https://vimeo.com/989814778/55abef9a4c?share=copy

 

Leaf Springs and Brakes

We are using Bilstein tube shocks in the rear. These were available as a kit from Udo Putzke, but are now offered by Steve Kirby. http://www.fahrspassforhealey.com The kit is fairly easy to install but one does need to be sure to get all of the required spacers in the proper place. The instructions supplied with the kit are not well detailed but they sufficed.Bugey Bilstien shock installation

We then secured the radius arms at their upper mounting point on the chassis.

Before things got crowded, we installed the exhaust hanger that bolts to the rear bulkhead. Two 5/16″ – 24 x 5/8″ hex head bolts with split washers secure the hanger.

We then moved to mounting the rear axle assembly to the chassis. The rear axle assembly was addressed in a previous post: https://valvechatter.com/?p=13569 Several videos referenced in this post describe all that was involved in restoring the axle including a switch to a 3.99 rear differential and the addition of larger rear drum brakes.

Rear Axle assembly

We placed the axle assembly on a floor jack and rolled it under the car and then carefully raised it into position. The axle is linked to the chassis by first connecting the lower mounts of the radius arms. A bushing must be used on the inside of the arm and a special bolt is used to secure the arm to the axle. An extension magnet is helpful in positioning the spacer. Once the radius arms are attached, the axle can be pushed over the eyes of the leaf springs and another special bolt is then used to attach the spring and the axle. That’s it – four bolts attach the axle to the car!

Rear Axle Installed

 

It will need to be adjusted later, but we went ahead an attached the handbrake cable to its fittings mounted on the axle.

Handbrake and Cable

With the axle in place we were then able to mount the fuel tank to the underside of the car. Six 5/16″-24 studs are located on the underside of the car and these line up with six holes on the tank. Once in position flat washers, split washers and hex nuts were put in place to mount the tank. Care must be taken to route the wire (with heat shrink tubing around it) that connects to the fuel tank sender, between the tank and the bottom of the car. The wire then goes through a rubber grommet in the floor to the boot where it will connect with a wire that travels to the fuel gauge. We also added as an extra precaution a black ground wire from one of the screws on the sender body to a ground connection on one of the tank mounting studs.

Fuel Tank Installed

Finally, we attached the fuel pipe from the fuel pump to the fuel tank at the tank, and installed the Goodridge Stainless Steel flexible brake hose linking the rear axle brake pipe union to the brake hard pipe running to the front of the car.

All of these assembly and mounting steps may be viewed in the Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Seventy-five: https://vimeo.com/989702527/e946c7dc29?share=copy

0:00 – Rear shock brackets and tube shocks are installed

1:45 – The LH rear spring dust shield and the U bolt are installed

3:00 – The rear axle is mounted under the car

4:45 – The exhaust hanger is installed

5:37 – The fuel tank is installed

6:50 – the Goodridge stainless steel brake hose is installed

 

Handbrake Installation

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We had previously refurbished the handbrake assembly. This was detailed 24:23 minutes into the Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Forty-two. https://vimeo.com/832369002/c87fd61c10?share=copy..  Further handbrake restoration was highlighted at the very beginning of Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Forty-four. https://vimeo.com/842617175/d7a040b143?share=copy

Before we could actually install the handbrake we applied Dynamat Extreme sound insulation to the propshaft tunnel and then glued aluminum duct insulation to the Dynamat Extreme for added heat insulation. We then glued some red vinyl to the area around the handbrake bracket.

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Forty-eight shows the application of the insulation and the mountng of the handbrake assembly to the tunnel. Once the Rear axle is installed we will connect the handbrake cable to the brake cross rods. https://vimeo.com/986085408/43c579f77a?share=copy

 

Three Point Retractable Harnesses

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We had three point harnesses in the Bugeye before restoration; however, the belts were always getting caught in the doors and could cause paint damage. This time around, we decided to install three point retractable belts. We purchased these from Bugeyeguys. https://bugeyeguyparts.com/products/3-point-inertia-seat-belts They are a little on the burgundy side but we think this color will go better with the red in the car than a bright red would.

We fit them before paint because installation required drilling a number of holes in the chassis. The Bugeye Restoration Shoulder Harness Video shows the installation process. https://vimeo.com/985658212/a3227b71de?share=copy

Under-car Fuel and Brake pipe Install

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We had previously shaped and fit the under-car fuel and brake pipes so this was an easy one. The fuel pipe is steel and is affixed to the car with two hairpin-type clips into the chassis rail as well as two “P” clips along the chassis rails in the engine bay. We had previously fit two 10-32 nutserts to the chassis for the fastening of the “P” clips. After installation we fit a rubber fuel hose between the SU fuel pump and the fuel pipe. The end of the fuel pipe in the engine bay will need to be reformed once we see how the steering column and engine sit in the car.

The brake pipe is a cunifer alloy line and it runs from the brake pipe union in the engine bay to the fitting on the back of the bulkhead adjacent to the axle. The pipe will eventually attach to a rubber brake hose that connects to the brake union fitting on the rear axle. The brake pipe is affixed to the car with two hairpin-type clips into the chassis rail, and a “P” clip is used under the car where the pipe turns upward into the engine bay. Another final “P” clip secures the pipe to the outside of the RH footwell vertical wall before the pipe curls to the brake pipe union.

All of the clips and fasteners are shown in Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Seventy-six. 

https://vimeo.com/985217750/d90983ed4d?share=copy

Steering Rack & Anti-Sway Bar

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The new steering rack was first discussed in Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Thirty-five: https://vimeo.com/810655660/46123c8339?share=copy The steering rack is a new one purchased from AH Spares. The new anti-sway bar was purchased from Bugeyeguys and came with all of the mounting hardware. We had previously used a heavier bar to gain some advantage in handling but it was so stiff that it ripped the welded mounts from the bottom of the chassis rails. Many Bugeye owners seem to be pleased with the improved handling afforded by the bar Bugeyeguys sells so we will install it and give it a try.

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Seventy-seven shows the installation of the steering rack and the brackets for the anti-sway bar.

Anti-sway bar Hardware

We are going to wait a while to actually install the anti-sway bar to avoid it conflicting with jacking-up the front of the car.

https://vimeo.com/985019976/5726478772?share=copy

Custom Brake Switch

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Recently produced hydraulic pressure switches for brake light activation are often faulty and/or don’t last long.

Hydraulic Brake Light Switch

We decided to use an electronic pedal activated pressure switch as a complement to the hydraulic switch. We sourced the switch from Moss Motors, part number 542-371.

Lucas-type Brake Light Switch

We have modified the wiring harness to accommodate both switches. Trevor Fawcett, in the U.K., fabricated a simple bracket to hold a Lucas pedal switch and we used that as a model for our own bracket – similar, but not the same.

Trevor’s Brake Switch and Bracket

Trevor’s Brake Switch and Bracket Mock-up

This was our starting pattern (it was slightly modified later), and our bracket after a little bending of a single flat piece of steel in the vice.

Brake Switch Bracket Pattern

Brake Switch Bracket Fabricated

After drilling holes for mounting the bracket to two of the 1/4″ – 28 x 1″ bolts holding the pedal box to the chassis and drilling a 1/2″ hole for the switch we we ready to mount the assembly to the car. Following trial fitting we trimmed a bit here and there, rounded the sharp corners and painted it black.

Pedal Brake Bracket & Switch Mounted to the Pedal Box

Finally, we connected two trial wires to the switch’s spade connectors and tested the sensitivity of the switch with a test light. The results are depicted in the short Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Seventy-three below:

https://vimeo.com/982091053/002655f0fb?share=copy

 

Front Hub Assemblies Installed

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We had previously built-up the front hub assemblies including the “A” arms, stub axles, king pins, bearings, hubs, rotors, calipers and etc. This process is covered in “Front Hub Assemblies and Brakes” https://valvechatter.com/?p=13792

The “Front hub Assemblies and Brakes” post also includes a video depicting the process.

“Rebuilt Front Suspension Installed in the Car” https://valvechatter.com/?p=13828 is another post made earlier in the restoration process that is helpful to review before installing the front hub assemblies.

Installing these components can be approached two ways. One can assemble everything on the bench and then mount the entire assembly to the chassis as we did. Alternatively, one can mount the “A” arm and the shock absorber to the chassis and then build-out the assembly on the car. This method is the one explained in the owner’s manual.

Choosing the approach we did certainly made it easier to put the various pieces together, but you end up with a pretty heavy unit that can be a bit of a struggle to mount to the chassis. Resting everything on a floor jack helps, but it is still difficult to get the holes and lower fulcrum pins lined up perfectly. At any rate the job is done.

The two plates below show the various parts that are used to comprise the assemblies. Note that the lower fulcrum pins are inserted from the inside of the chassis cavity with the special washers toward the front and rear of the car. The second plate shows the earlier drum brakes while we are using later front disc brakes.

Front Suspension Components

Front Suspension Components 2

 

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Seventy-two shows the process of installing the completed front hub assembly to the chassis. https://vimeo.com/981964234/b1aa7a5a24?share=copy

0:00 – Front suspension hub assembly

1:07 – Installing rubber rebound buffers

1:35 – Cleaning paint from chassis mounting area to “A” arms

2:09 – Poly lubricant on fulcrum pins and bushings

2:44 – Moving the hub assembly into position

3:11 – Fulcrum pins and special washers installed

4:26 – Wood spacer blocks installed

4:56 – Upper fulcrum pin locking bolt into shock

5:50 – Coil spring installation

6:30 – Coil spring installation tool

6:54 – Compressing the coil spring

 

The split pin on the upper fulcrum pin was then installed. All bolts and nuts were checked for tightness with the exception of the lower fulcrum pins and nuts to be tightened when the car is on the ground. A little paint touch up on a few scratches completed the process.

Wiring to the rear of the car

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We completed the wiring harness for the central part of the car and to the bonnet before the Bugeye went for paint. Now that the car is home we are able to finish up the wiring to the rear so that we can send the harness components off to Rhode Island Wiring to have them wrap the harnesses in cloth braid.

Crawling into the inside rear of a Bugeye, or “hole” as I refer to it, is no easy task. It is best handled by a nimble young contortionist – not by a 6′ 1″ seventy-two year old! Wiring the tail lights with brake lights, flashers and side lights, the license plate lamp, the fuel level sender, the fuel pumps and rear courtesy lights required many a trip into the depths of the “hole.”

The rear flashers require the installation of spire nuts to the body. We purchased some new ones and mounted them.

Rear Flashers Spire Nuts

The original Sprite MK I had a mechanical fuel pump but with the onset of later Sprites, and the 1275 engine, the design was modified to incorporate a rear mounted electric pump. In our case, we mounted the SU pump as it would have been secured in the later Sprites, but we also added in series a redundant low-pressure Facet pump with a dash mounted switch enabling the driver to switch between the two pumps as desired. The center position on the switch disconnects power to both pumps providing a form of anti-theft deterrent.

We fit the rear courtesy lights to each of the rear boot trim panels. We purchased the panels from Bugeyeguys.com. They required considerable trimming to fit them to the car, but once achieved we were able to mount the lights and complete the necessary wiring. The panels will eventually be covered in a red vinyl that matches the other interior panels.

Rear Trim Panels and Courtesy Lights

In the rear we resorted to using rubber covered bullet connectors for a number of fittings. This was done because it is hard to reach into the back of the car and if it became necessary to separate wires for one reason or another it is easier to accomplish with the bullet connectors as opposed to the Deutsch connectors. Since weather isn’t an issue in the boot we should not experience any problems with the bullet connectors.

Once we established our wire lengths and connections we pulled the harness out of the car to send off to have them braided in black with the signature baby-blue tracer used in the Sprite. Originally, all of the wires to the rear of the car were bundled in one braided wire package and routed to the rear under the door sill and rear trim panels. Because we added wires to the mix we decided to bundle the wires into two four-wire groups to run in parallel under the panels. Hopefully this will cause the trim panels to protrude less and yield a nicer finished product.

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Seventy-one shows the creation and installation of the electrical wiring in the rear of the car for the exterior lights, interior courtesy lights, the fuel pumps, and the fuel sender for the fuel gauge. Fitting of the rear trim panels is also shown.

https://vimeo.com/978445012/5aa017a2ba?share=copy

The following content is found in this video:

0:00 – Wiring for tail lights and flashers

1:24 – Spire nuts for side lights/flashers

1:40 – Wiring the side light/flasher fixtures

2:40 – Chrome trim rings and red beehive glass

3:25 – All rear lights mounted

3:36 – Internal rear lights wiring

4:17 – License plate wiring

5:39 – Dash “F” connector wiring to the rear of the car

6:15 – Bullet connectors for lights wiring

7:54 – Rear courtesy lights and trim panels

12:15 – Fuel pump wiring

14:43 – Facet fuel pump fuel filter

15:00 – Fuel level sender

15:42 – Floor rubber grommet for fuel sender wire

16:00 – Removing wiring to have Rhode Island Wiring braid the harness

16:28 – Taping the wires

 

Bugeye Seats

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The MKI “Bugeye” Sprite seats were not particularly comfortable or supportive. This image shows the MKI seat design:

MKI Sprite seats

The previous owner was apparently aware of this shortcoming because the seats in the Bugeye are from a MK2 Sprite. These look very similar to a MKI Big Healey, but are not quite the same. Note the horizontal seam in the seat back – it distinguishes the Sprite seat from its big brother..

MK2 Sprite seat upholstery

We are going to have Geoff Chrysler, owner of Rightway Heritage Trimming, https://www.rightwayheritagetrim.com provide the seat upholstery. Unfortunately, new foam cushions for the MK2 seats are not available and Geoff is not pleased with the premade seat covers available from the usual vendors, so he will make and install the new covers himself. We will be going with red and red piping. We will send the foams we have along with the vinyl covers to Geoff so that he can use them as patterns. Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Sixty-one shows the deconstruction of the lower and upper seat cushions in preparation for sending to Geoff.

https://vimeo.com/955906748/05d8772bd1?share=copy

Our next step was to prepare the seat pans, the seat bases and the upper seat backs for shipping. Unfortunately, we discovered that the seat pans were not usable without some major rust repairs. Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Seventy shows the seat components and their condition.

https://vimeo.com/972539064/c702e9e1bc?share=copy

We discovered that Kilmartins http://www.kas-kilmartin.com.au  in Australia fabricates the correct seat pan so we ordered a pair and had them sent directly to Geoff. One of the seat backs had a pivot hole that was out of round so my friend Randy kindly brazed a washer on the inside of the seat to provide a nice new fit.

Seat Pivot repair 1

The seat bases were in good shape but the slider tracks were not. We drilled out the rivets that fasten the slider tracks to the base and removed them. We have purchased some used tracks that we will secure when the seat assemblies come back from Geoff’s shop.

Seat Base

Several of the pivot bolts had stripped threads. We located some new weld studs that seem identical to the originals and Randy welded them in place for us.

Seat Pivot Studs

We media blasted the seat backs after repairs, treated them with a rust preventative and painted them with two coats of POR 15. Now they are nice and shiny and ready to go to Geoff.

Painted seat backs

Dashboard Upholstery and Assembly

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We were eager to see what the red interior upholstery was going to look like with the Cotswold Blue paint. The interior upholstered panels from Bugeyeguys arrived and so we set the panels in place to have a look. We are biased, of course, but we are more than pleased. We think we hit upon a beautiful color combination. The photo appears to brighter than the red actually is. The dash vinyl matches the interior panels and is a truer color depiction.

Interior panels

Next, it was time to wrap the dash in the matching red vinyl. We need to install the assembled dash in the car so that we can complete our wiring harness to the rear of the car. So after glueing the vinyl to the dash with 3M 77 adhesive we also installed all of the gauges and most of the switches.

3M Super 77 Adhesive

We held off on those items that extend through the firewall such as the water temperature and oil pressure gauge, the heater switch, as well as the choke, and starter switches/cables. In addition we covered the face of the hidden switch panel under the dash and installed its components.

Finally we made all of our electrical connections and temporarily installed the dash in the car. The entire process is shown in the Bugeye Restoration Episode Sixty-nine Video. 

https://vimeo.com/960749153/8aa0edf407?share=copy

The following steps are addressed in the video:

0:00 – Interior panels arrive

0:13 – Cockpit aluminum trim

1:11 – Dash vinyl applied

2:48 – Hidden switch panel

4:12 – Cutting holes in the covered dash

4:30 – Upholstery clips

5:00 -Grab handle and RH ground bus bar

5:30 – Washer pump install

6:18 – Ignition switch

8:18 – “D” and “F” connector harnesses installed

9:20 – Turn indicator warning lamp

9:30 – Fuel gauge

10:00 – Turn indicator switch

10:20 – Turn indicator warning lamp

11:00 – Fuel gauge

11:19 – Wiper switch

11:37 – Speedometer, tachometer, panel light switch and wiper rheostat knob

11:50 – Panel light switch

12:12 – Power inverter cube

12:18 – Dash wiring complete

13:44 – Disconnect instructions for dash removal from the car

14:55 – Completed dash

15:27 – Hidden switch panel

15:47 – Dash temporarily installed

And now on to the rear electrical connections and the wiring harness completion.