Rear Main Oil Leak – Diaper Fix

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Healeys, as well as most other British cars of the period, like to leave their mark! That is, one can expect oil leaks on their garage floor or driveway. When I rebuilt my engine ten plus years ago, I installed an improved rear main seal designed and sold by Dennis Welch Motorsports. Disappointingly, it failed to correct the oil leak problem, although to be fair, it might be worse had I not made the modification.

If you can’t get rid of a leak, then perhaps you can at least do something to keep the leak from hitting the floor. Jim Shope came up with a plan for a little drain pan that basically serves as a diaper for the Healey. The pan catches the slow drips, and every month or so the pan can be wiped out. The following images illustrate the template and measurement for making the drain pan – thanks, Jim!

The Template is 9″ x 7.5″. I used aluminum but steel sheet could also be used. After making the cuts with some tin snips and drilling the two holes, I used a small sheet metal brake to form the box. I then used JB Weld to seal the edges of the box.

Oil Drip Pan Template

Oil Drip Pan Template Mounting Hole Dimensions

Oil Drip Pan Cut Out Ready for Bending

I used some engine green spray paint available from Moss Motors to paint my little diaper. I plan to use a small piece of Pig Mat (Oil absorbent pad) in the pan to collect the oil. Hopefully, I can then just switch out the the dirty pad for a clean one without having to remove the pan. We will see.

Oil Drip Pan Painted and Installed

Main Seal Diaper in place

Cylinder Block, Front Cover, Oil Leak Repair

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The front cover has leaked oil for some time. In this post, I describe the process to remove the cover, replace the gasket and then reinstall the cover to the cylinder block. This process involves removing the alternator. When I restored my BT7 I “upgraded” from the original dynamo, or generator, to an alternator. At the time, I purchased a “kit” including the mounting brackets for the alternator. The kit was designed to use an easily obtained Delco Alternator: Delco SI 10 alternator with an internal regulator. (about a 72-on Chev). NAPA part # 2134011 and a NAPA Part # VRC 148 plug.

Instructions for the installation of the alternator are provided in the Electrical System entry of this Big Healey Valvechatter website. I will not repeat that information in this Blog entry.

The first step in this process is to turn off battery power with the switch in the boot. I then clipped the plastic tie I had used to secure the radiator overflow hose to the rear arm of the alternator bracket.

Alternator Slide Brackets Coolant Hose Tie

I then removed the bracket mounting bolt and nyclock nut on the swing bracket. The bolt is stainless and it is a 3/8″-24 x 3″ with flat washers and the nylock nut.

Alternator Bracket Mounting Bolt Fastener

The alternator wiring white pigtail connector with white and red wires was disconnected from the alternator body. I also disconnected the red wire and the heavy gauge brown wire from the screw post on the back of the alternator. The brown wire is routed to the alternator from the starter solenoid. The nut on the alternator wiring post is 10mm.

Alternator Wiring

Alternator Wiring

I then loosened and removed the 5/16″-18 x 1 3/4″ bolt with flat and lock washers that is inserted through the mounting ear of the alternator and into the spacer on the cylinder side front cover. Once removed the alternator can then be removed from the car.

Delco Alternator Removed

The five mounting bolts that secure the front cover to the cylinder block are now accessible. In the image below, oil residue from the leaking cover can be seen.

Front Cover Cylinder Side AEC689

The cover is removed by loosening and removing the five mounting bolts and copper flat washers.

Cover to Cranckcase Screw HNS0506

The next task was to clean-up the cover by removing the old gasket and degreasing the part. I took advantage of the opportunity and repainted the cover prior to reinstallation.

Removal of Cover Gasket AEC313

This is the freshly painted cover and the new paper gasket AEC 313.

Front Cover for Cylinder Side with new gasket and Custom Alternator Spacer

Before installing on the block I carefully cleaned the cylinder block and particularly the mounting flange for the cover.

Cleaning gasket residue from cylinder block

I smeared a light coating of Permatex #2 Form-A-Gasket Sealant on the gasket and placed it on the cover, using the mounting bolts to center the gasket on the cover. I then smeared the other side of the gasket and then mounted the cover to the cylinder block using the five bolts and washers previously removed.

Front Cover Cylinder Side Reinstalled

While the alternator on the car was functioning just fine I decided to go ahead and install a new (rebuilt) alternator in its place. one must take care to ensure that the fan belt is properly located on the crank, water pump and alternator pulleys. With the alternator held in place the front mounting bolt can be reinstalled through the ear of the alternator, and the cover and then screwed into the threaded spacer tube.

Alternator Mounting Ear

The 3″ bolt was then inserted through the swing bracket and the “wide” mounting ear of the alternator and tightened providing approximately a 1″ deflection of the fan belt.

Finally, all electrical connections were made and after a final check the boot master switch was turned to the “on” position.

The car was then test driven with the charging light on the speedometer switching off as the car accelerated.

One more job complete!

Lucas PL700 Headlight Conversion

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I have always liked the looks of the Lucas Tri-bar PL700 headlights. Unless one can find some new old stock units on eBay or from an individual seller the originals are hard to locate. However, reproduction vintage lights are available and come with a modern twist in that they utilize H4 bulbs, giving you a vintage headlight look with modern reliability and power. The lights I ordered from NOS Locators come with 12v P43t (9003) H4 bulbs: 60 watt high, 55 watt low. Flosser brand Halogen Bulbs and the bulbs are made in Germany.

This is a link to an article on the technical specifications and general information on the original Lucas PL700s:PL700

Lucas PL700 Reproduction Headlights

Headlamps

To install the new lights the first thing to do is to remove the Phillips head sheet metal screw (2) holding the headlight rim assembly (1). This screw is located to the right of center at the bottom of the ring.

Then remove the rubber dust excluder (4) and the three Phillips head sheet metal screws holding the outside light unit retaining plate (5).

Rubber Dust Excluder

Headlight with light unit outside retaining plate in place

Three screws for outside light unit retaining plate

The retaining ring can then be withdrawn providing access to the bulb and it’s electrical connector.

Retaining plate removed to access headlight

This is a photo of the new headlight with bulb to be installed. A rubber boot to cover the electrical connection was also provided.

Lucas PL700 Headlight and Bulb Rear View

Connecting the new headlight is all “plug and play.” It is just a matter of unplugging the old sealed beam headlight and plugging the three-prong plug into the female plug on the wiring harness.

Then it is simply a matter of holding the PL700 in place while resecuring the light unit retaining plate with the three short Phillips head self tapping screws and replacing the rubber dust excluder. It requires a little finagling but one then slips the tab on the top of the rim assembly over the retaining plate and replacing the Phillips head screw (2) at the bottom of the rim by screwing it into the nut for screw (3). 

Other than a final check of the alignment of the headlamp light beams and adjusting with the spring loaded screws, the job is complete. It is a good look!

Lucas PL700 reproduction headlamps installed

Lucas PL700s ready for use

 

 

 

Fuel Delivery Modification and Ram Pipes 

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This project actually began back in November and took me till Spring to complete! I was inspired by Doug Escriva’s beautiful engine bay on his even more beautiful Healey racer:

Doug Escriva’s Racer

Doug Escriva’s Engine

I especially liked Doug’s fuel delivery system to the carbs. Of course, Doug’s car is a tri-carb while mine has only two HD8 SUs. I was never fond of the original fuel delivery design in which the fuel hose fed to the front carb banjo with a second feed off that banjo to the rear carb via a 2″ piece of hose. I also liked the idea of getting rid of the required fuel hose screw clamps and changing to AN fittings. Finally, I am a sucker for the look of the air horns on the SUs. Since I live in Florida where it is sandy, I will use some socks over the horns for normal driving to protect the intake ingesting some unwanted silica. While these modifications appeared easy to accomplish, as it turned out it was quite a chore to find the necessary fittings. Hence the long elapsed time from concept to completion. 

Before getting into the components required for the new system, I also need to mention that my Healey friend, Randy Forbes, who is now geographically close since we have relocated to Florida, was also a big help in making some modifications to the components.

These two photos show the new fuel lines, the fuel fittings and the “Y” Fuel Block installed:

Modified Fuel Delivery System and Ram Pipes

Modified Fuel Delivery System with Y Fuel Block

Modified Fuel Delivery Hose and Fittings

I replaced the original brass banjos on each carb with Steel 16mm M16 5/8″ 6AN Banjo Adapters with short necks, part #C1116-0062. These were difficult to find but I ultimately located them on EBay. The seller’s name was smartturboisme.

Banjo Adapter 16mm -6AN C1116-0062 EBAY

These were slightly wider than the original brass banjos requiring new banjo bolts. These were also difficult to source. I eventually located these 3/8″ BSP banjo bolts from AgriStore USA. They were 1 1/2″ long with four fuel flow holes. They were slightly too long to fit snuggly in the SU float bowl caps so Randy Forbes cut them down slightly. While the threaded portion of the bolts fit through the new banjos, the grip portion of the bolts would not so Randy also took a few thousands off the grips.

3/8 BSP Banjo Bolt

I purchased Viton sealing washers for the banjos and the bolts. These were sold by Hydraulic Fittings, part #9500-06V Bonded Seal, 3/8″BSPP (Viton). 2 were required for each carburetor.

3/8 BSPP Viton Seal Washer

I installed a new, as original, petroflex fuel line which connects to the fuel hard line running from the fuel pump to the engine bay. This hose is part #FUL062 from Healey Surgeons. A 90 degree 811 Aluminum hose end #3481-06 was then screwed into to the upper end of the petroflex fuel line. The hose ends were sourced from Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies

Aluminum Hose Ends

A short piece of racing fuel hose, 910 PTFE Lined Aramid Braided Lightweight -6 from Pegasus was used to connect the 90 degree fitting from the petroflex hose to a straight fitting which then screwed into a “Y” fuel block.

910 PTFE Lined Aramid Braided Lightweight Racing Hose

The fuel block has a single inlet and two outlets, all 6AN. The fuel block was made by Russell and sourced from Jegs part #799-650430.

Russell Billet Aluminum Y-Block -6 AN Male Single Inlet

One straight and one 45 degree aluminum hose end was used to connect the outlets of the fuel block to two 90 degree aluminum hose ends at each carb banjo. All of the fittings and hose connections proved to be tight and leak free when tested. I am very pleased with the functional and esthetic enhancement to the stock fuel delivery system. 

I purchased the 2″ polished aluminum ram pipes from Doug Escriva as well as pair of ITG Megaflow JSC-12 Air Socks.

ITG JSC-12 Megaflow Air Socks

Electric Pusher Fan Installation

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While my car usually runs at a reasonable operating temperature, I do get a little worried about the potential for getting stuck in traffic, and now that we are in southwest Florida with routine summer temperatures often in excess of ninety degrees overheating could occur.

I have already applied all of the typical tricks for improved engine cooling: aluminum high capacity radiator, baffling to direct the air to the radiator core when the car is moving, shroud around the mechanical fan, improved fan, clean engine internals and etc.

While I do not need an electrical pusher fan in normal operating conditions, I think an electrical fan, operated by a toggle switch in the interior, may provide a good solution for those situations where I find myself sitting in traffic, or in a local parade. One could install a temperature sensitive switch to automatically turn the fan on/off at prescribed temperatures, but I have decided that I will just stick with a simple on/off toggle switch. I really hope that I will rarely need to use the electric pusher fan!

Some others on the various Healey Forums have suggested that an electrical fan may actually block the flow of air through the radiator that could result in higher running temperatures – I hope that will not be the case.

FAN SELECTION

The first step in this little project is the selection of the fan to be used. Factors to be considered include the width, height, and depth of the fan, the amperage draw (not much of a concern given that the Beast has an alternator installed rather than the original generator), and the fan’s output measured in CFMs or cubic feet per minute.

I am somewhat restricted regarding the size of the fan I will use. My aluminum radiator has fan mounting clips already welded to the sides of the radiator and I want to use them for fan mounting.

Aluminum Radiator with Fan Mounting Brackets

Consequently, a 12” circumference fan is the largest I can use. The “X” body brace in front of the radiator restricts the depth of the fan. A quick measure produced a maximum depth of 3.” Given these parameters I searched the internet for an appropriate solution and decided on a Maradyne product from Summit Racing. 

The Maradyne M123K has the following specs: 

Brand:  Maradyne High Performance Fans

Manufacturer’s Part Number: M123K

Summit Racing Part Number: MAR-M123K    UPC: 810349010123

Puller: Yes      Pusher: Yes

Fan Diameter (in):  12.000 in.

Fan CFM Range:  1,100-1,199

Maximum Fan CFM:  1,155 cfm

Height (in):  13.230 in.

Width (in):  12.520 in.

Thickness (in):  2.610 in.

Number of Blades:  10 blades

Blade Material:  Plastic Blade Color:   Black

Shroud Color:  Black     Shroud Material: Plastic

Amp Draw:   7.20 amps

Mounting Brackets Included:  Yes

Mounting Hardware Included:  No

Notes:  130 Watt motor.

Maradyne Fan Image

PUSHER VERSUS PULLER

This particular fan can be a pusher or a puller. As shipped it is a puller so the first step is to reverse the fan. To do so one lift the safety catch over the shaft end and carefully pushes the clip off the motor shaft.

Maradyne Fan

The fan instructions then indicate with another person, carefully pull the blade off the motor shaft. Flip the blade, then place back on the motor shaft by lining up the groove on the blade hub with the drive pin on the motor shaft.

Then replace the clip by pushing the clip into the groove on the motor shaft. Ensure safety catch snaps over the motor shaft. Pusher configuration is now complete.

In the pusher configuration the blue wire to the motor is the negative connection and the black wire to the motor is the positive connection.

Maradyne Fan Rotation Diagram

I made the job of creating brackets linking the fan to each of the four mounting tabs on the radiator a bit harder than it needed to be because I did it with the radiator mounted in the car. I really didn’t want to drain coolant and pull the radiator out to make the brackets on the bench. Consequently, some trial and error was involved, but I got there!

Having the car on the garage lift made the task simpler than it would otherwise be. I cut the brackets out of some off-the-shelf steel sheet purchased at the hardware store, and after checking the fit I painted the brackets black for rust protection. I then installed the fan using four 1/4“-28 x 1/2” and four 1/4”-28 x 3/4” stainless bolts and nylock nuts.

Electric Fan Mounting Brackets

Maradyne supplies four rubber cushions or feet that hold the fan away from the radiator cooling fins:

Rubber Cushion Spacers

This is a view of the mounted fan from above:

Electric Fan Mounted Top View

And, from below:

Electric Fan Mounted Lower View

This image shows the lower RH bracket attached:

Electric Fan Mounted Lower RH Bracket

WIRING

Once the fan was installed, the next step was to install the wiring required.  Before actually doing any wiring, I turned off the master switch in the boot of the car thereby removing power from the electrical system of the car.I used a Fan Relay Harness sourced from SPAL and followed the wiring schematic provided with the harness.

SPAL Fan Relay Harness

Since I am only using a toggle switch to turn the fan on/off and am not using a temperature controller I followed the dotted line wiring to the switch and skipped the sending unit wiring.

Fan Relay Harness wiring schematic

I used a toggle switch I had in my parts bin for this application.

Toggle Switch

I mounted the relay on the inside of the firewall behind the parcel tray on the passenger side of the car. I wanted to hide the toggle switch from view so after making and painting a little metal bracket for the switch,  I mounted it on the back side of the plywood used to secure the passenger “grab handle.”

Mounted toggle switch bracket

Toggle switch mounted

This made it easy to attach the grey wire from the relay to the toggle switch and I made a black wire for the ground connection from the switch to a screw on the inside of the firewall.

I ran the orange wire to the ignition switch so that the relay would be energized when the ignition switch is in the “on” position. The mounting posts on the ignition switch can get a little crowded so I took advantage of a “terminal splitter” I had in my parts bin that made connecting the wiring much easier.

Terminal splitter

The yellow and red wires from the relay exited the interior through an available rubber grommet on the firewall into the engine compartment. The yellow wire, after splicing in the 30 amp fuse, was then connected to the starter solenoid as a battery power source. 

The red wire followed other wiring down the diagonal RH frame brace to the front of the car where it attached to the fan wiring pigtail. The red wire connects to the black wire on the pigtail, because the wiring was reversed when the fan was converted from a “puller” to a “pusher.” I then made a short black wire to connect to the blue wire on the fan pigtail and attached it to a ground screw near the grille of the car.

I then turned on the master electrical switch in the boot, and turned the key to the “on” position of the ignition switch, and flipped the toggle switch to the fan. I immediately heard the whine of the new fan and I knew I was in business! 

One more Healey task completed!!

 

 

 

 

 

Leaking Steering Box

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It is not at all uncommon to have a leaking steering box. When I rebuilt my steering box some years ago I filled it with Penrite Gearbox oil – the recommended oil at the time. It is very thick and has to be warmed up to get it to go into the steering box.

My guess is that the rubber seal on the steering shaft needs to be replaced. That is a fairly big job. Others have mentioned that the use of Corn Head Grease, a John Deere product, will greatly reduce, if not eliminate leaks. I decide to give it a try.

One can ever so slightly loosen the four screws on the front of the box (no more than 1/8″) to let the old oil drain out. I am betting that most of mine has already drained out so I decided to just fill the box with the Corn Head grease and see what result I obtained.

I used a very small, needle-type, fitting on my grease gun and pumped away until the box was full. I then turned the steering wheel back and forth a number of times – easier if you get the front end off the ground first – to “settle” the grease. I then pumped some additional grease into the box and wrapped up by re-securing the filler bolt to the box.

The image below shows the rebuilt box when I trial-mounted it in the car when it was in primer. A white foam seal can be seen. This seal is there to keep dust/dirt out of the mechanism. It does not actually help to seal the box. I removed to old seal as it was saturated with oil.

Steering Box Installed

I ordered some new seals from Moss Motors. However, I was not about to pull the steering arm just to replace the dust seal, so I made a razor cut in the seal, placed it around the shaft and then used Super Glue to rejoin the edges of the seal. Worked like a charm.

After about a week since I put the Corn Head Grease into the box, it seems to be leak free. We will see how it holds up. If this doesn’t work I will need to remove the steering arm and replace the seal on the steering shaft.

Throttle Cable Design Modification

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In the mid-2000s I did a fair amount of research regarding the conversion of the original mechanical throttle control linkage used on Big Healeys to a cable system similar to what DMH used on the Sprites. I was restoring my BT7 at the time. The results of that research and a description of what I ultimately chose to do is documented in an earlier post on my website: https://valvechatter.com/?p=6497.

Now in 2020, I decided to replace the Dennis Welch Throttle Cable Bracket that operated from the intake manifold and turned to making a bracket to hold the cable between the two SU carb float bowls. I made a pattern out of cardboard first and then cut the bracket out of a piece of steel sheet. After drilling the holes for mounting to the carbs, for the carb breather holes, and for the cable guide I bent the bracket to get the proper alignment to the throttle lever at the carbs.

Throttle Cable Carb Bracket

Powder Coated Carb Throttle Cable Bracket

Unfortunately, I do not have part numbers or even the source for the components I used to guide the throttle cable and to secure it to the lever on the car throttle shaft. I had the parts in my collection of odds and ends.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

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Fortunately, my website is filled primarily with good news stories. There are a few bad news posts but I think this is my first entry that falls under the heading of just plain “ugly!”

Back in November I did something really stupid. I have lots of rationalizations to explain how this “ugly” event could happen; however, none of them really matter. The bottom line is that I raised The Bloody Beast on the garage lift while the bonnet was propped up and it lost the battle when it struck the garage ceiling. This is the nice fit I achieved following the encounter with the ceiling.

Bonnet Damage

Bonnet Damage

After a generous display of profanity and tears, I pulled the bonnet off the car and drove it to Virginia (a 30 hour round trip journey) to Maple Hill Restorations and my friend Jeremy Turner. Jeremy specializes in Shelby 350 restorations but he took on my Healey twelve to thirteen years ago and completed all of the bodywork and paint. As far as I was concerned he was the only person who should try to “fix” my big mistake.

He could not get to the repair until early June of 2020, but it was worth the wait. This is an image of the bonnet after it was straightened and painted.

Bonnet Painted at Jeremy’s Shop

He is a magician! Beautiful work. So, following another quick trip back to Virginia I re-installed the bonnet on the car with little drama and now all is right with the world – well at least the Healey world!

To avoid any issues with damage to the front shroud or the freshly painted bonnet I placed my Healey shroud quilt over the front of the car and placed a 2 x 4 across the engine bay.

Preparing to Fit Bonnet

With the assistance of my wife, I was able to re-install the bonnet on the hinges and after some fettling and tinkering I was able to adjust it to end up with nice gaps all around.

A helpful tip I picked up from one of the Healey forums to help with bonnet alignment is to place a piece of tape over the bonnet striker catch and then put a little paint (or finger nail polish) on the tip of the striker pin. Once you see where the pin is hitting the tape you can adjust the striker assembly to re-orient it until you have it lined up in the center.

Bonnet Striker Pin

Bonnet Striker Alignment

 

Repaired Bonnet Installed

Repaired Bonnet Installed

Repaired Bonnet Installed

Repaired Bonnet Installed

The wounds have now healed with a big “thank you” to Jeremy! Now I am back on the road again.

On the Road Again

All of this called for a little celebration with the good stuff!

A Little Celebration

New Vinyl Door Piping and Ignition Wiring

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Two more little jobs need to be accomplished in my journey to “renew” the Healey:

Vinyl Door Piping

After a little over ten years of use, the vinyl piping that edges the aluminum trim plate on the passenger side door shut face pillar was just worn out. My rear door gap is a little tight and the vinyl piping sometimes gets caught as the door closes.

According to Anderson and Moment’s book, Austin-Healey Restoration Guide, the bottom and rear door sills were covered with aluminum trim plates, textured in a raised pattern. A vertical section covered the shut face pillar, secured to the pillar with eight chrome Phillips screws, 54K3024, #28 in the illustration.

Shut face Pillar

Black grained vinyl piping separated the rear trim plate from the rear fender along the door opening. This piping extended up and over the trim panel with its core removed so that it wouldn’t catch on the edge of the door when opened and closed.

From the Concours Guidelines: From the introduction of the Abingdon BN6 through possibly the end of BJ7 production, the shut facing was fastened with small, #4 truss-headed Phillips screws with very small cross- head screwdriver slots. Starting around 1963 or 1964 the screw head was changed from Phillips to Pozidriv. 

To remove the aluminum trim plates, one must remove the door lock striker, 14B2841, #31; that is attached through the door shut face pillar and packing plate, 14B2842, #32, into a tapped plate, 14B2843, #33. The assembly is secured with four chrome Phillips Head striker fixing screws, RMP0312, #34 (#10 x 3/4”)

Door Striker Assembly

The striker assembly is adjustable so to be sure to return the assembly to the same position once reassembled, tape was used to mark the outside edges of the striker on the aluminum trim plate.

Marked Position of Door Striker Before Removing the alloy trim

I removed the striker plate assembly by loosening the 4 Pozi Drive screws.

Door Lock Striker Removed

I then removed the seven #4 Phillips head screws that secure the aluminum trim plate to the door shut face pillar. The trim plate could then be removed. The image below shows how the piping is glued with contact cement to the trim plate before reinstalling.

Reverse Side of Alloy Trim Plate

Geoff Chrysler, owner of Rightway Heritage Trim, made a pair of the piping pieces for me that are the proper size.

Chrysler Vinyl Trim

I glued the piping to the plate and then remounted the plate on the pillar. The turn at the top of the trim plate is difficult to address and it does take some patience. This is the finished product reinstalled on the car.

Vinyl Piping on Door Shut Face Pillar Alloy Trim

Vinyl Piping on Door Shut Face Pillar Alloy Trim

Ignition wiring

The ignition wiring for the coil, distributor and spark plugs was operating perfectly but I thought as a preventative maintenance item I would go ahead and replace the wires so I would be good for another ten years. This included replacing the distributor cap and rotor on the 1-2-3 electronic ignition device. I used the same type of wiring installed on the car when it was restored. The product is made by Pertronix and is designed for use with electronic ignition systems.

Pertronix Spark Plug and Coil Wires

As supplied, the spark plug terminals and boots are already mounted on the individual wires. One only needs to cut the wires to length and install the terminals and boots for the distributor end of the wires. To make the job a little easier I used a wire/insulation cutter made by Petronix for the task. It works perfectly and leaves a nice clean core to wrap around the terminal.

Pertronix spark plug wire Insulation stripping tool

New Spark Plug Wire Trimmed

I also installed heat shrink wire numbers on the wires to help with sorting the wires.

Pertronix Spark Plug Wire Boot and Number

Pertronix also sells a two piece crimper used to crimp ignition wire terminals to the cable. It works for 7mm and 8mm wires, and produces perfect crimps every time. One places the terminal and wire between the two pieces of the device and then tightens them together in a vice.

Ignition Wire Crimper

All the new products were installed and the car is running just fine.

 

 

Bell Housing Oil Drain

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Healeys, as they came from the factory, did not have a rear main oil seal. The factory must have anticipated oil leaks from the crank because they put a small hole in the bottom of the bell housing to provide a place for the leaking oil to go other than to accumulate and potentially get thrown onto the clutch – not good. They even placed a small split rivet in the hole so that the hole was kept clear from any clogging. As the car moved around while driving the split pin would vibrate and move around keeping the hole free for drainage. The image below is not my car but you can see the split rivet in the bell housing.

Bell Housing Drain Split Rivet

Some Healey owners install rear main seal kits available from a couple of different vendors to help keep the oil in the engine. I did that when I restored my car and used the Dennis Welch kit. Some Healey owners also install PCV valves to help with reducing oil leakage by pulling air from the rear of the engine into the crankcase. I did that too! These changes do seem to help but some Healey owners report that even with these changes they still have some leakage. I did.

I decided to take the PCV valve off of my engine. Some controversy surrounds the use of the valve particularly as it relates to leaning out the rear cylinders. I figured that after removing the PCV valve I would get some more oil leaks and I have. Not bad, but definitely more than I used to see. 

I have a Smitty 5-Speed gearbox on my car. The Smitty bell housing does not have the little drain hole the factory included. I checked in with the guys on the British Car Forum and Steve and Dave were particularly helpful. They were ahead of me in that they had both already incorporated a small drain hole in the Smitty bell housing on their cars. Steve suggested a 3/16″ hole drilled right between the mating of the steel backplate of the engine and the flange lip of the aluminum bell housing. As the photos show below, I drilled my hole at the low point of the bell housing right where Steve and Dave suggested. The depth of the flange is approximately 1 1/4.”

Oil began to drip out immediately, so much so that it got me a little worried. However, it stopped almost as quickly as it started so I didn’t seem to have too much oil accumulation. You may recall that I had already installed a little catch pan under the mating point of the bell housing and backplate. I removed the pan to drill my hole and then reinstalled. This will make it easy to monitor how much oil I lose from my new drain.

Smitty Bellhousing Oil Drain

Smitty bellhousing Oil Drain Closeup

Initial Oil Drainage

Main Seal Diaper in place