What I've been up to in my "spare" time

[Keith Lane]

A buddy of mine who owns a polished and mighty fine '46 Ercoupe also happens to own 2 Austin Healey cars. One is a 1966 3000 MarkIII that he bought new, and the other a 1959 Sprite (Bugeye) he has had since 1971 (I think). The 3000 sat in his garage for 8 years untill I badgered him into building a shop and getting it running. That took a couple of months, and involved a new trunk floorpan, brakes and a lot of tinkering. The cosmetics were as you see them here, though.
The Bugeye, however, was stored under a tarp and lean-to shed for 12 years, and had to be dragged to the shop with a garden tractor. The engine was low time, having been rebuilt just before it was parked. The brakes, gas tank and carpet had to be replaced along with most of the steering and suspension rubber. The body was stripped to bare metal and repainted and the trim re-chromed.
The results are here to see, and I tell you, I have not had so much mechanic fun in a long time.
The 3000 is a classic ride and fun to cruise at 65 MPH, but that Bugeye is just a blast to hop around in with it's mighty 43BHP 948CC engine. It does weigh only 1100 pounds, though. The Bugeye took about 3 months to get back on the road. The owner is retired and has a lot of time to work on it. I come in and do electrical, ignition and carburetor stuff, as well as help out on the trickier mechanic stuff. Kind of a consultant.....He is an artist at the paint and body and interior stuff, and is a perfectionist, though not a pain in the butt kind.

 

[steingar]

Thank you for keeping such beautiful old things functioning for the next generation.

 

[EppyGA]

Wait.....there's no wings.

 

[Bob Noel]

very nice

 

[SCCutler]

The Sprites are cute, but there are few vehicles in the worldwide inventory of rolling stock as beautiful as a nice Healey.

---

Edit:

Funny thing - look at the Austin Healey and its British contemporaries, and compare them to their Japanese contemporaries; you can sorta see why, at the time, no one believed that the Japanese would ever be a threat. Complacency is a powerful force for evil.

 

[OffCenter]

Beautiful! I'm a fan of British sports cars myself. Years ago I owned a 1960 TR-3 Triumph and a 1970 MGB roadster. Great cars!

A friend of mine has a 1974 MG Midget and a right hand drive 1979 Austin Mini 1000 that he imported from New Zealand! Fun cars to take to breakfast on a Sunday morning!

 

[jhausch]

That's big fun right there. Thanks for posting.

 

[wabower]

As kids, we all thought the MG's were neat, but adjusting the tappets every few weeks got old in a hurry. The TR-3 was a fire-breathing muscle car by comparison, and we lusted mightily. Nobody in Elk City, OK had enough money to buy a wooly-worm a warm-up-suit, so we kept on driving our 46 to 50 whatever's and every so often Tommy Miraglio would come home from the air force and let us drive his MG--if we helped with the tappets.

 

[Tom-D]

As kids, we all thought the MG's were neat, but adjusting the tappets every few weeks got old in a hurry. The TR-3 was a fire-breathing muscle car by comparison, and we lusted mightily. Nobody in Elk City, OK had enough money to buy a wooly-worm a warm-up-suit, so we kept on driving our 46 to 50 whatever's and every so often Tommy Miraglio would come home from the air force and let us drive his MG--if we helped with the tappets.

OMG,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I still have the tool...........

I drove my 49 ford convertible from 1956 to 1974....wish I had it back. chopped, channeled, french-ed in grill with 54 corvette grill bars, continental kit, fender skirts, white top and tucked and rolled interior, 330 horse Buick V8. Muncy 4 speed on the floor.

 

[Tom-D]

My Sister and husband bought this in 1947 for 75 dollars,

 

[Lawreston]

Tell your buddy that "Maine" says, "Hello."
This "66" has been in the family since 1968(mine since 1998).

HR

 

[flyersfan31]

Very cool, Keith. Looks like superb work. Simply beautiful.

Any "before" or "during" pictures of the restoration?

 

[Maxmosbey]

Those are sweet. Wait, don't they say "those are sick" now days? Anyway, sick or sweet, I like them. The bug eye is my favorite.

 

[Keith Lane]

Very cool, Keith. Looks like superb work. Simply beautiful.

Any "before" or "during" pictures of the restoration?

I have some in this Powerpoint show of the Bugeye work. The 3000 didn't get any (visible) cosmetic work. It was a good looking car all along. The Bugeye was a mess, though.
The paint booth was a picnic tent wrapped in plastic sheeting, with some blue filter material my wife got at a yard sale for $5 and an attic fan mounted on a wooden frame for exhaust.

 

[kevin47881]

Absolutely beautiful. Those Healey's have lines that make me long for days gone by.