After a quite complex relocation from Belgium to
Southern California (still in progress) I can finally
start on my '56 BN2 restoration project
The car was in hibernation for some 20 years. The PO
rebuild the engine and did a cosmetic restoration on
the body.
So here's the good and the bad:
-Car needs structural and body work: new floors,
sills, rocker panels, a couple of new outriggers,
front and rear crossmembers (bumps), lower fender work
and rust repair on lower doors + new paint.
-Shrouds are in good condition, needs a bit of
attention like where the front shroud is bolted on the
frame and some bump in the rear has been patched up
and bondo-ed.
-car has matching numbers
-engine now running strong: At first the engine
didn't turn over, while checking the engine I found
new pistons and the cylinder walls had only slight
honing marks. Apparently Zero Miles on this engine!
Careful negotiation with Marvell mystery oil (letting
it soak for a week and then one more) and a farmer's
wrench finally got some motion in the pistons. After
rebuild of the carburettors, distributor, setting
valve clearance, new oil (about 15 quarts of oil came
out of the sump) new gaskets,... the engine started
almost immediately. The engine now runs strong and
with good compression (+/- 132 psi measured cold) It
will need a general cleanup, going over starter,
dynamo and paint when it will be out of the car.
-Transmission: although this is a 56 BN2 it came with
a 3-speed. First gear is re-enabled and tranny shifts
nicely. (as far as I can tell as car is not yet on
the road)
-Overdrive out of the car: unidirectional clutch
broken. So overdrive needs repair or tranny replaced.
I keep hearing raving reviews of the toyota 5-speed
conversion. The 3-speed is not original to my car so
originality is not an issue for my decision. But some
people also point out that the 3-speed box + overdrive
is a pleasure to drive. I'd like to find out more on
this subject.
-Oil/temp gauge missing, other gauges seem to work ok
as far as I could test them.
-No interior. I have the original seat frames and
what I believe to be Bugeye seats are in the car right
now.
-Came with an extra BN1 engine and some extra parts
(high compression pistons) from what was probably a
BN1 donor/parts car. Strangely enough this engine is
painted red, engine number matches BN1 numbering
though. Need to find out more on this engine, will
probably sell later to make place in the garage.
I am planning to restore this car to a 'nice driver'
(as nice as finance allows) so I can enjoy the car on
the winding mountain and coastal roads in the area.
I originally hoped to do more myself on the
restoration as I took a Classic car body restoration
course in Belgium. But as it turns out I will do as
much as I can myself within the constraints of job,
family and time and farm out specialty work to the
specialists: media blasting, body, paint. Which
basically leaves me with: breaking the car apart and
putting it back together.
I'll probably post another email on the work flow I
plan to take to hear your opinions.
As an avid reader of this list I am glad I can now
finally start on the car. I'll probably bombard the
list with questions and I hope I will be able to give
back later. I already posted one email before
reporting on a Healey trip I was able to make here in
the LA area earlier this year... I got plenty of
feedback on the pictures I posted at:
http://www.pbase.com/pictus/healey_run
http://www.pbase.com/pictus/2003_sd_britcarday
(let me/us know if your car is featured here)
I will probably make a photo gallery of the
restoration on the same site.
Happy Healey-ing,
Bert Van Brande
Newbury Park, CA
56 BN2
Check out the new British Cars Forum:
http://www.team.net/the-local/tiki-view_forum.php?forumId=8
|