[Healeys] 1959 100-6 Healey

[Chris Scholz]

Hello, I am new to this list.  Just purchased a 1959 austin healey 100-6 which
has a newly rebuilt engine, and underwent a full restoration in 1990.  I have
some questions on things I found wrong on the car:

1.  The car runs better with choke half out, high idle.  I put the choke in,
and it eventually stalls.  Tonight, it may have flooded, or vapor locked
because I cannot get it restarted.  I will let it sit for a couple hours.  Is
this a simple carb tune-up issue?

2.  The clutch makes a howling noise intermittently when fully engaged, and it
is hard to shift into gear--this in intermittent.  It is almost like the
hydraulic fluid may be low, so the clutch is not fully disengaging.  But why
is it so intermittent?

3.  This newly rebuilt engine has only a few hundred miles on it--I have the
build sheet from the specialty British shop that did the work.  But the car
has some mild oil leaks.  The seller says this is normal bbutecause of the
leather gaskets--I noticed the biggest leak is on the passenger side, where
the distributor assembly bolts to the block.  Is it normal for all Healeys to
leak some oil?

The car is in great shape, but I don't feel comfortable driving it because of
the worry it may quit or flood or vapor lock, or something.

Looking forward to your opinions.

Chris in Iowa.