[Healeys] Real Healey Trivia

Patrick & Caroline Quinn p_cquinn at tpg.com.au
Tue May 6 15:51:05 MDT 2014


G'day

 

As the list is so quiet at the moment I thought I would fill the ether with
some real Healey trivia.

 

When my 'new' 1948 Healey Duncan Sports Saloon reached our shores there was
two basic maladies that needed correction - brakes (the pedal went to the
floor) and steering (the wheel could be turned six inches without any effect
on the wheels).

 

Anyway the brakes were straightforward. Healeys were fitted with Lockheed
brakes and it was just a matter of finding someone to refurbish all the
cylinders.

 

The steering however is a different kettle of fish. Healeys were fitted with
Marles steering boxes, which were also fitted to Alfa Romeos, Aston Martins
and the like. Unlike an Austin-Healey steering box which is worm and peg,
the Marles box is actually two intermeshing worms. See
(http://www.marlessteeringbox.com/)

 

Anyway after much head scratching and cups of tea the steering box was
removed and with the moving of shims and machining it's a zillion percent
better. That's when the fun started when after reinstalling the box I had to
remove the front section of the driver's floor which meant removing the
carpet. Most of the floor is made from timber, but the section where the
feet go is metal. Anyway after the carpet was removed I recall thinking to
myself that I could see the gearbox. Now it was a good five minutes until it
dawned on me that I could actually see the full gearbox as well as the back
of the engine.

 

Of course in an Austin-Healey when you remove the carpet what do you see?
The gearbox tunnel!

 

There was no gearbox tunnel and the carpet was just sitting on top of the
gearbox. As there are only six Healey Duncan Sports Saloons left I was
unable to phone a friend. So emails soon left for the Healey Museum in the
Netherlands where they have the only Healey Duncan Convertible in captivity
and a bloke in the UK who fettles Healeys
(http://www.classicrestorations.org.uk/).

 

It turns out that early Healeys never had gearbox tunnels and it wasn't
until the Tickford and Abbott was released in 1950 that they were fitted.

 

Seems very odd to me and I'm contemplating making a tunnel to stop the road
grime etc from getting in.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Hoo Roo

 

Patrick Quinn

Blue Mountains, Australia


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