[Healeys] Real Healey Trivia

[Alan Seigrist]

I'd say from a pure safety perspective you will want some sort of barrier
between you and the gearbox (particularly for fire safety sake, oil on
carpet, etc.,) so I'd say dispense with the originality in this case and
have a tunnel fabricated.


On Wed, May 7, 2014 at 5:51 AM, Patrick & Caroline Quinn <
p_cquinn at tpg.com.au> wrote:

> 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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