[Healeys] Engine Rebuild Modifications

[Bruce Steele]

Good list, Bob.  When completed, my engine will have the Denis Welch DWR1 cam, bucket tappets, hollow push rods, DW 85mm pistons, DW lightened flywheel and a diaphragm style 9.5” Jaguar clutch, along with the DW high capacity oil pump I already had installed.  The floor of the water jacket has also been epoxied to seal any possible leaks from the oil gallery.

 

My exhaust manifolds were previously Jet-Hot coated, but Jet-Hot has since been through bankruptcy and is not owned by another company, though still operating under that brand.  With this rebuild, I am using a company called IA Coatings in Houston for ceramic coating of the exhaust and intake manifolds.  

 

The transmission has been rebuilt with DW 1st, reverse and cluster gears, synchros, with a new hardened DW gear lever.

 

I also use modern K&N oil and air filters.

 

Bruce Steele

Brea, CA

1960 BN7

 

From: Healeys [mailto:healeys-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Bob Spidell
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2017 7:22 AM
To: Ahealey help <healeys at autox.team.net>; 1 2 <healeydohdahman at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Engine Rebuild Modifications

 

Well, the snide answer is: "If you want a 'modern' engine, buy a modern car."  But, there are things you can do to a Healey engine to (marginally) improve performance and reliability without changing the essence of the car.  Here's some of the things I did for a recent rebuild:

 

*	Denis Welch DWR1 cam.  This cam is 'slightly better' than a stock BJ8 cam, and is gun-drilled to provide extra oil to the lobes and lifters
*	84.5mm Omega forged pistons.  Way overkill for a street engine, but I couldn't find 'out-of-the-box' pistons that were of sufficient quality  with 'modern' features like the 'latest ring design'--the top ring is about 1/16" thick!--from any of the usual suspects.  My builder was impressed with both the cam and the pistons; the pistons were not much more than half the weight of the older, more-or-less stock pistons, and the cam was of extraordinary quality
*	DWR high capacity oil pump with upgraded shaft (DWR sells this shaft and thrust washer for about half of the 'usual suspects,' esp. with the favorable exchange rate)
*	adjustable vernier timing set.  My builder said it took almost 4deg to dial in the cam perfectly.  Timing set is of excellent quality.
*	fully engineered PCV 'system.'  Still just sucks gasses from the crankcase, but my builder designed piping to equalize flow to both carbs, and I can run K&N filters without modification
*	instead of cork and fiber ('cigarette') gaskets, my builder used a modern sealant ('Right Stuff') to seal the rear main, engine plate and pan.  Several hours on the test stand and 'hasn't leaked a drop'
*	Jet-Hot coated exhaust manifold.  I believe ethanol-blend fuel was causing some stumbling on hot starts and I'm hoping this solves the problem

I have some video of the engine running on the test stand (LARGE files), and my builder wrote a detailed list of all the work he did to make a strong and reliable street engine.  If anybody's interested I'll scan the list and post URLs to the video, but I can't do it until I get home Saturday.

 

Bob

--------------------------------
Bob Spidell - San Jose, CA

On March 2, 2017 at 6:07 AM 1 2 <healeydohdahman at gmail.com <mailto:healeydohdahman at gmail.com> > wrote:

Hi All,

Is there a list of commonly done rebuild mods for the 3000 engine/transmission to modernize it?

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