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1963 Austin Healey 3000 MKII (rare triple carbs)
This is the first of two Healey’s that I’m working on for my former mentor. 18 years ago he trained me in on detailing and now he buys and sells cars. He doesn’t do a ton of classics like this but anytime he has one and wants it looking its best he calls me up. This job however went a little above and beyond the normal detail…
The previous owner passed away at the young age of 85. He had a large collection of cars in an old building he was renting space in. Apparently he was WAY behind on payment and after his death the landlord sold the cars off to pay for the past due balance. My dealer friend picked up the two ’63 Healey 3000’s, a VW Carmengia, and a ‘50 Cadillac Convertible. Apparently none of these cars have been started since at least 1995 and have just been sitting untouched and unfinished.
Upon delivery I was asked to do what ever the car needed and that time was not an issue…who knew I would have the car for over a month!
Here is a list of all that was done on this car. I tried to take pics of most the stuff but some days I just didn’t think about it.
Detailing related:
-Wash with Meguiars gold class
-Clayed with Meguiar’s mild clay and Last Touch for lube
-Full wet-sanding using 2000 then 3000 grit with Meguiar’s paper
-Buffing process was a 4 step process on the rotary: M105/wool, M105/foam, M205/foam, and 3M Ultrafina on UK foam pads.
-LSP was Blackfire Wet-Ice (love this stuff)
-Chrome was done with M105 and #0000 steel wool followed with Mothers chrome polish
-Tires were done with 3M’s detailer line dressing (solvent based that worked better on the old weather rubber)
-Interior vinyl was cleaned with Meguiars APC and #40, seats were done with Zaino Z9 and Z10
-Engine, wheel wells, and entire undercarriage was cleaned with Meguiars APC+, various brushes, and the pressure washer (many times)
-Glass was done with Eimann Fabrik Clear Vision II Glass Cleaner
Now the non-detailing items:
-Gas tank was drained of its 8 gallons of 15 year old, nasty smelling gas!
-Gas tank sent out to be cleaned as there was rust inside
-Fuel pump was tested, after banging with the hammer a few times it ran, but could not pull any fuel, replaced fuel pump.
-All metal fuel lines were flushed out and rubber lined were replaced
-New fuel filter
-New battery
-After starting the car it was evident that carbs were toast having sat so long with bad gas in them. Two of the pistons on the SU carbs were seized up. I removed them and had them sent out to be rebuilt
-Slave cylinder for the clutch had to be replaced and is was rusted and seized up as well
-Passenger side needed a door handle and striker plate installed, there appeared to be a new quarter panel as there were no holes for the striker plate, had to drill those too.
-Brakes had to be bled and I also painted the calipers and drums
-Wheel were cleaned and painted
-Wheel wells and undercarriage were painted/undercoated
-Frame for the vinyl top was painted
-None of the light were wired up so I had to do that as well
-Installed the remaining interior trim which had been left uninstalled
-Rear bumper had been bent while at the storage facility…guess they thought it was a good idea to push the car with a tractor. It was straightened enough to allow the trunk to open again.
-Painted steering column
-Replaced rubber seal on fuel neck and some of the marker lights
-Paint touch up on some chips.
On with the pics!
Pics from the day it showed up. Car was towed to my place and it took 4 of us to push a 2000lb car in….yeah, she was a little stiff!
Lots of old compound in the cracks
It appeared they started to wet sand and buff the car but it was not even close to finished and lots of sanding marks remained
Paint had a rough texture
Windshield pillars looked bad
Interior
No striker plate
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