Plugs look awesome! I can't believe this... put a wrench on the harmonic balancer and the engine spins with just two fingers' worth of effort! Easy, quiet rotation after sitting since the mid 70s! Drained the coolant. No rust, looks like no contamination at all! I can't believe it has held up like this through the years. There is a short YouTube video (my free website server does not allow me to put video content on my page)... the link is https://youtu.be/3Rnulf8YvVI Started the process to remove the engine. Took a bit of time and the use of the very handy digital copy of the original Austin Healey Sprite Service Manual which I found online. (AH Part# 97H1585C, Austin Healey Sprite Mk 1 Workshop Manual, Spridget Guru Tech Library - Factory Manuals). Basically I removed the radiator and searched about looking for any lines that were attached to the engine and labelling all of them. I also tried to get my camera into tight spaces to find identifying marks on the block. Not sure how well this will work. May need to do more to identify the engine after it's pulled. Video HERE: youtu.be/3Rnulf8YvVI
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OK, so I fired up the compressor and blew some of the dust and dirt off of the old girl. There were some bits hidden in the debris, which I sorted. It's nice to be able to touch the car and not be completely filthy now. This also gave me a good chance to look at the body, and assess what needs to be done. As you can see in the photos, there is some rust to deal with. The driver's side floorpan is completely disintegrated in the footwell, and the passenger side is pretty thin, as well. But the floors under the seats are solid. Hitting them with a hammer yields a nice, solid THUNK, so they are good. Inner sills are good. Outers... well, it's an old car, so what can you expect. Peering into the depths of the trunk (boot) shows good, solid metal, and no major damage, though it is obvious that the car was hit in the passenger rear corner at some point. There is significant damage to the hood, mainly the apron beneath the grille. Will dig into this. May need to replace, but I might be able to repair it. The rear deck behind the seats was cut. This was done before my brother bought the car. General consensus is that it was done to improve access to the storage area. However, as useful as that might be, whomever did the cut also severed the support beam that goes across behind the seats. On a unibody car, removing structure like that is not acceptable, and I will be replacing that area one way or another. The wiring harness has invaded the stomachs of several rodents at some point, judging by the look of it. New wiring was always in the plan anyway, but this seals the deal. The purple carpet will go. Now. Oh, wait, look at the photos... it's already gone! Miracle of miracles! The carpet was held in place with linoleum glue. (My brother was 14 when he did this, so let's cut him some slack. But not too much... DAMN that stuff is hard to remove!) All in all, this was a successful day, and I feel good about the project. Which is fortunate, because there is a LONG way to go before I can afford to get demoralized! Ok, so you know the story from the first page, but here it is in a bit more depth. This is a 1959 Mk 1 Sprite frogeye (bugeye) with either just under 40,000 original miles. Original engine. Not original colour (currently: red, original: old english white), not original interior (original: red, currently... not much remaining, but what is there is white) My brother (who is 13 and a half years older than me) got the car when he was 14, in 1969. He changed the seats to white, and started a colour change to blue (badly... he was 14!) including spray painting the dash and rear fender interior vinyl with blue engine paint. The car has been stored in a garage since the early mid 70s. He thinks 1973 or 74. Here are some pictures of where it was stored: He got the car when it had a small fuel fire (one of the rubber lines to one of the carburettors ruptured, and leaked fuel on the exhaust manifold). The woman who owned the car saw the smoke and shut the engine off, which killed the fuel flow and extinguished the fire. Damage was extremely minor... the fire did NOT melt the other rubber lines, nor did it bubble or damage the paint on the bonnet or the engine. There is a black smoke stain on inside of hood. It is still there. That's it. My parents gave the lady who owned the car a ride into town, and the woman thought car would never run again because it had been on fire. My brother offered her $100 for it, and she took it. After my folks dropped her off, they took my brother back to the car. He fixed the fuel line, and drove it home. He also drove it into a pole once. As the pole was secured into the ground with concrete, and the Austin was not, there was damage to the hood. It's been "fixed". But not really. The car went into storage in the mid-70s, as I said. He's been meaning to restore it for years, but... life. I just bought it from him and began stripping it down. FYI, I'm a trained bodyman, and I worked at a custom/restoration shop, so the metalwork doesn't bother me. I'm sure to have many questions about the Marque, and also about the technical aspects of the car. I have an Austin Healey parts book, and a Workshop manual. But there are always niggly little things. Here are some pics after I got her into my garage. |
AuthorMy name is Ash. Archives
September 2021
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