Austin Healey 100 - SOLD - SOLD - SOLD
Austin Healey 100. Titled, street legal and registered in Hawaii. This car has been modified from the original Austin four cylinder, 90 horsepower classic sports car. In its current incarnation it is a ground-pounding, make the neighborhood kids smile, scare the dog, semi-harsh hotrod. It is fit with a 350 Chevrolet engine from a late 70’s Z28 and a 1959 T-10 transmission. The stock rear axle has been replaced with a narrowed nine inch Ford using 4.56 gears in a Detroit Locker pumpkin. Also fit to the rear are Wilwood disc brakes and a neat hot rod disc parking brake on the pinion yoke. The car was cut for a small block Chevy V8 in the 50’s and has passed through a few hands over the ensuing years. It has been in custom car shows, raced and street driven. The basic setup has stayed pretty much the same as what you would have read about in Hot Rod magazine more than four decades ago. The swap uses 55-57 Chevy front style engine mounts, trimmed down chrome plated 57 Chevy bell housing, and small block ram horn exhaust manifolds. A tail shaft cross member and trans mount was added later for additional stability.
The engine was built for this car. I installed it after taking ownership of the car in 1992. There are only about two thousand miles on it over that time. Fairly mild rebuild with flat top pistons, Weiand 8101 Action Series cam and lifters, Weiand 2P 180 intake, Quadrajet carb, and re-curved HEI distributor. Even still runs a factory Chevy single snorkel air cleaner with cold air tube to the grille opening. The front engine mount rubber doughnuts, studs and washers, along with a new aluminum water pump was installed last month. The engine and radiator was thoroughly flushed and new coolant added. Custom steel fan shroud around the water pump driven fan and electric pusher fan in front of the radiator for stop and go traffic. Runs at just under 200F in the Hawaiian sun. Everything is painted black except the alternator so as to maintain the low key swap look. Although the polished firewall brightens things up a bit.
The aluminum flywheel and 11 inch clutch hook up the estimated 325 horses to a cast iron case course spline T-10 four speed. Car is only about 2200 pounds. The trans is shifted via a vintage chrome Hurst ratchet shifter with separate reverse lock-out lever. This is a carry over from its earlier days at the strip. The balanced custom drive shaft passes through the stock tunnel near the shortened Sprite emergency brake handle and cable. Custom brackets carry the cable to the pinion mounted emergency mechanical disc brake. The rear leaf springs have chrome traction bars mounted to control the wheel hop and to keep you going straight when the locker does its thing.
This car has gone through many iterations and many things have been changed, repaired or replaced. The car has BN2 front fenders, steel hood and trunk lid and has a later big Healey rear bumper installed. The dash was replaced with a wooden unit long ago and is one thing I wished I had put back to near stock during my tenure as this cars guardian. The gauges are Autometer and all work except the speedo. The cable has broken and I have not seen the need to repair it. Has a Motolita steering wheel on the stock Healey steering column.
Seats are stock Healey units that came out of my other 100 when it went through a restoration. Some of the leather is factory stuff. The driver’s seat back mounting was modified to allow the seat to recline a bit. Gave me more room for a six-foot frame especially before shedding that extra 45 pounds earlier this year. The rest of the interior is black vinyl with black cut pile carpeting. Nothing fancy but it works.
Wheels are older (aren’t they all) 15 inch Cragar SS that have some old chrome issues. Four-inch fronts and 6-inch rears. The tires are Goodyears, 165R15 fronts and 235-70/15 Eagles on the rear. The rubber is all good shape with lots of life left. Speaking of the rear tires the rear wheel openings have had the radius increased by one inch to help with the larger drag tires fit in a past guardianship.
Body is currently wearing a coat of chrome yellow paint, also 12 years old. Got to paint another of my toys that color some day. No rust but the bodywork and paint are suffering a bit with old age. Chassis is solid, no rust. Car had a hoop roll cage at one point but the frame connections are currently cut off even with the rear bulkhead panel next to the battery door. Speaking of the battery, it is in the trunk along with an electric fuel pump and separator/filter. Trunk has most of the factory style armacord lining in black. No side curtains or top frame. What are those for when you live in Hawaii?
Car is now in California,
Aloha
