It's been 2 yrs on the road since completing my BN1 restoration. We've put on about 950 miles and won a few local awards. In the summer of 2023 I decided to get involved with planning the west coast Healey club Rendezvous event that would take place on Vancouver Island in Sooke, May 19-23 2024. This event was to be big enough that we could host a sanctioned Concours judging - finally my opportunity to have the car officially judged, which had been my intention since day one... With that in mind, I made a list of details to improve on my car over the winter in preparation for judging... One of the first things I did was re-adjust the bonnet latch fit which had slowly begun to unscrew itself causing the bonnet to sit up at the back... I decided to add a badge bar and some original Lucas 700 spot lamps, with an original Lucas switch... The badge bar needed to be cut down so it doesn't cross in front of the side lamps... strange that they make them so long like that! Jolly Rogers Motors was able to provide me with all of my Healey's NOS lighting, including this Lucas 'Long Range' light switch, plate, and indicator light... After wiring it all up using some matching cloth wiring to my harness, and some inline fuses and an old SD40 overdrive relay, I switched it all on and was delighted by the look! I made sure to use all original bulbs in the lights - replacing some of the LED bulbs I'd had.. so they all match and get full points for originality... Rogers Motors was able to provide me with an NOS Lucas single bulb licence plate light too, to replace the new repro one I had. Here you can see the difference between the NOS one on the left to the modern one on the right. The original ones has LUCAS inscribed on the glass too. I put some calls out to various members of the concours committee to try and source some of the rarest pieces that I hadn't yet been able to find, and luckily some friends in the committee were able to help me! I got an original/rebuilt oil flex line, and a fuel flex line - with the agreement I would return it after the judging... Here you can see the difference between my repro oil line on the left with a rebuilt original on the right... The end fitting of the original were simply heated, removed, and reinstalled onto a new inner flex hose - along with the original yellow tag... I also added some textured coverings to the heater and rocker cover rubber hoses, and added the correct clamps to the rocker vent hose... I replaced the right rear fender beading which I had originally cut to clear the cockpit rail and ruined... Now the new factory finished edge is neatly butted to the cockpit rail as it should be. I also sourced some taller turn snaps behind the doors to correct the shorter ones I had there before... I replaced the door shut plates with some Kilmartin ones that come without any holes drilled yet. The ones I'd originally put in already had holes, but they were too big for my early/smaller door latches. Now the holes are the proper size and there's no visible holes behind the latches... I sourced a good set of original knock-offs and had them re-chromed. There's a few notable shape detail differences between steel originals and the brass repro's I had., I prepared my tool kit, and added the wax paper grease gun instructions to complete it... My exhaust tail pipe had always been slightly too short and was turning my bumper black after every drive... So I removed it and had it lengthened by 1.5" to set it right... While I was at it, I addressed a few leaks I had underneath... replacing the rubber o-rings on my overdrive actuator cross shaft... I replaced the red tape on my fuel pump with black tape, and added the part number plate I sourced through a friend in the concours committee. I had accumulated a number of paint chips on my steering wheel, so I decided to give it to my painter for a stronger more professional urethane finish. This also allowed me to realign the steering wheel so it was perfectly on center. I installed my set of original Champion NA-8 spark plugs that I'd been saving for concours judging... I made a new left side screen that allowed me to fill the gap at the windshield I'd had with my old one. So now they both fit properly and seal as good as they can.. I rebuilt my top latches, replacing the hook parts with some that have the PAT number on them, and adding the correct style acorn nuts to the inside... Finally, I even re-did my seats, in Connolly leather with soft cotton in the pleats, new foams, and white linen tacked to the bottoms - as was correct for early BN1's only. The Saturday before Rendezvous was to begin, we drove over to Vancouver for the huge All British Field Meet. Over 700 cars in attendance and over 1500 spectators. At the end of the day I won 'Best in Class' for the Healey 100's, and - the 'Lew Lewis award' for 'Outstanding contribution to the automotive industry' recognizing my business Rightway Heritage Trimming! Finally, beginning on Sunday evening we drove down to nearby Sooke BC and checked into our hotel for the Austin Healey West Coast Rendezvous 2024. The 4 day event were very busy! Besides being concours laison, and a judge, I also did an hour long tech session on the Wednesday that drew a lot of interest and positive response. Unfortunately though, our car show on the Tuesday at the Airport Museum was mostly rained out, which significantly interfered with the concours judging schedule... We ended up doing the judging in the underground parking back at the hotel much later than anticipated. However the judges were all understanding and did a great job! My car was judged first, and I watched diligently as it took 4 judges about 2hrs to judge my car following the detailed score sheets. Then I was on a team judging another car, which was a big learning experience for me as I'd never officially judged before.. I learned a lot from our experienced Judge Robert Wilson! I wouldn't know the results of my cars judging until the following evening when results were read aloud at the closing banquet for the event... Some of the judges on my car had been pulling my leg, saying how much they enjoyed judging my car and hinting that I'd made a strong bronze, maybe even a silver!... Being new to this, I really wasn't sure how strict it might be.. I had mentally prepared myself to accept whatever the results were... "And the results for the concours judging:.... Geoff Chrysler's beautiful BN1 has earned a well deserved Gold level in the concours!" I was overjoyed and shocked! All of my hard work and attention to detail had finally been recognized. Not to mention, this entire restoration process for me has been a way of remembering, and connecting to my late Father Rich Chrysler - who was one of the earliest members of the concours committee, and put the same level of detail and accuracy into his restorations over the decades. He'd taught me most of what I know about these cars. This Gold achievement is as much in honour of him as it is for me.. Thank you to everyone who helped me along the way with essential details, parts, and information - you know who you are! And a special Thanks to my beautiful wife Cat who has supported me, and this time & money consuming passion over the past 6yrs! It's nice to finally be done the restoration, I've earned a gold, and now we can just drive and enjoy the car as it was meant to be enjoyed... I sincerely hope this blog & YouTube series has been helpful to other restorers as it was always intended to be.
Until next time -
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