With a little Help from my Friends,

I've been plugging away on rebuilding various components for the BN1, last week I got together with my good friend Trevor Parker to help me rebuild my king pins.

I had already purchased all new king pins kits with new bushings & seals, so it was just a case of pressing out the old bushings, pressing in the new ones and reaming them by hand to be a perfect fit to the new king pins.

Trevor has the correct reaming tool for these Healey spindle bushings, and a proper table press for removing and installing the bushings so we were able to get it all done without any hiccups. Thanks again Trevor!

Last week saw the arrival of some newly restored goodies that I had been eagerly awaiting.
Curt Arndt from California has supplied me with this beautifully restored horn & trafficator switch for the center of the steering wheel.  - Just look at the shine he got on the original Bakelite!  - I'll be keeping this jewel carefully packed away until the day I install it in the car!

And of course Curt also sourced and supplied me with this beautifully restored complete BN1 tool kit -
I had already made a correct set of vinyl bags for these tools, so now I'm all set!

I dropped off my starter motor, generator and ignition coil to a local shop here in Victoria called Brian Roberts Auto Electric. They're no strangers to Austin Healey electrical components and were able to go through everything and test or rebuild as necessary. Glad to report that my starter and coil were both in great health and they just rebuilt the old generator.

I gave my starter a fresh paint job, after first cleaning and masking off the aluminum front plate as was done from the factory on BN1's only...

The generator was restored with new field coils, brushes and bearings. I had them fit an earlier style commutator end that I had sourced with the early style of oiler.
When I got it back home I carefully masked and painted the unit, reassembling it with a new pulley, and finished it off with  a new phenolic lock plate added to the end terminals, just like the originals had.
I was able to source the phenolic plate from my friend Michael Salter in Ontario.

My friend Tom Munro has been rebuilding my gearbox and overdrive unit.
Unfortunately mine has quite a bit of corrosion damage inside.
Tom had me over the other day to show me the extent of damage...  The worst part is that the main outer casing has a small crack inside where the shift actuator shaft enters the lower bushings - both the shaft and the body around the bushing were badly corroded..

As it turns out, the 1st and reverse gears were ok, as was the lay-gear.
However 2nd and 3rd gears were badly corroded as you can see:

Luckily, once again my good friend Trevor Parker was able to sell me a spare gearbox with just about all the parts I'm needing - including the casing and these replacement gears and synchros - Thanks again Trevor, I don't know how I could have done this without you!

I'll also be replacing the friction surfaces inside the overdrive anulous ring, and the accumulator piston rings and spring...

The layshaft is worn, but still usable

I received my new reproduction Lucas 6 volt batteries in the mail, they look identical to the originals with the vents and fill caps, but are a modern battery inside requiring no filling or servicing.
They did not however come with the terminals pre-drilled and tapped for the proper helmets (as was advertised) but that shouldn't be too difficult to do later...

Finally, I just received all my gauges back from Nisonger's instruments in NY.
They did a beautiful job professionally restoring and calibrating each one.
They were able to install a better condition clock face on my old tachometer, and replaced the temperature gauge line, trip-odometer reset knob, and make sure they're all in good working order. They even cleaned up the odometer number wheels which had turned yellow with age...

This entire project has been a culmination of help and support from many friends I've made over the years through the car community. Austin Healey club members especially have often felt like extended family with their shared enthusiasm and support.


Friends like Trevor Parker, who has been my closest local friend throughout this project, helping me with specialized tools, parts, and just coming by to help out whenever I need it.
Michael Salter - who helped me initially buy this car, and has been a valuable source for parts and knowledge.
Curt Arndt who has helped me source some of the hardest and rare pieces to this project and sent me loads of valuable restoration information.
Jason Stoch and the guys up at Jetstream Auto & Custom who have been handling all the metal, body & paint work on the car, as well as some parts I was needing.
Ron Allman, who supplied me with some of my Dad's old Healey blue paint,
Tom Munro who is handling the rebuild of my gearbox and overdrive,
Mid Island Machining who are machining my engine components,
Nisonger's for my gauges,
Brian Roberts Electric for my electrics,
The list goes on and on -   Thank you Everyone who has helped me along the way - I am very grateful for the support!

Until next time -