Conference terri::cars_uk

And now for my car.

My Healey Frogeye, number HF7, registration no. LSB9, is Colorado Red, the
Healey works racing colours (bright red, like a Ferrari). Factory fitted
extras are leather seats, beige piped in red; a heater; side mirrors; and
tonneau cover, also beige piped in red. 

One of the advantages in having a hand-made car is the facility to order 
'special' bits and pieces. Mine are as follows:

1400cc 'A' Series engine giving ~110 bhp comprising
           Kent 286 cam,
           Rim-flo Valves,
           Omega Pistons,
           HF6 single SU carb with K&N,
           Tuft-rided Crank,
           Fully balanced, ported and flowed etc.,
           Janspeed Manifolds & exhaust (RC40),
           Luminition Optronic Ignition,
           lotsa bits and pieces.
Serck oil cooler,
5-Speed Toyota Gearbox,
3.7:1 Limited Slip Differential,
Spax adjustable Shocks,
13" 175/70 NCTs on Minilite replicas,
Non-standard instrumentation including separate, electric guages,
Halogen lights,
Silicon Brake fluid.

It's tucked up in bed for the winter at the moment, but when on the road, it 
pulls 0-60 in under 9 seconds and flat out is ~120mph. Will cruise all day at 
80 at just under 4000RPM. Come the summer we'll put it on a rolling road and 
tweak it a bit....

It handles as if it's on rails and is quite the most predictable car I've ever
driven. Acceleration is superb, and half the fun is seeing people's faces as 
such an 'old' car goes so fast! With the Janspeed and that old 'A' series 
'roar', it really sounds superb. Incidentally, there is a new book coming out
in November, by Geoffrey Healey, called "More Healeys". It's an update to a
similar book produced some years ago by his father, the late Donald Healey. My
car is the one pictured on the front cover! In case you see it, the
number-plate is different. It's a long story, but I have a letter from
Geoffrey Healey thanking me for the use of my car, and explaining why they 
changed the plates. 

Vroooooom, Laurie.
    

    OK, who IS Laura Norder?

You say that because they're based on "original" Healeys, you get a real
number plate.  Please explain this a bit more.  Do you mean the original
chassis, engine, transmission, steering, brakes, suspension from one donor car?
(in which case you keep the original number plate).

I think not, particularly as you say they have 1275 instead of 998 engines, in
which case if any part is second hand you ought to have a Q.

So are all the bits *brand new*, in which case you get a current (ie H999XXX)
registration?  But the wording of the note implies use of an original as donor.

Confused of DECPark...

    
    Re .2
    
    Come on Dick, LAW 'N' ORDER.
    
    Mark

RE:             <<< Note 1262.3 by IOSG::MARSHALL "Waterloo Sunset" >>>
�                            -< re .0 and Q plates >-

    I thought this might happen.... ;^)
    
� You say that because they're based on "original" Healeys, you get a real
� number plate.  Please explain this a bit more.  Do you mean the original
� chassis, engine, transmission, steering, brakes, suspension from one donor car?
� (in which case you keep the original number plate).
    
    The only part of the car that isn't brand new (but see below) is the
    front crossmember, and the 'castles' that bear the front suspension;
    ie. the part that bears the original chassis number etc. The new
    space-frame chassis is built onto the back of it, and the whole lot,
    including the old bit, is shipped off and galvanised as a unit. In this
    way, the car retains its original identity.

� I think not, particularly as you say they have 1275 instead of 998 engines, in
� which case if any part is second hand you ought to have a Q.

    The engine and running gear is not relevant to the registration; the
    former because it can be changed just as the paintwork can, and the
    latter only inasmuch as it remains a twin-axle rigid-body Healey.
    Effectively it is extensively re-built as opposed to *new*.
    
� So are all the bits *brand new*, in which case you get a current (ie H999XXX)
� registration?  But the wording of the note implies use of an original as donor.

    Essentially, it is all brand new, excepting of course, those bits that
    are not available as new, but to avoid the problems of type approval
    etc, the above is the method adopted. Not relevant to the UK I know,
    but it has been approved by the Germans and the Americans, I'm not sure
    what the Japanese have done, but there are 6 of them running around
    Japan, so they must have done something. There are now about 10 Healey
    Frogeyes on UK roads, and I haven't yet heard of any problems from the
    UK licensing authorities. In order to get an 'H' plate, it must have
    type approval as a new car, which involves crash tests etc. FCC is too
    small to do that really, but if it were neccessary I'm sure they would
    do it.
    
    I realise that all of this is stretching the point re
    originality/newness/second-hand etc. a little, and apparently the
    Germans did indeed point this out. However, they were unable to raise
    any *real* objections, and gave the car type approval (allowed it to be
    German registered) on the strength that it was a re-modelled Healey.
    
� Confused of DECPark...

    Not any more I hope ;^)
    
    Laurie.

A representative of DVLC wrote a lengthy and informative letter in one of the
kit car magazines a few months ago, explaining the registration laws.  From that
and numerous other sources, I have discovered that in order to keep the original
registration, you need a lot more of the original car than just a small bit of
chassis with the chassis number on it.

I suspect FCC haven't been as explicit with DVLC as they should have been,
although I'm not suggesting they have kept quiet on purpose with the intention
of "beating the system".

If I were to build a kit car on (say) a Triumph Herald/Vitesse chassis, I would
need to keep the whole chassis, engine, box, etc, etc, in order to keep the
original plate.  If I wished to upgrade the engine, or renew any worn parts,
this would have to be done after registering the new car.  FCC are obviously
telling DVLC they are merely "restoring" original Healeys.

Now what the difference is between "restoration" of this degree and building a
kit car, is something about which Home Office officials probably know nothing.
Hence FCC can slide through the narrow crack in the law...

Scott

RE:             <<< Note 1262.6 by IOSG::MARSHALL "Waterloo Sunset" >>>
�                            -< 2+2=5, for large 2... >-

� Now what the difference is between "restoration" of this degree and building a
� kit car, is something about which Home Office officials probably know nothing.
� Hence FCC can slide through the narrow crack in the law...

    I'm inclined to agree with you. The cars, BTW, are registered before
    they ever hit the road. The crack? I expect they'll close it one day...
    
    Laurie.

    Re .4 .......
    
    Thanks, Derek.
    
    BTW, I don't do crosswords, either. Life is too short and there are too
    many other things to do!
    
    

    
    Re .8
    
    � Thanks, Derek.
    
    Mistaken identity?
    
    MARK

    sigh....... I can tell that it's going to be one of those days.  8^(

	By the way, you don't need to type approve a car to register it as
	an H registration.  All you need to do is to prove that all of the
	bits are new...

	That out of the way, I have seen a lovely little blue frog-eye in
	the DEC Park car park several times over the last year.  Unless I'm
	confusing it with an early TR (or even something else).  Also, I have
	heard of the FCC, and all I've heard is good.  I bet your little
	red 'un startles a few hot hatches.  Where are you located?  If it's
	around Reading, you'll have to drop in on one of our irregular kit
	car meets...

	Dave

	PS The Q registration isn't "dreaded", in fact, amongst most kit owners
	it's a badge of pride (hey! I spent months of my life building this!).
	The only ones who don't like it are the replica builders.

RE:         <<< Note 1262.11 by MARVIN::RUSLING "Hastings Upper Layers" >>>

�	By the way, you don't need to type approve a car to register it as
�	an H registration.  All you need to do is to prove that all of the
�	bits are new...
    
    I didn't realise that. The problem is, however, that they aren't. All
    new that is. I do believe that they are currently working on a new
    version that uses the Sierra engine and gearbox, specifically to meet
    more stringent European requirements/unleaded petrol/etc/etc. That will
    be all new. The problem is, that some parts, like the winscreen
    surround are not manufactured at the moment, and they are salvaged from
    old Frogeyes... Time will tell I suppose. Still, I can just imagine
    what a car weighing 675kgs and powered by a 2.0i engine will go like!
    
�	That out of the way, I have seen a lovely little blue frog-eye in
�	the DEC Park car park several times over the last year.  Unless I'm
�	confusing it with an early TR (or even something else).  Also, I have
�	heard of the FCC, and all I've heard is good.  I bet your little
�	red 'un startles a few hot hatches.  Where are you located?  If it's
�	around Reading, you'll have to drop in on one of our irregular kit
�	car meets...

    I haven't seen any other Frogeyes for ages, they are now very rare.
    They rusted badly, especially at the rear end where the half-elliptical
    springs were mounted just behind the seats. Any I have seen have been
    immaculate, recently restored I suppose. The only tatty ones I ever see
    are some of the early Healey Frogeyes, one of which averages 15k miles
    a year! It could be an early TR I suppose, but Frogeyes are very small,
    well tiny actually. Much smaller than a TR. About the same wheelbase
    and track as that A35 that's in the car park now, but only half the
    height.
    
    Startling hot-hatches is my favourite pastime in it. Top speed is all
    very well, but I've only once taken it up to it. Aside from speed
    limits, the car is only a few inches off the road, and at that speed it
    takes some guts to stay there for too long! It's the acceleration and
    handling that really scores. The cornering is unbelievable, and it's
    less than a full turn from lock to lock so the steering is *very*
    direct. On the road, it's rarely necessary to turn the wheel more than
    90�. I would think that given the power to weight ratio, the LSD, and
    the handling, there's very little that can stay with it, with the
    exception of a long straight. Great fun.
    
    I'm located in Dec Park, but the car is tucked away for the winter back
    in Ipswich. I also have a problem with the engine. It was based on a
    1300 Marina block, the logic being that the stroke to bore size was
    better suited to the higher revs (upto 7k). However, it appears that
    there was a known fault on them in that they leaked oil from the rear
    oil seal onto the clutch. There is a cure, but we have to take the
    engine and gearbox out to do it. At the same time, I'm going to uprate
    the clutch a little, sometimes the welly is a little too much for it.
    Maybe it was oil... Oh well, we'll see. If I'm still around in the
    summer. I'd love to come along. In the meantime, I could show you some
    piccies; Mark Saxby has seen some.
    
    Laurie.

    I just received a copy of the Healey frogeye Literature/price list.
    Copy available to anybody on request by mail.

    Ok, further on the Frogeye.
    
    Aside from the clutch problem referred to in .13, the oil consumption
    was becoming worse. Further, the power output was becoming appreciably
    worse. From the plugs and the smoke, it was becoming obvious that we
    were burning oil. When this reached a litre of oil for 100 miles, we
    decided to strip the engine down and inspect it.
    
    The oil, when we drained it, was heavily soiled with carbon, although
    prseeure was good. Compression test showed no danger signs, but it
    seemd as if the car was running on two-stroke. It was impossible to get
    the thing to tick-over properly. Looking into the rocker-box, it seemed
    as if there was too much oil in there, and it was leaking past the oil
    seals on the valves. We had experienced problems with the breathing,
    and had mande adjustments that seemed to improve matters. However, the
    man who built the engine insisted it didn't need any extra breathing.
    
    We took the head off, and inspected it carefully. Holbays, who
    recommended the man to build the engine,inspected it , sized it etc. No
    obvious problems, the head was pronounced perfect. This was very worrying,
    and meant that the next course of action was to whip the engine out and
    strip it down.
    
    This we did, and the full extent of the problem was revealed. The
    engine, after careful running in, and <2�K miles, was US. All four
    pistons had picked up, to such an extent that the block is scrap.
    Fortunately the only part of the pistons damaged is the skirts, so we
    think we can rescue those. It seems that the block was over-bored by 2
    thou.... Eventually, this would have caused problems anyway, but we
    accelerated the problem with a boil-up. There is now 4� thou wear in the
    bores.

    It also transpires that they are Powermax pistons, not Omega. Having paid
    for Omega, the man-wot-builds and I will be having words this evening...

    Job for the weekend? Stripping down another 1300 Marina block, and prepping
    it for boring/honing next week. New rings ordered, crank polishing not the
    mostest, this will be looked at too. Then assembly, check piston heights,
    plane block, assembly etc. etc. Then the clutch...

    The clutch. We were advised by the MMC in Bath, that prior to fitting the
    5-speed 'box we should cut 1/16th from the end of the crank. This we duly
    did, well 1/32nd anyway. Two things resulted. 1) the fly-wheel almost fouls
    the back-plate, and would if we'd done 1/16th, and 2) the bronze bush for
    the gearbox spigot falls out of the now-too-small hole in the crank. The
    first we can live with, the second is more of a problem. The bush was
    practically dust after <2�K miles, and the clutch was already beginning
    to play up as a result. We're toying with getting Timken's to make up a
    roller bearing.

    We've found a clutch plate that in theory should fit, with more meat on
    it, from a Citroen, that will be offered up and checked out soon.

    I'll keep you posted.

    Laurie.

    Well, things have progressed....

    The block has been back from Holbays for some time, and last weekend I
    had a chance to set to it. We had last Thursday and Friday as public
    holidays here (Brussels) so I took advantage of the extra time at home
    to rebuild the engine.

    The workshop I use is not exactly spotless, and I had to be extra
    careful with the cleanliness of each part. However, all went well and
    two and a half days later, the engine was almost finished. I know that
    2� days seems excessive, but I had one or two teeny little problems. We
    went to the local Rover dealers for the gaskets they had insisted they
    had in stock. We collected them and went back to the workshop, a
    round-trip of about an hour. They'd given me the bottom end kit for a
    mini.... Back we went and this time we had to make up a kit from the
    bits; except that when we got back to the workshop 1� hours later, when
    the time came to put the front-plate back, we discovered that we had no
    gasket... finally, the bottom end was assembled.

    The head was a problem, in more ways than one. We decided that it would
    be a good idea to give the valve-seats a quick polish before we
    assembled the head and this revealed a nasty mess. There had been so
    much oil flying around in the chambers that the deposits had been
    damaging the seats, particularly the exhaust seats. It took me *hours*
    to scrape the deposits off, polish the valves on a bench wire-brush
    thingy and re-seat the valves. Finally they were ready, and off I
    trotted to the "box-of-bits" to find the valve springs, collets etc.
    Sadly, I could only find one set, and after searching for about an
    hour, in a very untidy workshop, we still couldn't find them. "Holbays"
    we chorused and dashed off the ask.

    Naturally they denied all knowledge of the valves, or of having taken
    the head down in the first place. We'd removed one valve, which
    explained the springs at the workshop, and we *knew* they had stripped
    the rest. Whilst we were insisting, the bloke who stripped the head
    came back and agreed that he had done it. After an hour searching a
    very tidy and clean, orderly workshop, we still couldn't find the
    springs and things were beginning to get to me.... We started looking
    through the "bits-and-pieces" boxes thet lie about in all workshops.
    finally, in a box marked "Rootes" (remember Holbay used to power the
    Hunter GLS etc.) we found a plastic bag with seven sets of valve
    springs etc. After a while we convinced thenm that they were mine and
    dashed back to the workshop.

    I assembled the head, set it aside, and started putting the studs back
    in the block. I seemed, unfortunately, to have two left over... Some of
    you may know that in addition to the normal 9 studs, to cope with the
    high compression ratios involved, the Cooper Minis (I have a
    Cooper-type head) had two extra studs, at the centre-front, and
    centre-back of the head. Guess who had forgotten to drill and tap the
    two stud holes.. Yes, that's it, Holbays. I looked at the two studs,
    and at my almost fully assembled engine, complete in every way except
    the dizzy, and with the thought of stripping it all down again so it
    could go back to the engine-shop, I could have cried.

    Ah well, I'm over it now, and the block is being drilled and tapped as
    we speak. More another day; I've still got the clutch to sort out....

    Laurie.
    

    I am reliably informed that there will be at least 5 Healey Frogeyes
    (some may just be the kit version, and so not a Healey) at Le Mans this
    year. Mine will not be amongst them.....
    
    Well, now the engine is fully assembled, apart, that is, from the
    distributor. One of the things that was done to the car by the FCC in
    the Isle of Wight, was to swap the dizzy supplied with the engine for
    an 'ordinary' midget one. The original was weighted and balanced to
    match the cam. There were two reasons for changing it, firstly, one day
    the Lumenition decided to stop working, and secondly, the cap had a
    straight take-off that fouled the steering.
    
    When I tried to simply swap the caps and put the real distributor back,
    I discovered that the two were incompatible. A search for a side
    take-off cap that would fit proved fruitless. The two dizzies are now
    with Piper Cams in Kent; they're sending me back a normal points
    (ditching the Lumenition) dizzy with side take-off to match the cam.
    
    This weekend I'm going to try to fit the spigot bush we had to have
    made up for the Toyota gearbox. If it doesn't fit, we have another week
    to get another made. Hopefully, then, we can refit the engine.
    
    Laurie.

	I'm surprised that you're going back to mechanical points, I moved
	to luminition a couple of years back and have had no problems.  The
	dizzy (I like that name) I'm using is a modified job from Midac (the
	racing people) which is activated by weights rather than the inlet
	manifold sucking.

	Dave

	PS The Marlin has a Ford Pinto

    RE: -1
    
    Lumenition...
    
    I asked advice from several knowledgeable people, AMTEK and Piper
    included, and they all said stick to points. I confess I thought it
    strange, but the bloke at Piper said that it has to have points to set
    the weights up properly, Lumenition isn't accurate enough. More
    reliable yes, but it's apparently a nightmare to set up the dwell
    angle.
    
    Mine too, is activated by weights rather than suction. This is because
    with a high-performance head, especially a high-lift cam and double
    valve-springs, at low revs the vacuum is all over the place and it's
    impossible to get a tickover as the suction throws the timing all over
    the place. This is carried on to varying degrees throughout the rev
    band.
    
    What I intend to do, is to get the car back on the road, enjoy it for
    the summer, and spend part of the winter playing with things like that.
    Maybe put it on a rolling road or summat. I'm quite prepared to
    consider putting the Lumenition back in, but I want some fun first!
    
    Laurie.

But even the ones with a vacuum connection, have weights as well.

    RE: -1
    
    Yep, I know.
    
   The latest on my engine...

   The dizzy was there when I got home this weekend, and I went down to the
   workshop and fitted it. At the same time, the spigot bush was put back in,
   and the clutch re-assembled. I'm not happy about the spigot bush, and expect
   trouble there at some time. Another job for after the summer I think.

   The clutch still feels weak, and once we get the new engine run-in, I expect
   it to start slipping under load again. I'll phone what's-his-name at Alton
   and see what we can come up with.

   I managed to fit the engine on my own, but mating the block and bell-housing
   was a laugh. I could start the top, but not the bottom, so I ended up with
   extra-long bolts below, and drew them together. Time-consuming, but
   effective. The problem was, as I was on my own, it was difficult to keep
   things held out of the way, and under control, and I've collected a few
   nasty chips in the paint in the engine bay. Once the oil-cooler was plumbed
   in, the engine filled with oil, and all the vital wires etc connected, we
   decided that rather than connect everything up, especially the radiator,
   we'd just see if it ran.

   We put the key in, turned it, waited for the pump to stop ticking, pressed 
   to button.....and it ran! Oil pressure was good, around 60psi, a little
   higher than before. We only ran it for about 30 secs, long enough to adjust
   the timing a touch, and to check the OP. Made my day it did!!! The tickover
   already seemed smoother than before, and we hadn't had anything like enough
   time to really set it up. Most encouraging.

   There is one concern about the head, something we were unhappy about before.
   It seems to take forever for the oil to drain away from the rocker box. I'm
   sure my oil-pump can deliver oil as fast as I can slowly pour it from a can,
   and (without engine running) it took ages to drain. We'll have to watch to
   see if it starts burning oil. The problem seems to stem from the fact that
   the ports have been opened out so much, they ate away at the head where the
   oil runs are and the valve-stems go. There are little sleeves in place, but
   they don't seem big enough. We'll have to wait and see. I want to catch it
   this time, before it damages the valve seats again. We're thinking of
   getting hold of a new head, and porting that, but perhaps not so
   drastically. Anyone have any ideas for the 'A' series head? I've heard there
   is a cross-flow available, but it's �1700 so I don't think it's an option!
   I've also heard rumours of a twin OHC head, but nothing confirmed. Price is
   around �2K I understand.

   Next weekend, I'll fit the radiator, and the "fiddly bits" and we're away.
   Then it's off to the MOT man, and the Excise Duty Man, over here to
   Brussels, and open-top motoring again!

   Jobs to do? Sort the clutch, and fit a bigger/more cored radiator to help
   avoid another boil-up. There is one that will bolt-straight in; XR2i I
   think, it's a 'normal' Fiesta rad now. I have a number to ring on that one
   too. Fix the chips and scratches in the engine bay, fit the locking wheel
   nuts, clean it, and gently run it in. I must also do something about the 
   positive camber on the front wheels. There seems to be a problem with the
   tacho too, but at least that doesn't stop me driving it!

   Laurie.
    

 Laurie,

 There is definitely a DOHC head available for the Mini, it is reviewed in this
months CCC. I don't remember if they mentioned a price, but I would expect your
guess of 2000 pounds to be about right.


		 Alan
		~~~~~~

Hi Laurie

I have the edition of "More Healeys" with your car on the cover, it's 
a nice looking car. I've also seen several magazine reports that agree 
it's all the original was, and more.From what I can see, they made most 
of the right decisions with that car.

When you speak of selecting the Marina block for your engine, were you 
choosing the Marina 1275 in preference to a Spridget 1275, or in 
preference to an original 948cc ?

Is your engine a traditional A-series, or an A+ ?

We had some Gold Seal 1275s available here a few years ago that had 
been shipped by mistake and were being unloaded, as they were Marina 
engines rather than Spridget, and 1300 Marinas weren't sold in the USA.
We were told that the only important difference was that the crank was 
sharter, and needed some mods to the flywheel to work in a Spridget.
It sounds like your machine shop thought you had the Spridget crank, 
and wanted you to convert to Marina spec; of course, you already had 
the Marina-spec crank. It was fortunate you didn't take the full amount 
off the crank.

It seems that you have to know more than the parts suppliers when you 
deal with these cars; a friend bought some parts from a very well known 
racing-oriented supplier and got the wrong parts; he said "MG Midget 1100"
and the parts person heard "MG 1100", so he ended up with a pile of stuff 
he couldn't use.

I'm curious about your fix for leaking rear main bearing seals, this is 
a problem we have with all flavors of Spridget engines, as all have the 
reverse-screw type seal. We haven't come up with any sure fixes; we just 
watch for excessive wear and assemble very carefully. I have the luxury 
of a lot of parts to choose from, so I can minimize the leaks, but not 
eliminate them.

I agree with you, your head is GROSSLY overported for street use, even 
with your added displacement. Even for all-out race engines, we rarely 
break into the pushrod holes. The 1275 head does have a problem with 
drain-back from the top-end. Once the oil warms up, it's not much of 
a problem, but if your drains have been restricted, you may indeed have 
a problem. On my race heads, I grind or mill the pushrod holes to 
enlarge then on the axis away from the ports. This is primarily to 
allow more clearance for the pushrods with the high-lift cams and 
rockers we use, but it also allows more drainage area. You probably 
can't do this to the 'tubed' holes, but you might to the others.

If you go with a new head, a late 1275 casting with Cooper 'S' size 
intake valves and std Spridget exhausts seems to be the most reliable 
setup. (Cooper 'S' size intakes and exhausts tend to cause cracked 
valve seats). 

Regarding your camber problem, we shim the front dampers up to move 
the upper arm pivot in, thus increasing negative camber. On the race 
cars we use about 1/8" of washers under the shock at the two outboard 
bolts, nothing under the inboard bolt. I know this sounds bogus, but 
at least under race conditions, it works, and give us a bit better 
geometry as well. We also use offset Delrin bushings at the top of the 
kingpin, but we are looking for more camber than you probably want.

On my street Midget, I used Delrin bushings top and bottom (offset only 
on the top) and found they made a BIG improvement in improved steering 
precision and improved ride quality.

Do you know if any Frogeyes are actually on the roads in the USA ?
It appears that the rules for registering kit cars have been relaxed 
lately, as there are quite a number of new 'kit cars' being sold as 
complete or nearly complete cars.

	- Bill

    Well, it's been over a year since I wrote in here, and I still haven't
    got round to replying to the specific points in Bill's note... However,
    I will...
    
    Anyway, a milestone this weekend. I finally got the old girl running
    after about 18 month's of her sitting in the garage. Old-timers in
    CARS_UK may recall that I took the car off the road because the
    insurance (thanks to a 1 year Green card) went up to 1640 squid a year.
    As I only do about 1500 miles, I decided it was extremely silly to
    spend money I don't have on a toy.
    
    Anyway, I took the opportunity to have a new head built. With great
    difficulty, I located a second-hand head with by-pass, and gave it to
    my mate Terry Harrington at Precision Ports in Ipswich. We decided to
    drop the Rimflo valves, and went for Bill's recommendations in .23 We
    also ground bigger drain-holes, and cleared the tops of the pushrod
    holes. Not least, we cut down on the level of porting, to make the head
    a little more "sensible". He did a really good job of it too. With
    limited spare time, I fitted the head over the winter, and charged the
    battery up.
    
    Two problems... It seems that the original head was worse than I
    thought, and this new one was *very* reluctant to slide down the studs.
    I ended up having to draw the head down them with the nuts. This led to
    problem no. 2... I snapped the rear-most "extra" stud. They're only
    supposed to be torqued to 25lb, and I must've overdone it drawing the
    head down. Oh well, at least it means the engine will still run ok,
    it's only there for a little extra safety. Nevertheless, it does mean I
    can't pull it to full RPM too much.
    
    The engine runs really well now, no smoking or anything, and it's a lot
    better behaved at low revs. It doesn't seem to be anywhere near as
    powerful, but I didn't push it on my very short (and naughty!) trip
    round the block. Most importantly, it's not running too hot any more,
    which was a *major* problem before. I did have to flush the entire
    cooling system out, it was disgusting in there. I'll have to add
    antifreeze later, maybe at the weekend.
    
    Now to get some limited mileage insurance, and a 3 month green card...
    time to join the AH club I suppose.
    
    Jobs to do; fix the leak at the temperature sender unit (around the
    thread); fit a decent rocker-box cover and a better gasket (leaks
    slightly); fit a better sump, this one has a distorted face, and
    despite new gaskets, still leaks oil badly. I may have to wait until
    next winter to sort out the front camber angle. 
    
    Lessons? Well, next time, I'll buy a ready-built engine from someone I
    can shout at; this has been an almighty pain from the very beginning.
    The car's brilliant, but the engine, which I supplied, has been a
    complete *DOG*.
    
    Laurie.

    Some news.
    
    The rocker cover arrived, aluminium, looks great. It'll need
    "adjusting" to cater for the two extra studs: no problem. I found
    another sump, in very good nick, so with a new gasket the leaks should
    stop. Maybe the weekend after next I'll fit them. I'm home in Blighty
    this weekend, and hopefully the new front springs will have arrived. I
    hope to fit those, the goodies above, and to sort out the front camber
    angle all at once.
    
    Some sad news. I heard on Saturday that Geoffrey Healey died a couple
    of weeks ago. As the last one of the two involved from the start with
    his father in Healey Cars, that's another link with motoring history
    gone. However, there is some good news. The Frogeye Car Company now has
    the right to call itself Healey Cars, and has just accepted an order
    for 150 Frogeyes to Japan. Things have changed a bit since mine was
    made 4 years ago. Lotus rear suspension, coil over damper on the front,
    A+ engine with a Sierra 5-speed, and a few other mechanical mods
    including a much stronger diaphragm clutch (I could do with that...).
    Of course, externally, it still looks the business. FCC also just got
    type approval for Germany, which opens up the Euro-market.
    
    Cheers, Laurie.

    Saw a rather nice red Healey Sprite at the weekend, Loz, at the Newark
    kit car show. It looked pretty much like yours... Minilite wheels,
    round arches (filled!), etc...
    
    Hmmmm..... nice motaaa.
    
    Cheers,
    Dan

    Thanks Dan. Was it a Healey or an Austin Healey? I gather there was a
    programme on ITV last week featuring the Healey Frogeye. My B-in-Law
    taped it, and I'll watch it later this week.
    
    Cheers, Laurie.

    I think it was just a Healey - roll-over bars, etc. looked pretty wild.
    What's the major differences again?
    
    Cheers,
    Dan

    The Austin Healey is the original 1958-61 version, with the 998cc 'A'
    Series engine. The Healey Frogeye is the newer one, 1990 onwards, with
    the 1275cc 'A' Series engine (see .0).
    
    Laurie.

    I would say this was the newer one (1990 on, you say?) judging by the
    way it went, and it's condition, but I suppose it's not entirely
    unfeasible for it to have been an older one with all the new fancy bits
    in it.... to conclude, I don't know to be exact, but it certainly
    wasn't a standard Austin Healey if that's what it was :-)
    
    Cheers,
    Dan