Austin-Healey 3000: Buy one now? | Buyer's Guide

Very good article. Austin-Healey is a fun car, and as the article suggest the real plus is that there is a very good support group with over 40 chapters of the Austin-Healey Club of America (healeyclub.org) spread around the US and Canada. The club website has a Healey Marketplace that currently has what is most likly the largest selection on any site of Healeys for sale (30). The selection currently ranges from a '59 100-6  BN6 2-seater (a stalled project) for only $3,500 to a rare 1967 Golden Beige BJ8 for $100,000. The offerings change almost weekly as cars are added and sold. 

Roger, you are definitely well versed in knowledge of the Healeys.  But I do not believe the MkII had a larger engine than the MkIII.  I was under the impression the allure to the MkII was the smaller subset of the production run?  Regardless, I do appreciate your passion for the cars.  Very special car indeed, and the clubs/comraderie truly set it a cut above the rest.  I am greatful to be finishing the restoration on my late father's that we have had since new.  Looking forward to making memories in it with my children.

In reply to 67mkiii :

Indeed, I believe you're correct in that the Mark II did not have a larger engine than the III. I'll confirm.

67mkiii said:

Roger, you are definitely well versed in knowledge of the Healeys.  But I do not believe the MkII had a larger engine than the MkIII.  I was under the impression the allure to the MkII was the smaller subset of the production run?  Regardless, I do appreciate your passion for the cars.  Very special car indeed, and the clubs/comraderie truly set it a cut above the rest.  I am greatful to be finishing the restoration on my late father's that we have had since new.  Looking forward to making memories in it with my children.

I spoke with Roger, and here's his response:
"The difference between the Mk III and Mk II is the carburation. There were 3 small SU carburetors in the Mk II compared with two larger ones in the Mk III and also a hotter cam I believe. Good luck with your restoration. Patience is of essence !"

I am the current custodian of a black over red Early Phase 2 BJ8 and a blue over white Late Phase 2 BJ8. The former went through a full restoration, while the latter had an older restoration years ago, followed over time by a new interior and top, and then bare metal repaint once in my hands. Both look like new and drive beautifully.

My strong advice is to purchase with knowledge, preferably with the help of someone knowledgeable on Healeys. A cheap Healey is most likely going to be a more expensive Healey than one that is bought already done "properly", and I emphasize the "properly". Restoration is expensive due to the rather complex structure, and then you can easily run into supposed experts who will think nothing of ripping you off if they realize or think that you don't know anything. My first pair of expert crooks sure were wrong and felt the financial results after I took them to court and won big time. The second company was excellent, who then repaired the half-assed work already done and then did a fantastic job. I won't ever get the months of stress and legal preparation back though, so better to protect yourself with knowledge from those in the Healey club community.

My main complaint is that it is almost impossible for me to get into my Healeys if their tops are up, without bonking my head (I am only 5 foot 8 inches tall). Top down motoring is excellent however, so that is how I normally drive them!

My understanding of the SU tri-carb version is that they are complicated to tune and are expensive to rebuild, with little benefit. There is a reason why the manufacturer went to larger SUs with the subsequent BJ7s and BJ8s.

The big Healeys have striking styling but also some indifferent build issues.

Jensen did the bodies and their method of welding the upper sheet metal to the floors means that when you get serious rust the job of body repair is much more complicated (and expensive) than for the normally constructed body-on-frame cars.

Like the Triumphs, they also used a quite dated suspension set up - in order to save a bit of money, they used a flat frame rather than one that kicked up over the rear axle, and that limits travel and makes handling in race situations a bit more of a challenge. I should mention that they did (finally in 1965-68) altered the chassis to go over the axle.

The engine is a long stroke lazy revving (i.e. heavy flywheel) straight 6 but it has some grunt, and even the older 100-4 with an even older large displacement 4 cylinder would honk along pretty well (and they were my favourite in terms of styling, too).

Just a note on tricarb - when they made the MGC using an updated engine based on the big Austin, they ended up with a  rather unexciting performance level.  I owned one and I rebuilt it, cut the agricultural flywheel down by almost half, and added a bit of cam and a tricarb manifold that I fabricated, using triple 1 3/4" SUs., a header we built and balanced the engine.  Result was that the top speed went from something like 115 mph to 130 mph (GPS measured)

All valid input on the big Healey, except the rear axle was never altered to go over the rear chassis. Radias arms were added to the 64-67 model years. When prepared correctly the challenge of driving them in competition can put a huge smile on your face.