1960 Healey BN7

[HealeyBN7]

The rainy weekend seemed like a good time to dig into the Healey Toyota 5 speed transmission. We haven't been driving it much the past year because it has been making noises when the car is out of gear (neutral).

With all the other demands of life, getting to the Healey wasn't at the top of the list, but with the driving season ahead it would be a shame to let it sit unused again. Donna likes driving the Healey, so getting it fixed wasn't completely selfish.

I forgot how easy it was to pull the transmission. It couldn't have been a full hour and it was out and on the dolly. I even got help with the final extraction. See she is motivated to drive it again.

While I suspected a bad input bearing, the real problem seems to be coming from the clutch disk. You can see in these photos that the center hub is fractured. It was so loose that you could move it rotationally 1/4" before it would catch on the springs.

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Talking to the manufacturer he recalled that they had a batch of heat treatment issues, and are sending me a new disk for free. While I am not thrilled that it failed, I did put it in over five years ago...

Pilot bearing is also shot, so I'll be replacing that as well. Also decided to convert to a Clutch master center hydraulic slave and eliminate the sloppy lever arm and push rod assembly.

The next morning Austin was playing with his new camera and posted this short video of the big action.



Hope to have it back together next weekend.

Dean

[Martin Keller]

Hi Dean,

You are lucky that clutch plate did not explode from being out of balance. Glad you found what was causing the noise and can fix it now.

Tell Austin that it took me a couple of trys to see the words at the start of the clip (SMPT UNIVERSAL Leader) as it had me wondering what it said. For a moment I though that he was trying to spoof a Chrysler commercial due to the sound track.

[Westfield 11]

Wow, damn good video and really good editing. I just love whole "American" series of albums that Johnny Cash did at the end of his life. Some of his best most emotionally real work of his career IMHO. Thank you, I hope you will be treating us to more in future, it seems like Austin could make a compelling movie of you washing dishes......

[Steve Simmons]

Lucky break, pun intended! Good thing it didn't completely give up out on the road.

Austin is developing his own editing style very quickly. The video looks very good! I hope he sticks with it.

[Larry Kluss]

Nice video by Austin.

Let me know what you need done on the pilot bushing.

[HealeyBN7]

Thanks Larry. I should have the raw materials near the end of the week.

Dean

[DaveC]

That is a great video. However, coupled with the complete lack of sprayed grease and swearing, it does suggest that working on old British cars is a gentle and comfortable experience.....

Glad you found that damage at home..

[Steve Simmons]

...coupled with the complete lack of sprayed grease and swearing, it does suggest that working on old British cars is a gentle and comfortable experience.....

It's obviously special effects and lighting. As a professional cinematographer and hobbyist British car mechanic, I must insist that there is no other way it could be done! Hollywood fakery!

[Larry Kluss]

Oh sure, do your dirty work in an MG shirt. I see how you Healey guys are!

[HealeyBN7]

I hope you will be treating us to more in future, it seems like Austin could make a compelling movie of you washing dishes......

Your wish has been granted...

Enjoy.



Dean

[Steve Simmons]

I find myself inspired to go wash dishes now.

[Martin Keller]

That is great Austin and so funny.

Had to wash the dishes to get a half a glass of wine... ...boy oh boy dose your wife have you trained Dean... ... I am not showing this to my wife.....or evertime I want a glass of wine I will be doing some type of cleaning....

[gorms68]

I showed your last video to my 12 year old son for inspiration. He was quite impressed as am I. Austin has a bright future if he chooses that direction.

[Steve Simmons]

Inspiration for what, washing dishes or making movies?

[HealeyBN7]

Oh sure, do your dirty work in an MG shirt. I see how you Healey guys are!

I would be happy to loan you my Healey shirt when you are working on the Jag. You are on your own to find a Vega shirt for crawling under the Vette.

Talked to the shop that manufactures the custom Healey-Toyota bell housing and a new one is on the way. Turns out that the bell housing was the root cause of the pilot bearing and clutch problems. It is not indexed properly to the center of the pilot. John at Quantum Mechanics calculated that it was .125 off center. That is an 1/8 of an inch out of alignment - wow.

UPS ground will take a week or so to truck the new bell housing across the continent. In the mean time I am fitting a hydraulic center release bearing to replace the external slave and lever arm. Hope to have the Healey back on the road before the end of the month.

Dean

[HealeyBN7]

Installed the new bell housing and clutch disk this weekend. It is amazing what a difference a properly machined bell housing makes. The holes lined up nicely. Special dowel bolts slid in as did the input shaft into the new pilot bearing Larry machined for me.

I was unable to install a center hydraulic release bearing, so I reinstalled the trusty lever arm and external slave. Replaced the clutch disk and pressure bled the fluid with my favorite garden sprayer.

A short 40 mile test drive confirms it is ready for the road. Yeah...it has been 15 years of on and off transmission issues. Finally think this one is behind me.

Dean (...sent while flying back front NY)

[HealeyBN7]

It has been a long time since I posted about the Healey.

Here is the comprehensive update:

I drove it, washed it and changed the oil several times in the past few years.

Oh yeah, added a few registration stickers to the historical stack.

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[whitebuffalo]

You know all of those registration stickers is throwing the balance off on the right side of the car!

[Steve Simmons]

I'm going to sneak in and razor blade them all off.

[HealeyBN7]

I'm going to sneak in and razor blade them all off.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

[Martin Keller]

I'm going to sneak in and razor blade them all off.

You would not need a razor blade for that stack just a finger nail..... ......

[HealeyBN7]

Eventually the time came to remove the racing numbers...

[tannyo]

Why???

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[VWNate1]

Always nice to see young folks with an artistic bent......