Austin Healey Buyer's Guide

Being a Short Introduction to the Mistakes a Buyer can Make,

(and Most of the Problems of Which They  may be  Blissfully Unaware)!

Healey Journal

*(I had thought of saying "Abandon hope all ye who enter here..." but that is a little too melodramatic)

The Buyer's Guide links to pages devoted to specific areas of concern:

Outer Body: Common Problems with the Outer Body panels (wings, shrouds & trim)

Chassis: Common problems with the Chassis, rust "hot spots"

Inner Body: Commonly seen problems with the Inner Body- more rust favorites

Suspension: Commonly seen problems with the suspension, wheel hubs, brakes, etc.

DriveTrain: Commonly encountered problems with the drivetrain- transmission, overdrive, driveshaft and differential

Engine: Commonly found problems with the engine and its ancilliaries.

Interior: Common problems seen in the interior

Electrical: Common problems found with the electrical system- generator, wiring, lights, etc.

Cooling: Common problems encountered with the cooling & heating system- radiator, fan, hoses, heater box, blower

Miscellaneous: Other problems....

CAVEAT: This buyer's guide is meant to be comprehensive and reflects my own experience and that of other people where appropriate. It cannot be definitive and anyone contemplating buying a Healey (even one purported to be in good condition) would do well to take the points covered in this section as a fair warning, and to appreciate that other, uncited hazards also lie in wait for the poor, unsuspecting buyer. Its often the case that there is only one right way, but an infinite number of ways for things to be wrong....(much as Tolstoy observed that happy families were all alike....)

Be forewarned, buying a project essentially involves taking on a car that someone else (who has probably spent a fair bit of time with it, and perhaps considerable money and sweat as well) has given up on as being too much work, too expensive, or worse... a masochistic enterprise....

Over to this Guide: A Buyer’s Guide: Criteria for Buying a Rustbucket

The basic criteria I started with were a desire to have a car that was complete with all major components in useable or restorable condition. I might spend quite a lot of money and get a reasonable car needing a lot of work, or I could spend much less to get a poorer car needing an awful lot of work. And have some "fun" doing it up.

Condition matters, but against that may be weighed two factors: cost and time.

A key factor is to know what parts are available (both new from specialist vendors, and used- typically e-bay offers a fair background on what is commonly available and fair prices- check what prices items sell for and not what is either bid or asked as the reserve) and what their costs may be.  Virtually any part for a Healey may be had for a price.

This car had all its body panels except for the boot lid, a part readily replaced.  Even so, Healey body panels are notorious for rust and a close visual inspection (and tests with a small magnet) is essential.  The key panels are the doors along with front and rear shrouds, the others are all readily replaceable, even doors and shrouds are too but at a fairly high cost. I hoped that the steel body panels would be useable, but realism (and all the primer paint visible!!!!) suggested that I not expect too much (like any?) to be good. In this, I was not disappointed.

The car had also been stripped of its interior. That would look bad in the sales photos (and hopefully put off some buyers) but as most all  major restorations routinely replace the interior this was not an issue.

Minor components like side lights and small chrome trim were missing, but they too may be readily replaced. The car had most major trim pieces- the grill and its surround, the windshield and its frame, and the frames for the door windows. The  front bumper was missing and the rear one heavily rusted, but since I wanted the sportier bumper-less look that was not a problem, either.

I was a little concerned that only major trim piece missing was the top frame, and that was sourced without too much difficulty  through e-bay (so it took 9 months to find one at the right price, I had the time!).

The chassis looked like it would be viable, though again I might reasonably expect the floors and outriggers to need replacing. Ultimately the chassis did prove to be in rather worse condition than anticipated, but fixing it up was affected by a case of the MAW syndrome. That is, I surveyed the rusting chassis and was:

1. highly reluctant to trust my life to so much ferrous oxide,

2. disinclined to spend thousands of ££££ and hundreds of hours putting automotive flesh on a skeleton overwhelmed by the automotive equivalent of osteoporosis, and

3. overcome with the notion that I May As Well do it right.

Doing it right meant replacing the whole thing and having an absolutely firm foundation for all the other work I'd be doing, rather than risk life, limb and a non-trivial sum of cash on a questionable frame.

In retrospect the car didn't turn out to be a bargain, but it wasn't bad either given a pessimistic set of expectations. I'd hoped that the main chassis, the shrouds, the engine and drivetrain, and the windshield, door window frames and grille would be useable- and based my bid on that all the rest had too much primer raising suspicions of underlying rot and/or reputation for being rotten. As it turned out the bonnet and doors too would be useable, but the chassis not. To help put this all in perspective I got a whole Healey for roughly the cost of the two shrouds, if those were bought new. Of course, shipping was extra- roughly the retail value of the used engine.

Perhaps the best advice for a buyer is to expect the worst, and to be prepared to be disappointed a little even then....

In summation: the car suffered from ALL the “normal” problems a 35 year old car might have. It is, of course, useful to know exactly what those are, and their relative cost to be put right, and the improvements that might be incorporated along the way.

What’s probably bad/wrong/questionable with the car you’re looking at:

Any contributions from readers on what to look out for when buying a Healey would be appreciated for updating the site. Credit will be given.

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Copyright © 2003 James M. Wilson All rights reserved.