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Some of you Car Guys might find this interesting.

http://www.acmefluid.com.au/larry/oldshealey.pdf

Is there a problem with the thread?

Very impressive craftsmanship and engineering you've put into it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomcomm (Post 3196594)

Is there a problem with the thread?

lol wasn't a typo.

It's a compliment.... from the Urban dictionary:

Noice
Beyond the boundaries and exceeding the limits of nice. Spoken with emphasis when describing something particularly awesome.

Indeed, your Olds/Healy is noice!

jr

Fantastiic job and history !!

Excellent. Gotta love the Olds Rocket V8. arguably the finest engine to ever come out of Lansing...

Dragsters would hold the Olds at 8000 rpm off the line in the '60s.
I've got a junkyard '59 Olds 394 sitting on a dolley against the garage wall,
in the highly unlikely case my Oldshealey blows.

Tomtork's Other Cars: 1970 GTO 400

This is one of the best cars I have ever seen and it has definitely the best story :thmbsp:

Thanks for the Compliment Josef.

My Dad's folks migrated from Austria to Ukraine, then to Canada in 1894.

I configured a 1954 Austin Healey AH 100 with a big block 348 ci Oldmobile V8 in mid 1957, 10 years before Shelby's 427ci Ford big block. It had a curb weight of 2486# and a F/B ratio of 48/52% verses a weight of 2529# and F/B 48/52% for the Shelby 427. I have always wondered if Shelvy was aware of the "OldsHealey" when he went "Big Block Cobra".

Seems Shelby's first attempt at a big block was to drop-in a 427 BB in place of the 289 SB, performed by his guys in Southern Calif. The guy that did the install apparently replaced a small block engine with a big block with no additional rear setback! He relates he went for a ride with Carroll thru the neighborhood. It was the most freighting time he had ever experienced in his lifetime!

Shelby was assembling 289 ci Cobras in a LA Airport Calif industry zone in Elsungundo, virtually adjacent to Inglewood Calif where I did my engine swap. Seems strange they came out with exactly the same 48/52% F/B ratio, the same 90 inch wheelbase and the same curb wieght within 48# curb weight! Amazing! Big Block 427 ci engines alone must have weighed 200# to 300# more than the Small Block 289 ci with no additional rear setback!

Anyway, I moved to Santa Inez Calif in early 2000 to a Woodstock Calif 20 acre ranch with Judy and my classic cars: The '54 OldsHealey 418ci, '56 Chevy hardtop 327ci and '70 GTO 400ci.are garaged along with a John Deer tractor and a golf cart.

In all these 18 years I have only met two car guys. A neighbor Dan Gerber with competitive Healeys and Larry Westbury with a competitive Shelby Viper V10. I only rode passenger once with each. I was impressed, but scared shitless!

I still do an OldsHealey 0 to 60mph in less than 4 seconds on the road that runs along side our property, so there!

427 Cobras should look this good,eh?

I always thought my dads '71 2002 BMW is the best looking first hand car but your Healey definitely tops it quite a bit.
Is there a reason why the roll hoop isn't Chrome-plated- maybe due to safety reasons?

Gotta wonder if the Bowtie Boys MIGHT have cooked up a similar beastie to kinda scope out the competition, and/or see just what their own little V-8 COULD do...

Some History Here

Shelby originally wanted British Motors to sell him Austin Healey 100 bodys so
he could install Chevy small block 350ci engines. This went no where. B M would
not sell him the AH 100 bodys and GM would not sell him the Chevy small block
engines since it would be competitive with their Corvettes. So he went with
British AC bodys and small block Fords, so the story goes.

Sounds like typical GM. But, they WERE selling roughly 50% of the cars in America at the time. they didn't need to be "Nice" to anybody. I doubt if Ford "Lost" any sales of any of THEIR"Performance/Sports" cars for all the cars/motors THEY sold to Shelby. Likely, their"Performance/sports" segment group benefitted from it. Let's face it, the Shelby buyer & a Mustang customer were 2 very different breeds of cat.

sounds like typical GM.

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Where I'm Coming From Feb 2003

I don't know how long you Modified Healey guys have been hot rodding. I suspect that most of you have been messing with cars continuously since you were a kid.

Well, I’ve always been an electronic geek. I didn't even have a driver’s license or owned a crescent wrench until 1953, when at 18, I got a job at RCA,West los Angeles as a lab tech and was forced to get and repair a car, a '41 Plymouth, yuk, But then I was hooked! In '54 with a friend's big help, I installed an original 303/348ci '49 Olds Rocket in my second car, a '49 Plymouth fast back business coupe ( I'm a slow learner) With a '37 La Salle 3 spd top loader this was the hot street sleeper, even against the '32 Ford 4X4S, '55, '56, '57 Chevys and Buick Centurys.

In early 1957 I bought my third car, a ‘54 Austin Healey 100 4. I liked the car, but after the Olds Plymouth it was a zero performer. Three months later at 22, I pulled the monstrous Olds/La Salle combo out of the Plymouth and jammed it into the cute little British roadster. It was an act of brutal incest, I admit.

I did this 6 month conversion entirely by myself in a garage I rented with four SB Chevy guys who were sure I was crazy to do such a stupid thing as putting an obsolete 8yr old 700+# engine and 20yr old obsolete 3 spd in a new 3yr old 2100# British roadster. Of course I would have preferred a 500# SBC with the latest 4 spd but none of these guys or anyone else would sell me one reasonably, they wanted them for themselves.

It weighed 2486# curb, had a 48% front vs 52% rear weight distribution and was really quick off the line. One of the Chevy guys was Bones Balough of NHRA fame. We went to all the local So Calif drag strips where we cleaned up,

We were active in drag racing from late 1957 to early 1960 in modified sports, turning 112mph in 12.5sec best. The modified Corvettes were our only competition but couldn't beat Bones off the line due to my 30% engine setback. Then we beat the Buick V8 Doretti modified sports and Max protested my engine setback. The NHRA forced us into the altered competition roaster class that had enormous engine setbacks; huge slicks that run in the 11's at 130mph.

This put me out of drags and the car became a daily driver until 1964 when I installed the 394ci/
418ci '59 Olds and also did the Cobraized nose. I took it to the drags only once with the "new" engine but couldn't launch it with the street tires so I turned 13.2 at 118mph. Although I could beat the SB Cobras, the new BBs had come out and were getting faster. I realized I couldn't beat the modern 427ci/ 4 spd with my ancient 418 engine/ 3 spd so I simply retired the car in 1967, consigning it alongside the garage where it deteriorated into a decrepit rust bucket. I was now totally out of the modified sportscar scene while pursuing a career in electronics and raising a family.

In 1999 at 65, I completely retired and pulled the 45yr old heap from its 32yr grave and started a "1964 Period" restoration. With the V8 engine and body alterations (Healey people call it an abominable desecration) I decided to restore it to its 1964 configuration, complete with 43yr old engine and 63yr old trany. I would retain the original '54 Healey wire wheels and 70 series tires all around. I also decided that in no way would I flare the fenders for big tires. Any enhancements to the engine would be limited to items that were available before 1965. I realized that these restrictions would make it extremely difficult to compete with the faster Modified Healey members but I would give it the good shot.

And so it is today. I would respect the car as a piece of early Healey history and just make it run well. At my advanced age, I can't start another life consuming, advanced car project.

Another PictureTrail upload try.

@ Tocomm : what monitor or tv set is at your avatar?

Thanks Tom Memory.

Posting my 1986 635 BMW CSI

This was my favorite comedian George Carlin's first luxury car. I bought it in 2010 after a full restoration for $8400. Its a 2 door 4 passenger sports solid black sedan with 14 inch cast aluminum wheels with 8 inch tread width tires. It is still in great shape with 111,845 miles on it. Engine is a 3.8 liter overhead cammed straight 6 with a 4 speed automatic with overdrive. It weighs 3884 # curb. The 1954 OldsHealey is somewhat smaller. It has a 418 hp V8 and weighs 2486#.
Yeh I know "Battel" should be "Battle"!

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL179.../413887869.jpg

I bought this black '56 Chevy 210 series 2 door pillarless hardtop in late 1957 after ! installed the OldsHealey V8 conversion. It was going to be my daily go to work car. Paid $1600 for it off the dealer's lot. It had a 283 small block with a Power Glide 2 speed tranny, yuk. Compared to the OldsHealey, it was a zero performer. After a few months I decided to install a Chevy 327 small block with a 3 speed turbo-hydro combo from the auto junk yard. What a big difference this made! This was 63 years ago and I still got it. The last time it was operational was about 6 years ago, but now its got ignition and dashboard problems that I am working on. I’ve got lots of photos but my freeby photo sharing sites are over loaded and refusing to accept new photos without fees! Soooo anyone interested can Email me at: [email protected]

'56 Chevy 210 dash mounted start/run switch.

The last time this car was operational was in 2002

I finally got the start/run dash switch operational. Took a lot of time rewiring the
engine bay and behind dash board wiring to get it to work. This 327ci small block
is a destroked 350ci and wants to rev-up really quick responding!

I took it up the hill by our house about 5 miles. It's really quick! Only problem now
is reinstalling the dash board, which is now completely disassembled. yuk! I also
got to find the windshield wiper electric motor assembly somewhere in the garage.
Waded thru the garage, No luck on the windshield wiper motor. Car junk yard next.

I did find the original Calif licence plate issued in 1963: QBL 406. The OldsHealey's
is GBL 405, issued same year!