FITTING THE STEERING WHEEL CONTROL HEAD

...or the "trafficator switch" which it is sometimes called, operates the horn and signal lights.  It is not by any means a complicated system, but, like everything else on this car, it requires finesse.  I spent the better part of the day installing the control head.  The wires connecting the horn button and signal light switch to the appropriate harness in the front of the car are fed through a small tube inside the steering column...odd.  Feeding those wires through that tube entailed removing and re-soldering the connections on the forward end of the control head harness.  Nevertheless...

The archive listing of this blog contains detailed step-by-step photos and narratives regarding this restoration since it began late last December.  Please direct any comments and questions to tommystoplesscars@yahoo.com.

Enjoy...

Tom McCurry 

Materials and equipment purchased from:

Moss Motors (mossmotors.com)

Victoria British (victoriabritish.com)

Eastwood (eastwood.com)

The Roadster Factory (the-roadster-factory.com)

English Parts (englishparts.com)

Napa Auto Parts (napaonline.com)

FRONT FENDERS AND TRIM COMPLETE

Today we completed the installation of the front fenders.  Access to the fasteners was limited to say the least and the stainless steel bead separating the fenders from the shroud made the task challenging...Austin Healey.

You may recall from a previous post that I intended to install the headlights, but we decided to wait until the buffing and polishing was completed...less masking required.

We also permanently installed the new steering wheel today.  Sandy, my wife, came by the shop just in time to hold the flashlight for me.  It was nice of her to take an interest in my work.  She's sweet like that.

The new control head for the horn and signal lights will be fitted tomorrow.

The archive listing of this blog contains detailed step-by-step photos and narratives regarding this restoration since it began late last December.  Please direct any comments and questions to tommystoplesscars@yahoo.com.

Beautiful...

Tom McCurry 

Materials and equipment purchased from:

Moss Motors (mossmotors.com)

Victoria British (victoriabritish.com)

Eastwood (eastwood.com)

The Roadster Factory (the-roadster-factory.com)

English Parts (englishparts.com)

Napa Auto Parts (napaonline.com)

ON SCHEDULE

In an attempt to stay on schedule we are working seven days a week.  Today we connected the remote hood release system.  You can see the rather simple but adequate system of springs and rods in the photos to the left and below.  The hood release is under the dash on the passengers side.

John will be painting the hood tomorrow and we will install it Friday or Saturday.  The front bumper supports will be installed tomorrow.

The archive listing of this blog contains detailed step-by-step photos and narratives regarding this restoration since it began late last December.  Please direct any comments and questions to tommystoplesscars@yahoo.com.

Stay tuned...

Tom McCurry 

Materials and equipment purchased from:

Moss Motors (mossmotors.com)

Victoria British (victoriabritish.com)

Eastwood (eastwood.com)

The Roadster Factory (the-roadster-factory.com)

English Parts (englishparts.com)

Napa Auto Parts (napaonline.com)

ASSEMBLING THE FRONT CLIP

This Healey is looking so good.  I am really going to miss it when Tim takes it away. I may shed a tear.  

We set the right front fender in place today.  For whatever reason, it seemed to fit better than the left...Austin Healey.

The paint work is perfect and we are so cautious with our tools and procedures.  

Tomorrow, hopefully, Marilyn will have a new pair of headlights...
Are you excited?

The archive listing of this blog contains detailed step-by-step photos and narratives regarding this restoration since it began late last December.  Please direct any comments and questions to tommystoplesscars@yahoo.com.

I love this Healey...

Tom McCurry 

Materials and equipment purchased from:

Moss Motors (mossmotors.com)

Victoria British (victoriabritish.com)

Eastwood (eastwood.com)

The Roadster Factory (the-roadster-factory.com)

English Parts (englishparts.com)

Napa Auto Parts (napaonline.com)

FITTING THE FRONT FENDERS

It appears I was a bit optimistic in my last post when I said that my goal for today was to install both front fenders and the associated lighting.  That did not happen.  Don and I began the day finishing the dash connections while John was buffing the front fenders.  By the way, these fenders are flawless.  John is an artist!

While we did take the time to test fit all the body panels prior to painting, the final fit was a bit more difficult because of the stainless beads.  The fender pictured to the left fit very well.  We handled all the freshly painted parts with caution to prevent any damage.  So, we were only moderately successful in achieving our goal...we installed the driver's side fender, and we did it very well. 

Now it's looking like a Big Healey!

The archive listing of this blog contains detailed step-by-step photos and narratives regarding this restoration since it began late last December.  Please direct any comments and questions to tommystoplesscars@yahoo.com.

Stay tuned...

Tom McCurry 

Materials and equipment purchased from:

Moss Motors (mossmotors.com)

Victoria British (victoriabritish.com)

Eastwood (eastwood.com)

The Roadster Factory (the-roadster-factory.com)

English Parts (englishparts.com)

Napa Auto Parts (napaonline.com)