And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
My brother bought a 1955 A-H 100, sort of the four cylinder version of this beast. He got a deal on it because the car wasn’t running. We tore down the engine and discovered some idiot had padded one of the worn main bearing with the leather tongue of a shoe. Off to the machine shop with the crankshaft and three weeks later it was a sweet ride. Nothing purrs like a 3000 though.
3000s were the pinnacle of the British racing roadster experience, IMO, it was really unfortunate that they have a habit of rusting out the frames in the most awkward places. They were beasts all right.
fun car if you hard the balls to "push it". problem with them it the panels, they tend to rust away like mad. there was a firm making new blocks for them years ago out of AL. tuning the carbs to pull together took a bit of doing but well worth your time. and do not forget to oil the carbs ! back in the mid to late 80's we used to put auto tranny fluid in them and worked very well. one of the few cars that scared you at 50-60 MPH on a gravel back road. kids today have no idea how much of a blast that could be. made more than a few bucks back then working on British sports cars on the weekend. tune up with oil change was 150 and I set the valves too. most of the time it took most if not all day. but afterwards, the test drive with the owner. after that, about 5-10 minutes telling them what to do and when with the car. got so good at it , I could do a clutch job and tune up in a weekend. easy 600 bucks back then. never had a guy not smile after I was done either. those where good years.
I worked on the NewJersey Turnpike at a Cities Service station back in the early and mid 60's. Had an Austin Healey come in once that had a 327 Chevy in it. It was absolutely beautiful.
My cousin had an Austin-Healey 3 liter. It died on the freeway north of Miami. I towed it back to his house behind my 1960 BMW R50 motorcycle. Now THAT was a squirrely ride...
When I was a kid my dad had a 1960 Austin Healey Sprite, the one with the bug eyes. Sometimes he'd let me work the gearshift lever when I rode shotgun.
My brother bought a 1955 A-H 100, sort of the four cylinder version of this beast. He got a deal on it because the car wasn’t running. We tore down the engine and discovered some idiot had padded one of the worn main bearing with the leather tongue of a shoe. Off to the machine shop with the crankshaft and three weeks later it was a sweet ride. Nothing purrs like a 3000 though.
ReplyDelete3000s were the pinnacle of the British racing roadster experience, IMO, it was really unfortunate that they have a habit of rusting out the frames in the most awkward places. They were beasts all right.
ReplyDeleteThe one that got away
ReplyDelete"The last of the hairy-arsed sports cars"
ReplyDeletefun car if you hard the balls to "push it". problem with them it the panels, they tend to rust away like mad. there was a firm making new blocks for them years ago
ReplyDeleteout of AL. tuning the carbs to pull together took a bit of doing but well worth your time. and do not forget to oil the carbs ! back in the mid to late 80's we used to put auto tranny fluid in them and worked very well.
one of the few cars that scared you at 50-60 MPH on a gravel back road.
kids today have no idea how much of a blast that could be.
made more than a few bucks back then working on British sports cars on the weekend. tune up with oil change was 150 and I set the valves too.
most of the time it took most if not all day. but afterwards, the test drive with the owner. after that, about 5-10 minutes telling them what to do and when with the car. got so good at it , I could do a clutch job and tune up in a weekend.
easy 600 bucks back then. never had a guy not smile after I was done either.
those where good years.
I worked on the NewJersey Turnpike at a Cities Service station back in the early and mid 60's. Had an Austin Healey come in once that had a 327 Chevy in it. It was absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMy cousin had an Austin-Healey 3 liter. It died on the freeway north of Miami. I towed it back to his house behind my 1960 BMW R50 motorcycle. Now THAT was a squirrely ride...
ReplyDeleteThose are great stories about a fabulous car.
ReplyDeleteI never understood why these were no held in higher esteem. Only paper and visually, they seemed TOTL.
ReplyDeletethey usually go fo 60K+ in the auto auctions
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid my dad had a 1960 Austin Healey Sprite, the one with the bug eyes. Sometimes he'd let me work the gearshift lever when I rode shotgun.
ReplyDelete