Re: First start of stored AH3000
Daniel Eskenazi writes:
>Having reached the decision that I had way too
>much free time on my hands, I recently purchased a
>"was running when I put it in storage 3 years ago"
>1960 Austin-Healey 3000 MK I (BT7) and am having it
>shipped to its new home in North Carolina from North Dakota.
If you haven't already done this, I strongly suggest
joining the Austin-Healey Club of America. Contact
Edie Anderson at 708/255-4069. She is the membership
officer and can steer you to local contacts in NC.
>I have heard that one should drain the gas tank and blow
>out the fuel line, squirt some lubricant into the spark
>plug holes (is WD40 OK?), and hand-crank it a few times
>before attempting to fire it up. Any other suggestions?
I'd surely dump any gas that's still in the tank and blow
out the lines. I'd also take the tops off of the fuel bowls
at the carbs and clean them out. Clean and dry them, then
put in a little more fuel to see if you can coax more crud
out of the line going into the jets from the bowls. Spray
some carb cleaner in the little hole at the bottom of the
bowl. Naturally, you'll want to check and possibly renew
the points/plugs/distributor cap/plug wires/condensor.
I would be personally reluctant to spray WD-40 into the
cylinders. It will wash off whatever lubricant that might
be there, and perhaps dilute any that you add. Maybe a light
oil? Change the oil and filter, and before you drive it, also
change the transmission and rear end oil. The tranny takes
30wt non-detergent oil, the rear end takes 80-90wt hypoid.
You might go so far as to remove the valve cover and dump a
quart of oil directly on the rockers before you crank it.
I don't know about rings losing springiness, but you could
have some corrosion in the cylinder walls where they've been
in contact with the rings for a few years. I wouldn't worry
about it right now, but keep it in mind if you have compression
or oil burning problems later.
>A local british mechanic told me "modern
>radials don't look right on Big Healeys."
As for tires, most people run radials these days. The most
common size is 165-15. Some cars have 185/70-15's and they
fit fine. I put 185/65-15's on mine, and I have some slight
clearance problems (I scrape the exhaust) on occasion.
I'll finish by repeating my first statement -- if you're not
in contact with your local club, you're missing out on a
very good resource!
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