I think I really opened a can of worms for myself with my question about a
replacement chassis for my Healey.
I'll give you some background. I spent last winter and most of the summer
redoing my '59 BN4. I found a small shop with a great British car mechanic
and he let me work on the car there. I did the grunt work and he did the
technical stuff. He was there whenever I needed an extra hand or some heat,
or when I got myself into trouble. I didn't initially plan it that way but
we ended up stripping everything off the car that could be unbolted. My car
now has new suspension, brakes, steering,wiring, hydraulic and gas lines,
instruments, interior etc, etc. The engine is good but I rebuilt the carbs,
installed a new front seal and a rear seal kit, a new clutch and had the
gearbox rebuilt. The deeper I got in the more I did. I had redone a Bugeye
and a Spitfire and although I had some experience I didn't realize what I
was up against with a Healey chassis.
The chassis was a mess - yeah I know - I should have sorted that out first.
The car had been rebuilt around 1980 at a time when there weren't the parts
sources there are today and the guy who did it had no money. The car must
have been a rusted hulk. The frame rails had been covered with new metal on
the sides and bottom (or the metal was replaced?). The outriggers were
patched and new sills were made up. All the floors were replaced with flat
steel. Door hinge pillars were patched as were the side reinforcement panels
and footwells. New trunk side boxes were cobbled together and the rear
bulkhead was patched. New rear quarter panels were made up and rear wheel
arches were made up by cutting, bending and welding pieces together. Front
inner fenders were patched. It looked like hell but surprisingly everything
was pretty straight and the car drove well. I got the guy doing my bodywork
to add more patches where necessary. We made sure there were no weak areas.
It sure wasn't pretty but we sandblasted the whole lot and painted it. Then
I just bolted everything back on and had the body repaired and painted.
I'm going to drive the car this summer and get some enjoyment from my work.
There is a nagging concern about the condition of everything underneath all
the patches although there were no problems in the 1500 miles I put on the
car last fall. I thought that at some point I'll have to do something about
the chassis. Because everything has been so butchered in the past I don't
think it's worth repairing what I have.
That's why I was asking about a complete chassis with bulkheads and inner
fenders. I reasoned that next winter I could strip everything off my chassis
(it would be much simpler with all new fasteners and no corrosion) and
simply bolt it all onto a new chassis. I realized there would be some
fitting issues. Last year my body guy replaced the rear trunk rail and its
supports plus a door shut pillar without careful measuring with the result
that after the rear shroud was fitted the doors didn't. Lesson learned.
I guess I was naive to think that a new chassis could be built up that would
just fit my components. A number of people have stressed how each individual
chassis needs to be carefully tailored to the body parts whether it's a
Jule, Kilmartin, or whatever. I don't think I have the money, certainly not
the skills nor am I inclined to spend the time (I want to drive my Healey
not look at it in the garage for the next few years) that it seems would be
required to rebuild my chassis or to reclaim and modify my bulkheads etc to
suit a new frame. I am wondering if I couldn't just lay a new and the old
chassis side by side, correct any inconsistencies and get on with
reassembly. At least one person who went that route says it's just not that
simple.
My car drives well and looks good as it is. For the moment, apart from the
rear crossmember, it seems to be structurally sound. For now I guess I'll
just live with it and try not to look at what's underneath.
I will keep doing my research.
Cheers
Rick
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