Steve -
Glad you took it to Mike at John Bull at my suggestion. Happy to see
he is still working there, he really knows his stuff.... one of the
few... and his prices are very fair.
He's actually a very interesting guy. His father used to be the Del
Monte plantation manager in Mindanao, Philippines. Imagine my shock
when, after having used his services on and off for 15 years, we were
shooting the breeze one day and he told me this funny story about how
this guy was running a crop dusting service in the P.I. and he watched
as the guy crashed his plane in the field, did several somersaults,
and proceeded to walk out of the wreckage without a scratch.
When he told me this story, I told him that I actually knew the man
myself (Al Onstott), because this same guy had started an airline with
my Dad in Manila in 1948, but it fell apart when the Dutch Navy tossed
them in Indonesian jail in 1949 for a year accusing them of supplying
tommy guns to the communists (they were flying PBYs in and out of
Singapore and Indonesia at the time).
Of course they were doing no such thing and it all had to do with
post-WWII colonial politics & the US anti-colonialist policy... so
they eventually got out but my dad says that year was pure hell...
they still had Japanese prisoners of war there, the camp wasn't run by
the Dutch but by the Indonesians... imagine!! My dad reckons the
Japanese POWs died there.
Anyway, Mike later told me he learned to work on British cars because
his father had transferred to run some farms in Rhodesia... so when he
was a teenager he grew up around all the great British cars...
learning to work on them. I think he has 4 or 5 Sunbeam Tigers
himself! The guy is a walking encyclopedia of British mechanical
diagnosis, and has lived a pretty interesting life for a mechanic!
Cheers,
Alan
'53 BN1 '64 BJ8
On 6/24/05, STEV0001@aol.com <STEV0001@aol.com> wrote:
> Hello:
>
> You may recall that six weeks or so ago, I asked the list for help in
> diagnosing a problem with my BJ8. The problem happened as I was driving
>when,
> following a very loud grinding noise, something exploded through the bell
> housing, leaving a large hole. Following the incident, the car continued to
> start, shift and drive with no problem. I received many helpful suggestions
> from Healey list members and promised to report back once the car was
>diagnosed
> and undergoing repair.
>
> This morning, the transmission was removed and the mechanic (Mike from
> John Bull Automotive) found three crunched up washers and spring remnants in
> the bottom of the bell housing. Mike surmised that an earlier starter change
> (prior to my ownership) resulted in these "extras" from the old starter being
> left to roll around in the bottom of the bell housing. Since the car was
> not driven hardly at all before I bought it, the problem likely took a while
>to
> "surface." But wow...when it did surface, it did so with a bang...literally.
>
>
> So...thanks again for all of your suggestions and encouragement. Once
> again, this list has proved to be a wonderful resource.
>
> Steve Gizzi
> Benicia, CA
>
> BJ8 #43007, 79 MGB L/E, et al
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