I am back from a trip to Belgium, visiting family and friends, some of which I
had not seen for 8+ years. What a fun time!
I managed to squeeze in a couple AH activities. First one was a car show in
Ciney in "Les Ardennes". http://www.cineyexpo.be/agenda/evenement.php?id=177
I talked with the president of the Belgium AH club, which had a booth there
with a couple big Healeys and a sprite. I missed Derek who was there the day
before.
There was a huge swap meet partially inside a covered cattle market. Since I
was traveling with carry-on only I needed to refrain to buy hardware. The car
show had a couple nice but not exceptional Big Healey 6 cyls for sale in the
45,000 Euro range (about $65,000)
A bn4 body in restoration on a cart caught my attention. I talked with the
gentleman restoring this car. He recreates a lot of panels as well as the
frame to original spec in a jig. As his shop was in the Flemish part of
Belgium, close to where I stayed, I visited his shop the next day.
Next to the 6 cyl he had a BN1 getting closer to final bodywork and there was
another BN1 sitting there ready to be restored. So there's at least one more
shop in the world recreating panels and frame parts. No marketing for this
one, just word of mouth. One interesting tidbit is that the restored panels
(fenders, doors) are completely electro-zinc plated after welding and rust
repair is done, probably helpful with the moist climate.
Strangely enough the weather was nicer in Belgium than here in LA where we have
the typical "june gloom" morning fog. But at least the temperatures in the
garage are nice this way and I have the next couple weeks off for some serious
restoration work to get my 56 BN2 to rolling chassis this summer.
cheers,
Bert
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