Tips & Tricks

The following narrative serves to give guidance on solving some of the common problems one may encounter with your Austin Healey.  However, the writer absolves himself and the Austin Healey Club from any liability resulting from information given herewith.

Tip number one: Binding brakes

What makes your brakes bind on a car. Well the answer isn't straight forward, there can be several reasons.

In the case of classic cars, perhaps the most common cause is dirty/rusty brake cylinders and caliper pistons. In both cases these tend to operate adequately when used regularly. However, lay your car up for the winter and chances are things will get worse with the result that come Spring, when you take your car out for its annual MOT, the brakes will either have totally seized, or seized on one side making braking a liability with the car pulling badly to one side. Brake cylinders are more prone to sticking than caliper pistons, but both can suffer.

The second cause can be just 'owner' induced. Over adjust your brake shoes and when you go out in the car, the heat generated by shoes constantly in contact with the drums, makes everything expand and sooner or later the car will grind to a halt with the drums red-hot.

Now we get to the less 'routine' reasons. Ever considered changing from mineral brake fluid to silicon? There's plenty of good reasons to consider this. mineral fluid picks up moisture with time that a) reduces the efficiency and b) rusts old-style iron brake pipes. In theory, mineral based brake fluid should be changed every year (hands up those who do this!). Silicon, again in theory, is good for life, and doesn't pick up moisture.

However, put silicon fluid into a system that previously contained mineral fluid and the rubber seals in the callipers and cylinders will expand causing brakes to stick. The only way to be sure that this won't happen is to replace all the rubbers first.

Servos....if all your brakes stick on, then suspect the servo. This can easily be checked by temporarily disconnecting the vacuum hose from the manifold, pumping the breaks to release the vacuum and seeing if the brakes free up. Make sure you reconnect the vacuum hose securely after this test.

Finally, brake hoses. If one brake seizes on when the brakes are applied, but refuse to come off, then there is a possibility that the rubber brake hoses leading to the calipers/cylinders have perished, the walls collapsing in on themselves. In this case, the foot pedal pressure is high enough to force fluid through the hose and apply the brakes, but on release, the back pressure isn't enough to get through the collapsed pipe. Take a look at these photos and note the central orifice (or in this case, the lack of!)!

Please note that we haven't described how to remedy the above faults as fully functional brakes are paramount to safety. Our advise in this instance is to seek professional assistance in repairing any faults with the braking system. Better safe than sorry !

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Tip number two: Engine running on

Alan Pitkin has been plagued with his 'big Healey' running on after he's killed the ignition. See his story on how the fix was achieved in the 'Reader's Wives' section.

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Tip number three: Broken spokes

Ever wondered what that faint 'tinkle, tinkle' sound is when you are slowly coasting to a standstill? Well it's probably a broken spoke. In my case, I seem to break a spoke every time I go any distance in my 3000. Why? Well it could be that they are all very old, or it could be that the wheel's out of true and needs professional re-building. So why do I suffer more than average? Well it's quite simple, I have the somewhat frowned upon chrome wire wheels. "What difference does that make", I hear you say. The answer is that the chroming procedure weakens the mild steel spokes, making them more susceptible to breaking that their painted counterparts. However, the good news is that replacement spokes (and modern 'chromed' wires) are in fact made of stainless steel, which are not only stronger, but easier to clean and keep rust free. OK, the shine isn't quite as good, but who would notice?

The downside is that they are over £5 each, so replacing them all at once is not an option, as a new wheel is much cheaper.

So first of all I'm going to tell you how to detect spokes just about to break !!!! There's nothing more annoying to replace a spoke, go out on a test run, and return with another broken spoke.

For those of you as long in the tooth as me, you may remember a 'varieties' television show in the 70's called 'The Wheel Tappers and Shunters Club". This show, which featured such 'stars' as Kathy Kirby, Frank Ifield, Winifred Attwell, Russ Conway and The Batchelors (those were the days - eat your heart out Radiohead !!!), was named after those essential British Rail engineers who inspected the integrity of rolling-stock wheels. A long handled hammer was all that was needed to detect wheels with hairline fractures. Once given a sharp tap, if the sound produced wasn't shrill like a finely tuned bell, then the wheel was at fault. Well, try it on your spokes. just give each spoke a tap with a small spanner, and in theory all the spokes of a similar length, will make a similar sound - a high pitched ping. Don't forget that each wheel has spokes of different length and so the exact note produced will be different for each type.

If you get a dull 'ping' then either the spoke is too slack, or it's about to break. It's easy to tighten the spoke using a 1/4" AF spanner on the rim end of the spoke. it's just like tuning a piano. Give the collar a slight turn and then check it's in tune with the others. More than often this slight turn will be enough to break the offending spoke. If it doesn't break, then maybe you just had a slack spoke.

OK, next stage. You now have a wheel with a broken spoke (or more). If it's just a couple of spokes then replacing them is OK. If you have a wheel full of broken spokes, then there's no other option to either seek professional advice or buy a new wheel.

Replacing the spokes: items needed - two 12 stone or more willing volunteers and a 1/4" AF spanner.

First deflate the tyre by removing the valve. Then lay the wheel on a flat surface (pavement) with the offending spoke uppermost. Then it's time for you and your accomplice to stand with your heals on the tyre, toes pointing outwards, feet close together, with your arm around each other (not compulsory, but it helps with stability). Then without falling off, bounce up and down on the tyre until the seal is broken - don't let the neighbours see you or they'll think you either mad or embarking in some strange male bonding exercise.

Once the tyre is freed from the rim along one side, you should be able to extract the broken spoke.

Fitting the new spoke is the reverse of the above, though feeding the new spoke between the existing spoke may require a bit of persuasion with a Manchester screwdriver (otherwise known as a hammer).

Tighten the new spoke using the 'tuning' method above. Re-inflate the tyre, and off you go.

Tip number four: Fitting a Kenlowe radiator fan

The current thinking around solving those overheating problems experienced when sitting in traffic jams trying to get to the car park at Le Mans with the French weather in the 30s, is to fit a 6 blade plastic fan and an uprated radiator. However, for those of you who prefer to fit a "Kenlowe" fan, here's the basics.

First of all, fit your fan. Before you can do this, the radiator nearly always has to come out (unless you've got a very slim fan and skinny arms!). There are several ways to fit a fan, depending on the type of fan and the car. For the Healey 3000, the only place to fit a fan is in front of the radiator between the radiator and the "X" shaped cross struts. Arguably the easiest way is to attach the fan to the cross struts using cable ties. However, the most efficient cooling will be achieved with the fan attached to the radiator. If you choose the former method, make sure you face the fan so that it sucks oncoming air and blows onto the radiator. The blades are designed to operate in one direction for greatest efficiency. If you attach the fan the wrong way round, you can reverse the direction of the flow by reversing the electrical leads, but this won't give the best flow.

Attaching the fan to the radiator directly is almost as easy. Kenlowe sell several types of fixing. The one's I favour are made of nylon, and are a little like a cable tie with a one-way slip-on fastener. Another type uses two metal rods with rubber pads. One rubber pad has built-in 'spire' clips, allowing the pad to push on but not slide off. Both types are made to pass through the fan brackets, through the radiator fins and fasten at the other side of the radiator. Whether you use the nylon ties or the metal rods, the surplus has to be cut off so as not to foul the engine driven fan.

Then fit the thermostatic switch into the radiator as per makers instructions (i.e. with the bulb pointing into the neck of the radiator). You will need the special collar to route the copper sender pipe out of the top hose/radiator neck, without damaging it. The thermostatic switch can then be affixed to the car (inner wing?). Secondly fit an override switch to the dash of the car. Both switches work in parallel and many owners fit one or the other but not necessarily both. The thermostatic switch will ensure the fan comes on if the radiator gets too hot. The override switch can be used instead, but is also useful if you are driving the car hard in hot conditions and you suddenly realise that the car is going to have to slow down for one reason or another e.g. a traffic jamb. Manually switching can be more effective than waiting for the thermostat to activate.

Wiring it all up. You will need two types of electrical cable. Low consumption cable to connect the switching circuits (5 amp) and a heavier cable for the fan power circuit (17-25amp). You will also need a relay to switch the fan, an in-line fuse holder (Halfords do a spade style fuse holder) and fuses to suit (10, 15, 20, 25 amp). The exact fuse needed will depend on the power consumption of the fan. However the rating will be more than can be calculated, as the fan will draw a larger current on starting. Thus, the fuse to use will be trial and error to start with, but try a 10amp first, and increase the rating if it blows.

The principle of wiring it up is relatively straight forward. You need to take a low power source from a circuit controlled from the ignition. The easiest source is the fuse box, and the connections with the white/green cables attached should be live with the ignition on, dead with it off. Attach two 5 amp cables to this point, and run one the the dash mounted override switch and one to the 

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Tip number four: Engine dies whilst driving and then starts again