Garry Archer Esq. writes:
>I found this little gem this weekend:
>
> 1957 Austin-Healey 100-6 BN4L. Runs. Needs restoration.
> Original engine. $3900.
>
>Which caused me to whip out my "Illustrated Austin Healey Buyer's Guide" to
>confirm a few little details... and also look at the pictures
Garry, you have been looking for a Big Healey for as long as I can remember
being on this list.
If you don't have it, a very good book to have for reference is Cris Harvey's
"Healey: The Handsome Brute". Title aside it is one of the best books on the
Big Healey. It includes chapters on; strengths and weaknesses (two chapters),
performance mods, history, personalities involved, reportss from contempory
road testers and more.
>It *is* a four-seater! Whats more, the text goes on to say that this is an
>ideal sports car for a family because of its four seats.
The two back seats have only enough room for small children and midgets.
One adult sitting side-ways can also fit. I'm 5'8" and I've been back there.
My knees were on either side of the seat in front of me and I had to hunch
forward to clear the (hard)top with my head. With the top off, I look out
over the top of the windscreen.
>It also goes on to say that *real* Austin-Healey enthusiasts really don't
>consider it as a worthy Austin-Healey and consequently the car may be found
>at bargain prices. For similar reasons the text adds that because it is not
>a popular car for enthusiasts parts are not plentiful and complete
>restorations will not be easy. But the book does say it makes a great car
>for driving if not for restoring (are we restorers or drivers?). Perhaps
>this is why the car is for sale. The owner cannot keep up with it anymore.
This is not quite true. *Real* Austin-Healey enthusiasts don't consider the
*Sprite* a worthy Austin-Healey. :-) :-) :-) (Just kidding guys! Whew! Kind
of warm for this time of year isn't it?) The problem with the BN4 model of
the 100-6 compared to the 100-4 is performance. To get the +2 seating, the
car got stretched two inches, in the door section. As a result, the chassis
got heavier. The new 6 cylinder engine was longer and heavier. At the same
time, the perfomance of the new 6 cylinder engine from Morris was
disappointing. It did not have the HP and torque to cope with the extra
weight. Its 0-60 and top speed numbers suffered. The intake manifold was
cast as a one piece "log" with the cylinder head. The Healey's managed to
convince BMC to design a new intake manifold and cylinder head just for the
Austin-Healey. The new design brought the performance up to where everyone
was happy.
A very common performance mod is to replace the one piece, 4-port, head with
the 6-port head and separate intake manifold..
>The photos in the book confirm my worst fears though... that two-tone paint
>scheme. I never did like it. The ad doesn't say what colours the car is.
Although the duo-tone paint was a very popular paint scheme, you don't have
to keep it, Healeys also came in single colors such as Ice Blue, Aquamarine,
Black, Colorado Red, Primrose Yellow and more.
>Also, does the newspaper have the date correct? I thought it should be
>a 1967. I didn't realise that the 100-6 BN4 series was made in 1957.
The 100-6 was made from '56-'59, in '59 the engine was bored out and the car
became the 3000.
--
_____________ _____________ Robb Pryor, Pyramid Technology,
\____________\_____________/____________/ 1295 Charleston Rd.,
\__________ __________/ Mountain View, CA 94039
\________ AUSTIN-HEALEY ________/ VOICE:(415) 965-7200
\___________________________/ INTERNET:robbp@pyramid.com
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