Blue One Hundred wrote:
> Bill -
>
> Thanks for that rundown on your car. Your car is absolutely beautiful
> and I'm sure one of the nicest '53s running on the road.
Thank you very much, Alan. Remembering the recent thread about Insane
Values, I hate to admit that I have more into that car than I paid for
my first house. :-( However, while a dry place to sleep is a
wonderful thing, it can never compare to a flat out, top and windscreen
down, run on the local twisty road in a Healey! That's almost orgasmic!
>
> In some ways I think reducing the rotating mass of the flywheel might
> actually go a long way to reducing the stress on the gearbox teeth,
> esp. when decelerating. On the next rebuild that will be the one mod
> top of my list. The 45# original flywheel is insane.
Agreed. The PO had lightened the original to 32#'s. I went the further
step with Bill Bolton's. IMHO and NFI, he's the only way to go for both
quality and a decent price. You'll definitely notice the difference in
how quickly the revs go both up and down.
>
> I gather you put in a later BN1 5 stud axle, probably a worthwhile mod
> but I'm going to stay with the weak 4 stud axle (call me a
> masochist)... I'm in the process of trying to modify the hubs so that
> they will be stronger than original design, using the five stud SAE
> bolts to replace the stupidly designed BSF studs on the 4 stud axle.
Yes. From the outside, the wheels cover up the number of studs and only
a purist would notice the brake drums were the later wider ones. Many,
many years ago I had a very bad experience almost losing a rear wheel.
It was wobbling and being held on by only one of the loose four studs.
I vowed that would never happen again.
>
> By the way, on your car a 32% OD should be original, not 28%. My BN1
> has the 32% OD on it, and although it makes for a bit of a rougher
> shift into OD, it gives a taller ratio on the freeway. Did you switch
> to 28% because it's more common? Or works better with Lempert's gear?
I knew that! I don't know why 28% popped out of my cranium. Must be
the ol' farthood! With my engine, the taller the gears, the better. My
favorite and usual traveling companion is Mal Doherty, who many on this
List will know. Finally I can make his black car "work" as he is
Smittized with only a 15% 5th gear. :-)
>
> Lastly, I've taken to treating second gear lightly when shifting,
> hopefully that will help it last a long time!
I just can't do that. I have to drive Red Car like he wants to be
driven! Besides, I can always re-fi the house again for repairs. LOL!
Bill Barnett
Santa Ana, CA
'53 BN1 w/ '54 M kit
>
> I don't know my exact number of my BN1, but it's something like #780 I
> think.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Alan
>
> '53 BN1 '64 BJ8
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