[Healeys] Carburators on 1960's Era Rally Cars

Tue Jan 6 04:56:20 MST 2026

All,

the rally cars had different set ups from the race cars as the latter 
ran full speed for most of a long race. The former had less need for max 
speed and more for tractability and flexibility.

As Marcus Chambers told me, you specified a *model* (eg BN7) when 
homologating, but there weren't the same tight criteria that came into 
force much later. Beyond that you could use pretty much what parts you 
had available.

As far as I can work out, a lot of the set up was to meet the driver and 
co-driver's particular preferences (again see Browning's book) and 
varied from rally to rally, even for the same pairing.

Similarly cam profiles could vary between setups. As far as I have been 
able to understand the setup for most rally cars would have been 
somewhat closer to BJ8-style profiles, but I haven't been able to find 
an exact spec and it is widely believed that the works cars build lists 
were all destroyed/lost long ago.

In other words, you've got a lot of flexibility: build what suits you 
and bear in mind modern motoring conditions.

Peter

On 05/01/2026 20:05, Robert Markovich via Healeys wrote:
> I’m pretty sure they were triple HD8s based on Thelma Seigel’s red early 
> 3000 race car. It was a step up from the Ken Rudd triple HD6 setup and a 
> notch below triple webers. Question is, how much tuning is too much for 
> street use? And how long will even a built Healey six last at 6000 revs, 
> remembering that this is a four main bearing engine and much of its 
> robustness was based on relatively low (5250) revs? High revs and a wild 
> cam make their power at those higher revs, of course. Kind of think the 
> BJ8 tune plus a tad extra for perhaps 165 hp at no more than 5500 might 
> be tops for reliable street use, but it all depends on preferred use 
> (and budget!). Just a thought …
> 
> 
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> 
> On Monday, January 5, 2026, 10:24 AM, simon.lachlan--- via Healeys 
> <healeys at autox.team.net> wrote:
> 
> 
>     The current HD6s and the Webers which I tried for a while.
>     Simon
> 
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     *From:* Healeys <healeys-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of Harold
>     Manifold <manifold at telus.net>
>     *Sent:* Sunday, January 04, 2026 23:30
>     *To:* David Wirken <dmw at wirkenphoto.com>
>     *Cc:* Healeys <Healeys at autox.team.net>
>     *Subject:* Re: [Healeys] Carburators on 1960's Era Rally Cars
> 
>     Thanks David. I am interested in the triple SU engines. Does Robson
>     book say if the carbs HD6 or HD8? Does anyone have a picture of the
>     1960 triple SU engine?
> 
>     Harold
> 
>     On Sun, Jan 4, 2026 at 12:17 PM David Wirken <dmw at wirkenphoto.com
>     <mailto:dmw at wirkenphoto.com>> wrote:
> 
>         In Reading the book "Works Rally Cars by Graham Robson , it is
>         noted " Triple-SU engines producing about 170bhp were fitted
>         from 1960, then aluminium cylinder heads and triple Weber
>         carburettors ( with a peak output of about 210bhp) followed in 1962
> 
>         On Sun, Jan 4, 2026 at 1:35 PM richard mayor via Healeys
>         <healeys at autox.team.net <mailto:healeys at autox.team.net>> wrote:
> 
>             Ken Rudd made go fast parts and sold them under the name
>             Rudd Speed.  They were not used on factory (works) cars. 
>             Rudd speed manifolds were for SU carbs.  Works rally cars
>             used Webers.
> 
>             Richard Mayor
>             boyracer466 at gmail.com <mailto:boyracer466 at gmail.com>
> 
> 
> 
>                 On Jan 4, 2026, at 10:33 AM, Harold Manifold
>                 <manifold at telus.net <mailto:manifold at telus.net>> wrote:
> 
>                 Hello,
> 
>                 I am considering updating the carburetor setup on my MkI
>                 BT7 to match the configuration used on the factory rally
>                 cars. I have seen photos of the Rudd Speed triple HD6
>                 arrangement and was wondering if this is the setup the
>                 rally cars utilized.
> 
>                 Any information or photos you could provide would be
>                 greatly appreciated. My goal is to ensure the setup
>                 remains period-correct.
> 
>                 Thanks,
>                 Harold
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-- 
Dr. Peter Dzwig