Corrections and Additions to Austin-Healey 100/100-6/3000 Restoration Guide

provided by Gary Anderson, December 2001.
This page was last updated on $Date: 2003/07/22 02:08:53 $.

Table of Contents

• Corrections and Revisions
• Additional Info

Corrections and Revisions to Current Edition.

p. 4 Third column, 13th line from bottom: Austin is misspelled in Austin-Healey.

p.9 Table 1-1. 4th line should read: "BN1 Serial Production May 1953 - Aug 1955"

p.9 Table 1-1. 8th line should read: "BN6 Mar 1958 - Mar 1959"

p.13 Second column, line 9. Sentence should read: "This kit included the larger H6 carburetors, ...."

p.23 Caption under number plate illustration. Add: "The plate measured 1 15/16 inches by 3 3/16 inches."

p.23 third column, parenthetical note beginning on first line, should read "...the fall of 1954 and into January 1955."

p.27 Photo upper left. Add to caption: ...routed under the right battery, fastened with "bobby-pin" clips (missing in this picture).

p.28 Photo of wheel. Caption should read "On the hundreds, a Dunlop wire wheel with 48 spokes and deep-formed hub, painted silver gray, was secured to the axle hub with a chrome-plated knockoff nut."

p.29 First column, line 37. Sentence should read: "...and the actual chassis number punched in the unscreened area of the plate."

p.30 Third column, line 7. The sentence should read: "Heater hoses were clamped with half-inch-wide flat band clamps,...."

p.31 Bottom photo. Add to caption: "The hood latch spring is installed backwards in this photo and should be installed as in the photo above."

p.35 Second column, 15 lines from bottom. The sentence beginning "The stay wire..." should read: "The stay wire passed through a small (about 1/16-inch) hole in the valve cover at the side of the filler opening, and was retained by soldering to the inside of the valve cover." Delete the reference to crimping with a sleeve.

p.35 Center column, 3 lines from bottom. The sentence should read "...and had a badge, with Healey wings in red cloisonné with nickel lettering, riveted...." The lettering was nickel rather than chrome.

p.37 Caption to photo at top left-center. The last sentence should read: "This is also a good view of the oil pressure flex-line at left, with the 'Smiths Petro-Flex' logo band around it."

p.38 First column, 21 lines from bottom. Sentence should read: "Two clamps, wrapped around and soldered to the return pipe, were fastened to the intake manifolds..." Add to end of same paragraph: "The pipe was hand-painted dull silver over black paint.

p.43 Second column, under "Doors and Door Latches." The second paragraph should be replaced with one reading: "Up to body 5001 the doors were fastened to the scuttle structure with two large, heavy aluminum hinges that fastened to the hinge pillar using slotted, countersunk, BSF flat-head screws. Sometime in late 1953 or early 1954 the screws were changed to Phillips, countersunk, UNF. From B. 5001 on, the hinges were steel with the same Phillips screws, with a different part number."

p.56 Center column, line 7. Delete the words "leather and vinyl."

p.58 first column, last line, should read: "A nickel-plated brass zipper ran down the middle from the dashboard to the backs of the front seats."

p.60 Left column, long paragraph on jacks. Add to the end of the sentence that begins "The second-style Shelley jack..." the words "...and was marked with "LJ23" and "54" on jacks manufactured in 1954, and found in cars manufactured as late as January 1955. Jacks manufactured in 1955 were marked "LJ23" and "55" and have been found in cars built as early as February of 1955."

p.61 Photo at bottom left. The caption should be changed to read "The Shelley LJ21 series jack (left) was included in tool kits from 1956 through 1960. A very similar, but slightly shorter, King Dick B1881 jack (right) has been found in some 3000s built in 1960. The handles for both jacks are almost identical."

p. 67 Photo. - Caption should be expanded to read: "The 100-Six was introduced in 1956 in the BN4 body style shown here. The grille was changed, a hood vent and outside door handles were added, the tonneau area was changed to include two occasional rear seats, and the windshield was changed to a fixed, non-folding design."

p.72 Column 3 The first phrase of the sentence beginning on line 14 should read: "Though the parts list specified that hex-head screws were used for upper fasteners, ... ."

p.72 Column 3 The sentence beginning on line 23 with the words "On the two-seaters..." should be replaced with a sentence reading: "On the two-seat roadsters, both upper and lower screws and washers were visible until some point in Mark II production, when the upper fasteners were replaced by bolts extending from outside the fender well into captive nuts welded to the inner fender panel and covered by the trim (as shown on page 117)."

p.72 Second picture. Add to caption after "...that held the leaves together." "Brackets, spacers and screws should have been painted black."

p.73. Restorer's Tip: end of last sentence should read "...at least one manufacturer."

p. 77. Last column. Sentence should read: "The chassis harnesses were changed with the BN4 having a diagonal white tracer and the BN6 having a diagonal yellow tracer."

p.86 First column, third paragraph, first sentence should read "The vacuum advance line was made of 1/8-inch steel tubing that was painted...."

p.89 Table 3.2 for "Colorado Red" and "Colorado Red/Black" exteriors, note that the black interior with red piping has been observed on a few original cars, but is not listed in available factory documentation.

p.89 Table 3.2 for "Black/Colorado Red" exterior, carpet color should be "Red" instead of "Black."

p.104 Second column. First full paragraph. Should read "...Next was the speedometer, with a number on its face indicating its ratio, and which included a mileage meter, resettable odometer, and the red high-beam warning light. ...On the right was the tachometer, with a number on the face indicating the ratio and which incorporated the red "ignition" (discharging) warning light."

p.151 Add to bottom photo caption: "The brake servo unit shown in this photo is a replacement one made by Lockheed and is not the Girling servo installed originally."

p.154 third column, line 6. Should read "...was attached with a short twisted stay..."

p.156 First column, third paragraph. First sentence should be revised to read "...on the distributor to the rear carburetor was made of 1/8-inch steel tubing."

p. 160 Table 4.2 - For BJ8s with Black or Black/Colorado Red exteriors, carpet was "Black or Red"

p. 166 Top photo. The caption should read: "The interior of the BJ7 was similar to that of the BT7s that preceded it, though the tonneau area was changed to accommodate the folding top. The piping would have been in a contrasting color, rather than the matching color used on this car."

p.167 First paragraph under "Underdash Area" subheading. First sentence should read: "The dimmer switch for the headlamps was mounted, using 10-32 panhead screws, within a U-shaped bracket painted black which, in turn, was attached over the carpet to the floor of the foot box using 1/4-28 Pozidriv panhead screws."

p. 168 Third column, "Underdash area" the first sentence should read: "...through the carpets with two 1/4-28 Pozidriv screws."

p. 172 Photograph upper left corner. Caption should read: "The trim panel was simplified on the BJ8s, and was held in place by metal push-in clips on the reverse of the panel."

p.172 Second column, fifth line under "Tonneau Area" Sentence should read "The seat pans were covered with vinyl..."

p. 184 Under "Codes and Markings" the first sentence should read: "The Service Parts List is a good source for details on what types of screws, bolts...since the parts numbers in the Parts List specify exactly what..."

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Additional Info

Following is additional which has become available since the book was written. This information may be incorporated in a second edition of the book if and when one is published.

p.16 last line and p.17 first line. Delete the words "BN4s were produced at both plants simultaneously, while engine and interior changes were made." The next sentence should read: "BN4s produced after November 1958, when the new engine was first installed on some cars at the Longbridge plantt, and C/E 68960, when the last interior revisions were implemented at Abingdon, are found today with a variety of different combinations of body panels, engines, and interior trim characteristics."

p.23 Illustration. Caption should read: "The number plate installed on early BN1s, as illustrated in the Service Parts List. It was 3 3/16 inches wide by 1 15/16 inches high, with slightly rounded corners. It was made of off-white plastic, with heat-stamped black lettering, and was mounted on the outside panel in the driver's foot well.

p.23 Additional information about chassis numbers: When the unified chassis/engine system was adopted, it appears from study of production records that the chassis number was assigned to match the number on the engine that was going into a particular body at the time that body was built into a finished car. As a result, though body numbers are in general sequence in production records, chassis numbers may be quite out of sequence. For example, bodies 9810 - 9830 were all built into cars during July 1955 (with three exceptions that were built up a few weeks later in August 1955), and the chassis/engine numbers on these cars were in the series 227xyz. However, chassis/engine no. 223867 was also built up during this period in July, on body 9820, indicating that the engine, which should have been installed in a car in January or February 1955 (based when other 223xyz cars were finished), had been held back for some reason and not used until July. There are a number of out-of-sequence engine/chassis numbers of this sort, but body numbers generally are found to have been built up within a week or two of their adjacent ones. One result of this sequencing is that change points listed by chassis/engine number may not be accurate for a specific car.

p.23 Second column, second line from the bottom: Sentence beginning "The number was..." and following sentence in parentheses should be replaced by the following: "The new unified chassis/engine number was shown stamped on a metal plate with oval ends that initially was attached to the foot box panel where the plastic plate had been located. By February 1955 this plate had been moved to the engine compartment, mounted on the right side of the firewall next to the voltage regulator."

p.26 Add to end of third paragraph in first column: "The rear shocks on 100s have often been found painted black, though a few instances have been reported of original cars having rear shocks with unpainted bodies and black-painted arms. These units were not primed, so paint often flaked off over time, making it difficult to be sure what the finish was when new."

p. 30 Photo -- The caption should read: "From September, 1954, this style of number plate, with unified engine and body number, replaced the earlier plastic number plate. It was installed in the driver foot well through at least January of 1955, after which it was mounted on the firewall to the right of the regulator. Note also the regulator with its warning label and the installation of the temperature capillary tube."

p.33 third column -- Replace first paragraph with one reading: "The ducts on the early Hundreds were made of a black "oilcloth"-style canvas material supported by a loose wire coil, as found on many other British cars of the period. When the duct was installed, the loops were approximately 1/2 inch apart. That type of ducting also has been found on at least one 1956 car prepared for an automobile show. At some point early in BN1 production, that type of ducting was replaced by ducting made of laminated, corrugated paper, black on the outside and tan on the inside. Paper-foil laminate ducting, available today, is fairly close in appearance. "

p.39 Photo at top left. Add to caption: "Steel tubes were brazed to the banjo fittings on the float bowls and passed through special grommets into the cold air box."

p.41 Table 2-1, second entry for Carmine Red. Soft top should be: "black or red. " Also, delete the note: "Maybe also red"

p.46 First column, second paragraph. - Added information: A gray pliable paste-like substance has been found as a sealer behind the headlight gasket and between the front fender and shroud. This same caulking has also been found under the windshield post gasket to help seal water from draining into the car.

p.50 Under the subheading "Underdash Area" - Add the following information: "The BN1 wiper motor was mounted to a shelf welded to the scuttle structure using two studs, a rubber pad, and two rubber shouldered washers with large metal washers. This motor was not of the self-parking type, and the driver had to turn it off when the wipers were in an appropriate position on the windscreen. With the BN2, the shelf to which the motor mounted was relocated down a bit, the motor incorporated a self-parking feature, and it was mounted to the shelf using three studs, rubber grommets, and metal washers."

p.52 Last paragraph before "Transmission Cover and Drive Shaft Tunnel" subheading. -Add the following sentence. "The panel on the left side was slightly shorter on BN2s to clear the relocated wiper motor shelf position."

p.52 second column, line 9. - Insert sentence reading "The gear lever was shortened by two inches at c.228487 in September, 1955. This style was carried forward into the six-cylinder cars."

p. 61, third column 9 lines from bottom. - Sentence beginning "This leather hammer..." should be replaced by the following: "At C. 159257 a lead hammer replaced the hide one; however there is some uncertainty as to exactly what it looked like. Only one example has surfaced with a history to suggest that it may be original, and this is shown in the accompanying photo. Since these hammers used a soft lead, it is likely that they did not survive for many years of use and the probability high that they were discarded. However, It is believed that they were included over a period of some nine months or more, and thus some 2-3000 might have been delivered as part of the 100 tool kits from 1954 through September 1955." To verify the style or styles of lead hammer that may have been used, we would appreciate any information from anyone who has a lead hammer they believe was originally supplied with a BN1.

p. 75 "Restorers Tip." Insert the word "Radiator" at the beginning of the first sentence.

p. 76 Top photo. Second sentence of caption should read: "Note the wiring harness clip below the tachometer cable at the left of the picture."

p.92 line 9 Add the following after line 19: "Cars produced between April and June of 1959, with car numbers up to 400, may have had the 100-6 flash mounted on the front grille instead of the 3000 flash. Also, based on observation of several unrestored cars within the first thousand 3000s produced, it appears that the 3000 flash was not added to the trunk lid until at least May of 1959. If there is no evidence of holes drilled for the emblem in the trunk lid, and the number stamped on the prop rod bracket matches the number stamped on the hood release shelf in the engine compartment, then the trunk lid is original and didn't have the emblem mounted when the car was produced."

p.111 - Top photo should be rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise for easier interpretation. Add to caption: "The dark band is the inner metal skin of the door, which was usually hand-painted to match the trim on cars with trim contrasting to the body color."

p.166 - Top photo: Add to caption: "On original cars, seat upholstery was not stuffed as much as on this restored car and usually had some slackness in the seat area."

p. 184 Under "Codes and Markings" Add after first sentence: "The most comprehensive source for information, and the one used to compile this appendix, is the Austin Service Journal, Volume 25 - Cars, "Repairs Data" p. 23 which gives detailed descriptions of UNF fasteners along with drawings and dimensional specifications."

p. 191 Index: The index is divided into four sections: a general section, then sections headed "Healey Hundreds" (starting midway down column 1 on p 191), "six-cylinder roadsters" (starting at the bottom of column 4 on p 191), and "sports convertibles" (starting near the top of column 3 on p. 192). Each section shows the various components for one model. To make finding topics easier, readers may wish to underline the heading at the beginning of each section.

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