Healey Sports Cars

Greetings from Iowa,

I have a 1959 BN4 100-6 and have decided to restore the car and install a V8---my dream project. It is fairly rust free and I have disassembled the entire car and it is on a dolly getting soda blasted and the dents popped out. There are a couple rust holes on the dog legs of the fenders and that is it. I am selling my tranny, clutch, radiator and overhauled 6 port head Healey engine--all in excellent shape.
I bought an all aluminum LS 5.7 V8 and 4L60-E tranny from a 2000 camaro with 70,000 miles and will have the engine freshened, blasted and clear coated.
I am keeping my Healey rear end and installing 3.54 gears and a Quaife limited slip.
I need advice on the front brakes--I want to convert to discs, and I can buy 3000 series brackets for $300 from another Healey owner, and the hub and spindles from Moss motors. Is this the best route to go?
Where should I buy the headers? The camaro engine comes with aftermarket stainless steel headers that hug fairly tight--I have yet to see the headers in person. I see some folks have used Hedman headers and others have cut and rewelded the headers that came with the V8. Will I have to cut or notch any parts of the Healey frame to fit the headers?
I know the foot boxes will need trimmed. I see most people trim 1.5"-2" on each side. Is this typical?
I should be able to make engine mounts that bolt to the stock healey engine mounts. Correct?
I want it to be cooled correctly, even idling in a parade. Was planning on using a 4 core aluminum radiator with an electric fan. Maybe move the x brace forward. Any advice on the radiator? I know it will also need to clear the steering.
I am very excited about the project and hope to post pictures as it goes together and will plan to be finished by April.
Chris.

Welcome to BritishV8! It sounds like you're well on your way.

I don't have any personal experience with big Healeys, but I can give you a general tip about message boards: when you have a whole bunch of questions, it's usually best to spread them over multiple threads.

All your fitment questions will be answered once you get the engine and try to lower it into the engine compartment. When making room for the engine remember that you have to work on it as well so be sure to allow for enough room.

Any opinions on which radiator company to use? I am looking for advice on the cooling. Probably needs a 4 core aluminum radiator with electric fan. Would the engine cooling be helped with an added oil cooler? Thanks.

Is there any way to fit a radiator with more frontal area? Additional area is vastly preferable to thicker core. The air is heated as it passes through each successive row of tubes so by the time it reaches the last row, it is too hot to do much cooling. The added thickness also restricts airflow further reducing the ability to cool.

I enjoyed working with AFCO. Rather than buying an entirely custom radiator, I picked a popular size and just special-ordered different ports than standard. Very cost effective, and top quality! I chose a dual-pass radiator - where both ports appear to be on the same end but where there's a baffle welded inside the tank so coolant crosses half of the core and then comes back across the other half. Dual-pass radiators provide extra cooling effect without adding the thickness/weight/obstruction of a fourth row. Chose a radiator that doesn't have a pressure cap and instead use a pressurized header tank, mounted higher than the radiator and engine.

Very, very few cars on this website use oil coolers. I think a simpler and better strategy is to focus on airflow. Keeping the radiator thin will help you find room to package a bigger electric fan and a really good fan shroud. Use the forum's search feature (top right corner of the page) to find lots of discussion of fans. (Apparently I'm not alone in preferring junkyard fans over aftermarket fans.) People have discussed various models. You'll also want a shield or ducting so no air bypasses your radiator core.

Quote:

Very, very few cars on this website use oil coolers.

Curtis,

This is probably isn't a very common situation for most people but it was interesting during the track day at the Omaha V8 meet that several cars seemed to be experiencing the symptoms of hot oil where their oil pressure started dropping. I can think of at least 3 that experienced this, one was an LS motor. I'm seriously considering adding an oil cooler at some point because of this. It would be interesting to hear the thoughts from some of the guys who when through it.

I'm with you Curtis, OEM fans are the way to go. I have a Taurus on my car only because I didn't have enough height to fit a Mk VIII Lincoln fan. The Lincoln is almost 19" diameter and will move 4500 cfm. It does require some heavy wiring and relay, use minimum 10 ga wire and a 70 amp relay as they draw a lot of current. Google them and there is a lot of information available.

Hi Jim. If you are drawing in 4500 cfm have you made special provision to allow the air to get carried away or does it just go down under the car?Tim

I'm not using the Lincoln fan, I have a Taurus fan but it still draws a lot more than the aftermarket fans do. You do need to provide an escape route for the air either through the wheel wells, under the car or out through the top od the hood. Air flows from high pressure to low so you need to locate the areas of low pressure on the car and open up a path for the air to get to them.

Another thing to consider is what vehicle speed does to your airflow. For instance, a hood raised in the hinge area slightly is no help at speed and could hurt but at idle in traffic it is a very effective way to get hot air out from under the hood. Whether or not to use it depends on when you need it.

Jim

I am planning on adding the oil cooler and the plan is to place it under the radiator. There are belt driven fans off electric motors that I am exploring. I will install a dual pass aluminum radiator.

I will not be cutting any vents in the hood or fenders. Want to keep the car exterior stock. The 100-6 will look stock from the outside. I will see if there are any other areas for the airflow to escape, but with the small size of the OHV V8, there should be plenty of escape underneath the car.

I wonder if I will need to move the oil filter to a remote location so I can access it easily. We will see once we dry fit the engine. The LS1 is arriving today and will be refreshened and I am using Painless Wiring to hook it up.

I am keeping the stock healey rear end and changing the rear gear to 3.54 and adding the quaife limited slip rear. Also will eventually change the 60 spokes to 72. Tires are 165 and may go to Michelin 195/70/15.

Car is being soda-blasted this week and will keep everyone updated. Thanks for all the advice.

Louvers in your fender wells should help as well. It's a low pressure area when moving. I used louvers from old school lockers and welded them in place.

Vents in the wheels wells---didn't think about that. Thanks.

Now I am trying to figure out where to buy the conversion kit for the front disc brakes.

One of my friends with a HiPo 289 in his Healey had these guys custom build an aluminum radiator for him and is quite happy with it: [www.wizardcooling.com]

THanks. That link for the aluminum radiator is what I am looking for.

I am really at a standstill for the disc brake conversion. Denis Welch has a conversion kit with brackets and hubs for about $900 american dollars plus shipping from England. Are there any other ways to convert to front discs without spending a fortune? THe two issues would be finding the correct hubs and the brackets.

Try contacting these places and see if they have some used disc brake setups: [www.britishcarspecialists.com] [www.healeysurgeons.com] and Hemphill's Healey Haven, Address: 4-B Winters Lane. Baltimore, MD. 21228. Phone: 410 788 2291. . E-mail: bighealey@msn.com (he was selling a bunch of stuff on eBay. don't know if his shop is still open)

Thanks. I will try these on Friday. It appears the hubs and brackets are the hardest items to locate.

I see they are selling 50 copies of the AC Cobra. Love the polished aluminum bodies for sale.

Happy New Years and thanks for the advice.

Chris

Update on my LS swap. I am having the wiring harness modified to shut off the two anti theft features from the LS motor. Shutting off the cat o2 sensor and setting it up to run a new fuel pump and electric cooling fan at 185 degrees. Car has been blasted and there are rust pinholes in the doglegs of each quarter panel, the bottom of the doors, a few in the rear trunk floor and the door frame where the hinges bolt to the car. We should have the patch panels welded in and primed in the next 2 wks and will then be dry fitting the engine and new Aluminum radiator. I am sure we will be trimming the foot boxes but hopefully not by much-need space for those size 12 shoes! Still working on the front disc brake conversion. Have a new insert for the Healey rear end--bought a 3.54 rear gear with Quaife limited slip and new seals. Finally, my steering box and idler arm box both leak oil so will have to figure out new seals for those.

Pics are appreciated, or better still start a project journal, here: [forum.britishv8.org] I don't recall seeing an LS swap in a Healey, you could be the first.