Hello from new member!

[BadgerInSpace]

Hi everyone, thought I'd drop in & introduce myself!
I'm Howard & have recently acquired a 1974 MK1 Jensen Healey. Some of you may have seen the car advertised on an internet auction site? I've included a couple of photos.
The day before the auction was due to end, I noticed there were no bids so I made a 'cheeky offer' to the seller which was accepted!
The car has one previous owner & has covered 42K miles. It comes with bags of history & provenance, soft & hard tops, tonneau cover & a load of parts & panels. Floor, inner panels, bulkhead etc. are all rock solid! The car is pretty much complete & even came with......a towbar!
The car has been dry stored since 1982.
I'm now in the process of assessing the car & up to now it all seems very promising. The only issue (which I was aware of) is that the engine is seized. The camshafts & followers are in great condition & I've just removed the head which also seems fine. I've been soaking the bores for a couple of weeks with penetrating oil but with no joy!
I intend to keep a record of the restoration & will keep you updated as to progress.
I've joined the JOC which seems a very friendly club with lots of information & advice......which I'm sure I'll need!!!

Bye for now, Howard

[Chris_R]

Hello and welcome to the club and to the forum.
There is plenty of expertise around and it's good to see another Healey being worked on. They are much underrated cars (says an Interceptor owner!).
An appropriate T-shirt!

[ChrisP]

Hi Chris
have fun with the car, I have been working on my restoration for a few years and am loving it.
Its a good club lots of very helpful people.
incidentally your hard top intrigues it is different to mine but yours looks like it fits better
is it a works or aftermarket.
If its Sadleworth just outside of Oldham its a beautiful corner of the country
Nice tee shirt
chris

[johnw]

It sounds like a great project! The interior looks like it is complete and will clean up well! I don't know the JH engine at all well, but I am thinking the liners could be removed with the pistons in, one by one, and then the seized ones put in the oven and worked on individually after warming them up! Hopefully someone with real experience will be along with some proper advice!

[kees]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Jensen-Healey.
Looks like a rather sound body.
Be careful with the rubber mats. They tear easily and are not that easy to get. Reinforce tears with some backing material as need be.
Remove the engine by lifting the body from the front suspension. It make things a lot easier.
Soak the bores with a 50/50 mix of automatic transmission fluid and acetone for a day or two and gently tap the pistons using a large block of wood and a rubber hammer while keeping some torque on the crankshaft. This may break the bond. If not successful it will mean removing the crankshaft and repeat the process or remove pistons together with the liners. You would be wise to remove the crankshaft anyway for inspection and renewal of the bearing shells and various seals.
If the MkI engine is still present (no oil filler cap on the inlet valve cover, rope seal on rear of crankshaft, smooth oil sump)) it may be wise to look around for an MkII engine (fitted from late MkI cars), which has many improvements compared to the MkI.
It is likely that there is corrosion between cylinder wall and pistons/rings. If so new liners and pistons will probably have to be fitted. These are easily sourced through e.g. Lotus bits or the Shirley Brothers, you can even fit high compression pistons.
A slight rebore is possible but it may be hard to find pistons as over sized items were never available. I have heard stories of some 16V Mercedes or Opel cars using suitable pistons, but it would need careful investigation.
Kees Oudesluijs

[kees]

Hi Chris
have fun with the car, I have been working on my restoration for a few years and am loving it.
Its a good club lots of very helpful people.
incidentally your hard top intrigues it is different to mine but yours looks like it fits better
is it a works or aftermarket.
If its Sadleworth just outside of Oldham its a beautiful corner of the country
Nice tee shirt
chris

This is the Lenham hardtop. It also should have a heated rear screen. The screen is most likely sourced from a popular UK car from the same period.
It may be possible to get the top to fit a bit better than the original top, but it will be marginal. I both have the original and the Lenham. Both leave a gap between the rear edge of the top and the rear deck panel, although that can be easier to fix with the Lenham top. Also the sealing of the door glass is easier to sort I think.
Kees Oudesluijs

[BadgerInSpace]

Hi Chris
have fun with the car, I have been working on my restoration for a few years and am loving it.
Its a good club lots of very helpful people.
incidentally your hard top intrigues it is different to mine but yours looks like it fits better
is it a works or aftermarket.
If its Sadleworth just outside of Oldham its a beautiful corner of the country
Nice tee shirt
chris

Hi Chris, thanks.....yes I'm really looking forward to the restoration! Regarding the hardtop......I'm honestly not sure yet but Kees seems to know all about it & has explained in his reply. Yes, it does have a heated rear screen.
Yes, Saddleworth just outside Oldham!
Cheers, Howard

[BadgerInSpace]

It sounds like a great project! The interior looks like it is complete and will clean up well! I don't know the JH engine at all well, but I am thinking the liners could be removed with the pistons in, one by one, and then the seized ones put in the oven and worked on individually after warming them up! Hopefully someone with real experience will be along with some proper advice!

Thanks John yes, I'm hopeful the interior will clean up OK. I was thinking of removing the bearing caps & tapping the pistons up. The oven thing......It'll have to be when my better half is out! I once put an inlet manifold in the dishwasher......it came up great but took about 6 cycles to clear the dishwasher of the oily residue finished just before my wife returned!!!!!!!

[Clive Bishop]

You will find a lot of information in the Jensen Healey section of the forum here with expertise on different things coming in from all over the world.

Best of luck with the car, have one just like that to start work on

[BadgerInSpace]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Jensen-Healey.
Looks like a rather sound body.
Be careful with the rubber mats. They tear easily and are not that easy to get. Reinforce tears with some backing material as need be.
Remove the engine by lifting the body from the front suspension. It make things a lot easier.
Soak the bores with a 50/50 mix of automatic transmission fluid and acetone for a day or two and gently tap the pistons using a large block of wood and a rubber hammer while keeping some torque on the crankshaft. This may break the bond. If not successful it will mean removing the crankshaft and repeat the process or remove pistons together with the liners. You would be wise to remove the crankshaft anyway for inspection and renewal of the bearing shells and various seals.
If the MkI engine is still present (no oil filler cap on the inlet valve cover, rope seal on rear of crankshaft, smooth oil sump)) it may be wise to look around for an MkII engine (fitted from late MkI cars), which has many improvements compared to the MkI.
It is likely that there is corrosion between cylinder wall and pistons/rings. If so new liners and pistons will probably have to be fitted. These are easily sourced through e.g. Lotus bits or the Shirley Brothers, you can even fit high compression pistons.
A slight rebore is possible but it may be hard to find pistons as over sized items were never available. I have heard stories of some 16V Mercedes or Opel cars using suitable pistons, but it would need careful investigation.
Kees Oudesluijs

Thanks Kees, yes I'll be very careful with the mats! I've hit the bores with the solution you suggested so will give it a couple of days & see how it goes. Yes, it IS a MK1 engine. Realise the MK2 is a better unit, it's just with low mileage & matching numbers part of me likes the idea of the original engine?
Thanks again for your advice!

Howard

[SRS2000]

Hi Howard Welcome to the world of Jensen Motor Cars, we have a very active group in the North West. Dave Manock is the area rep, you might want to meet up when restrictions allow. Looks like you will have your hands full with the resto, I'm currently working on a MK1 INT Cheers and Regards Steve R

[Peter Heywood]

Question for everyone.
As aluminum expands more than iron, would heating the piston-liner assembly not worsen the seize?
Howard
Talking to Martin Shirley and thinking about a mk2 engine is good advice . Have the block and head serial numbers handy. Perhaps check you haven't a MK2 engine already.
Pete

[Wolfgang]

if you do it the first time please get assisted by somebody experienced doing it together with you. Getting the pistons and cylinder warmed by a heat gun is always good, do it in intervals and in between measuring the temperature (surface temperature max 200 degrees centigrade). Using WD40 or a combination out of coolant/acid/oil is always helpful. May be also that the crankshaft bearings are rusty - so try to get the crankshaft turned gently manually. Quite for sure you need new piston rings and maybe the cylinders have to be honed. Check the crankshaft/camshaft and the bearings if there are scratches, all gaskets have to be renewed. The same with the head, valves, valve seats, in principle every part which is in motion during operation. Get the valves grinded in.
Check the heads if they're not broken.
Put it together, flush all the channels, measure the compression (if it's more than 8,5+ it's more than o.k.) in every cylinder - should be plus/minus the same.
There are a lot of details I didn't mention -otherwise the message will be 5 pages minimum...
If it runs afterwards you'll be the proudest man of the world at this instant

Good luck and welcome to the V8-club
Wolfgang

[kees]

The most difficult job will be the adjusting of the valve clearances. The first time it will take a few days and possibly doing the job twice or. You will need to be a skilled and very precise book keeper!!

[johnw]

Question for everyone.
As aluminum expands more than iron, would heating the piston-liner assembly not worsen the seize?
Howard
Talking to Martin Shirley and thinking about a mk2 engine is good advice . Have the block and head serial numbers handy. Perhaps check you haven't a MK2 engine already.
Pete

If the pistons are seized, the idea is to get as much moving as possible, heating the liner up will cause differential expansion, some movement of some sort, and should hopefully weaken the grip between the corrosion between the piston and the bore. I would put them through a few cycles of heating and cooling as a first step. The oils etc should then be able to penetrate a bit more easily. If the rings are seized to the bore, then heating will be less effective, but it might still cause some localised disturbance. Heating a seized nut and bolt red hot and letting them cool often the nut comes right off after.

I would not immediately write off any engine components. You need to measure and examine each part, see where in the bore a seize happened, at the bottom of the stroke is not so critical, etc. If it is an early car and has an early engine, then that to me is brilliant. I would keep it like that if possible.

I have a few seized engines I am freeing off. One had diesel in the bore which did nothing, I am now trying ATF, and intend to use hardwood to protect the pistons and a hydraulic press once things have soaked for a few months.