Healey 3000 BJ8 1966. Was fully restored by leading Healey specialist, Orchard Restorations, in 2005/ 7 with itemised and detailed paperwork showing scope of works undertaken, with mainly summer classic car tour use since then. Schedule of Works:
Body: New chassis frame, New aluminium bonnet and boot lid, 2 x new rear wings, 2 x 'works style' front wings, 2 x new doorskins, nearside 'works style' wing hatch for carbs access, 'Works style' hard top, Then a bare metal repaint in original Colorado Red with White Roof. All chromework/ renewed or rechromed. All rubber seals renewed.
Suspension: Front and back all either overhauled or renewed. New shock absorbers fitted all round. New springs to rear.
Steering: New steering box and all joints renewed
Brakes: Converted to twin circuit with new callipers and entire system overhauled or renewed, new servo and all new pipes and hoses.
Engine: Converted to 3. 5 litre by Orchard Restorations using new billet crank and rods, now circa 220bhp and circa 230 ft lbs torque (printout available for recent rolling road tune). Alloy gas-flowed cylinder head, 6 branch exhaust manifold Steel "Dennis Welch" flywheel and new uprated clutch assembly, twin ignition systems for failsafe use, triple carbs with bespoke heated inlet manifold, high capacity radiator, high torque starter motor, hi output alternator and remote easy access oil filter, alloy rocker box. All moving internal engine parts inc flywheel and clutch assy then professionally balanced.
Gearbox: Stripped and rebuilt by Hardy Engineering and fitted with new close ratio Tulip Gear cluster. Overdrive unit stripped and rebuilt by Hardy Engineering and upgraded to competition spec ie instant in or out.
Rear axle: New Hardy Engineering 3. 54 diff fitted.
Ancillaries: New hi capacity fuel tank with all new fuel lines. Twin fuel pumps fitted with switch over fitted on dash. Fuel pressure regulator fitted. Filter King inline fuel filter fitted. Bespoke larger bore exhaust system. Heat shielding fitted to entire passenger floor area and bulkhead. New soft top fitted. 5 Minilite Works style road wheels fitted.
Interior: Currently fitted with standard seats but 2 x high quality high backed seats included with sale (were fitted with roll bar and hard top). Branz trip meter fitted with very neat reset button built into centre console by gear lever. Thro-flow fresh air vents fitted in centre of dash together with new modern, more efficient heater. Electronic, accurate fuel gauge fitted.
Included in the sale: 'Works style' hard top, 2 x nearly new high backed bucket seats, bespoke roll bar with modern inertia seatbelts fitted, 4 x splined hubs to convert to wire wheels, 3. 9 diff and boxes of spares, trim and body parts.
Currently fitted with soft top but for most of her recent life she wore the white Works Style hard top, high back seats with integral inertia seatbelts, and roll bar - very easy to convert back if required.
She is very easy and docile to drive with an amazing amount of in gear low down torque. Pulls happily from 1000rpm even in overdrive top. Very relaxing at speed with the 3. 54 diff fitted. Still in absolutely stunning overall condition. The paintwork is just perfect which is testament to the standards worked to in her restoration. There is a very interesting story behind her, please phone to discuss and hear the complete history of this lovely car.
She has formed part of my private collection for a while now but it is time for her and a number of other of my lovely cars to move on to new owners/ custodians. Please be mindful that to convert a car to this standard and specification today would probably leave very little change from twice the asking price. And for clarity she has never been driven in anger nor ever been used competitively. If you are interested in discussing further then a phone call is best please, as i do not monitor my computer messages that regularly.
This is a very special car. i have been fortunate to have been associated with her since 2004, before my purchase some years later. An enormous amount of time, effort, money and ingenuity has been put into her by an extremely talented engineer, and used mainly for organised classic car tours both here and in Europe with his wife. This is very much a one off. I doubt very much whether you will find another one available to this standard and specification. Please phone for an informal chat and to learn everything about this wonderful car.
