Used Parts
Archived Posts from this Category
AUSTIN HEALEY, MG & TRIUMPH PARTS SELL OFF
Posted by Michael on 16 May 2009 | Tagged as: Healey Stuff, Used Parts, New Parts
PARTS LISTS FOR
Austin Healey 100 - Austin Healey 100/6 & 3000
Austin Healey Sprite & MG Midget - MGA - MGB
Triumph TR2 - TR6 - Triumph Spitfire - Triumph TR7
Please read the fine print below.
As many readers of my posts will know Precision Sportscar, the company I started in 1979 and devoted 23 years to building up before selling in 2002, has folded.
It is rather sad to see something, to which I had dedicated so much of my life, go under in just six years, but that, I suppose, is the way of the world and so I’m now left with an empty building and substantial inventory of new and used British Sportscar parts to dispose of.
Clearing the 5000 sq. ft. building of 19 years worth of accumulated junk has been quite an undertaking. I managed to fill one 20 cu. yd. dumpster with garbage and another 16 cu. yd. one with scrap metal!! The floors took over a week to clean with a pressure washer and every inch of the walls had to be hand scrubbed 3 times with a stiff brush and strong detergent before the place was presentable. The whole job has taken 4 months but now it is ready to lease.
With that finished it is time to turn my attention to the inventory. Over the last 30 odd years an amazing array of parts for Austin Healeys, MGs and Triumphs has been accumulated but since I sold the business it has not been well maintained and I have decided that there is no option but to do a complete physical inventory of the 6000 odd part numbers.
As I have been working through it I have come across some very interesting and completely useless parts that have been languishing on the shelves, in some cases, for over 25 years.
This week I’ve thrown out a Hillman Husky clutch, several Austin Marina gearbox mounts, and countless parts that, despite many hours of searching through parts books and microfilms, neither I nor my various parts managers have been able to identify.
The inventory at Precision was originally established to support the service and restoration business. This has produced a collection which is somewhat different from that which a retail parts store would have.
We disassembled many rusted out British Sportscars over the years and were very careful to save anything that we felt could be of use some day. For this reason many of the parts that have been stocked are unavailable as reproductions because the demand for them is very low.
We were very careful to stock an absolute minimum of stuff which was readily available from the usual suppliers as these could be readily purchased at any time and it was not good for business to have thousands of dollars wrapped up in that type of inventory.
It is my intention to post listings of everything that is available in the hope that some of it will go to good homes.
Here is the plan.
It is rather sad to see something, to which I had dedicated so much of my life, go under in just six years, but that, I suppose, is the way of the world and so I’m now left with an empty building and substantial inventory of new and used British Sportscar parts to dispose of.
Clearing the 5000 sq. ft. building of 19 years worth of accumulated junk has been quite an undertaking. I managed to fill one 20 cu. yd. dumpster with garbage and another 16 cu. yd. one with scrap metal!! The floors took over a week to clean with a pressure washer and every inch of the walls had to be hand scrubbed 3 times with a stiff brush and strong detergent before the place was presentable. The whole job has taken 4 months but now it is ready to lease.
With that finished it is time to turn my attention to the inventory. Over the last 30 odd years an amazing array of parts for Austin Healeys, MGs and Triumphs has been accumulated but since I sold the business it has not been well maintained and I have decided that there is no option but to do a complete physical inventory of the 6000 odd part numbers.
As I have been working through it I have come across some very interesting and completely useless parts that have been languishing on the shelves, in some cases, for over 25 years.
This week I’ve thrown out a Hillman Husky clutch, several Austin Marina gearbox mounts, and countless parts that, despite many hours of searching through parts books and microfilms, neither I nor my various parts managers have been able to identify.
The inventory at Precision was originally established to support the service and restoration business. This has produced a collection which is somewhat different from that which a retail parts store would have.
We disassembled many rusted out British Sportscars over the years and were very careful to save anything that we felt could be of use some day. For this reason many of the parts that have been stocked are unavailable as reproductions because the demand for them is very low.
We were very careful to stock an absolute minimum of stuff which was readily available from the usual suppliers as these could be readily purchased at any time and it was not good for business to have thousands of dollars wrapped up in that type of inventory.
It is my intention to post listings of everything that is available in the hope that some of it will go to good homes.
Here is the plan.
The parts in these lists are all available at the time of posting, however as you will see the quantities are typically very small and they are sold on a first come first served basis.
If it isn’t on the list, I probably don’t have it although it may be worth looking through the list of unprocessed used parts in the link at the bottom of this post.
The inventory is arranged by section and I will be working my way through these sections over the next few months and will post the lists as the work is completed.
Working alone each item takes about 4 minutes on average to dust off, check, price and restock; with over 6000 part numbers I’m looking at about 400 hours of work. I start going cross eyed if I do more than 4 or so hours a day and I’m only able to do this in my spare time so it is going to take a while, be patient.
I will post a message on the Healey newsgroup as each list is posted
THE FINE PRINT
Not everything is new, although most is, but all the used parts are in a condition such that they are ready to be installed and used.
The prices are listed in the last column and should be very competitive.
ALL PRICES ARE IN $US.
The minimum order is $US100 before discounts.
I am offering the following discounts.
$200 - $500 of product 20% discount.
$500 - $1000 of product 30% discount on the complete order.
Over $1000 of product 40% discount on the complete order.
These totals are cumulative so if you have already ordered $500 worth of stuff from the earlier lists, remind me, and everything thereafter is 30% off unless you send a $1000 order after which everything is 40% off, however the $100 minimum still applies.
I’m also open to offers on the lot…
Shipping and handling is extra. (Handling is typically +20% of the shipping charge and covers the cost of picking the parts, packing them and delivering them to the post office).
I can only offer postal service for the present and I do not take charge cards.
I will accept Paypal payments but, I charge a 4% premium because of the outrageously poor exchange rates they offer.
US funds cheques will secure your order until they clear and money orders MUST be INTERNATIONAL MONEY ORDERS, domestic US money orders cannot be cashed in Canada.
HERE ARE THE PARTS LISTS(They are in Excel Format)
AUSTIN HEALEY SPRITE & MG MIDGET
Gearbox Parts
Gearbox Parts
Gearbox Parts
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I think I have to Sell Some Cars
Posted by Michael on 28 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: Classic Rallying, Healey Stuff, Used Parts
I hesitate to say this, but I think the time has come where I have to admit that I have more projects than I’m ever going to finish and more cars than I’m ever going to drive. I always dreamed of having a decent sized shop at home where I would be able to work away on these projects and get them restored to the condition I wanted but circumstances have changed as, to an extent, have my interests. So, after some sleepless nights thinking about it I have decided to find new homes for some of my cars.
Over the last few years I have whittled things down to more manageable proportions; there was a time when I had about 12 projects either awaiting work or on the go but now some have been finished and some have been sold so that number has dwindled to five.
Now that I have made that decision I have to wrestle with which cars have to go.
First there are the two minis which have been in indoor heated storage for years. These two are the last of the 22 minis that I imported from New Zealand in the early days of this millennium.
This picture is proof positive that 8 minis will fit into one 40′ shipping container. You have to remove the wheels and build a fairly substantial trestle to support the top layer, but it can be done.
The whole exercise was prompted by the numerous inquiries that I received from customers of Precision Sportscar who were looking for minis to restore. Because minis in their day were the cheapest cars available in Canada they were all driven in the winter and as a result rotted away to the point where they were well beyond economical or safe repair. On the other hand however, cars in New Zealand never see salt and therefore rust is virtually unknown.
The two I have left are ones for which I had plans. One is an 1971 Mini Estate. I bought this one in Christchurch and it had been a competitor in a local fun event named the “Undie 500″.
The 1971 Mini Estate is very solid and an ideal candidate for restoration.
This picture was taken as I was preparing it for shipping From New Zealand.
These are somewhat rare in North America and my intention was to restore it as a Mini Traveller, the model which is affectionately known as a “Woody” like the one in this picture.
I don’t own this one sorry to say.
The problem with the original Mini Woodies is the wood. This timber, which is purely decorative, has a tendency to absorb water and rust the metal beneath it. The Estate is a Woody without the wood and the wood, which apparently is ash, is available as a kit. A great project that I’m just not going to get to.
The other mini is a regular 1978 sedan completely solid with a few minor battle scars but again a great starting point for an easy, inexpensive and fun restoration project.
I had great plans to turn this into a vintage racer but again it just isn’t going to happen.
Next on my list is my 1970 MGBGT. I always loved the BGT as a model; it was a brilliant design for its day and I have owned this one since 1975. That’s 33 years!! I’m the second owner and I haven’t used the car since about 1982 which is long before digital cameras so I don’t even have a picture of it but here is a site that describes the model. The car started life as a right hand drive with wire wheels and overdrive and was imported into Canada by a chap who immigrated from the UK. He traded it in on a Jaguar XJ6 at our local British Leyland dealer and I remember him calling me not long after I had bought it, when he was suffering from a bout of sellers remorse, and asked if he could buy it back. I converted it to left hand drive using all the correct components and drove it for several summers before I bought my first Healey.. just never seemed to get back to it.
Reluctantly I think my Bugeye Sprite race car has to go as well.
The Bugeye Racer at Mosport in the mid 80s
This car has a very interesting history. It is a 1960 model which was purchased new by Downton Engineering as a racing test car in which their sales manager Mr. Val Gardner competed until 1964 when it was purchased by the Ecurie Cantons de l’est Enrg. of Granby Quebec. After passing through the hands of Dr. Terry Conner, Kris Harrison, Tom Haubert and David Sarsby my brother Roger and I bought it in 1982 and we both raced it very successfully in VARAC for a few years.
This is a photo of Tom Haubert racing it at Mosport with a special fiberglass nose in the ’70s.
I’m also considering selling my 1992 Mitsubishi 3000 GT VR4. This model was never imported into Canada but this one has been legally imported and licensed.
I have really enjoyed this VR4 but Winter Storage Space has become a problem.
This has been my occasional summer driver for the last few years and, unlike most VR4s, is in remarkable original condition. From the time I read the first Road and Track road test of the VR4 I decided that one day I was going to get one for myself. This 320 BHP, twin turbo, intercooled, all wheel steering, all wheel drive grand touring coupe was, at the time, the fastest road car that they had ever run through their slalom test course and even today its performance is impressive. It now has over 100K miles on it and is fast, comfortable and reliable
How much you ask. Well I’m open to reasonable offers but they would have to be close to these. The $us prices were the the equivalent at the time of writing but should be taken a a guide only.
Mini Estate : $CDN8,500 ($US8000)
Mini Sedan : $CDN 4,800 SOLD
MGBGT : $CDN7,500 ($US7100)
Bugeye Racer : $CDN11,500 SOLD
Mitsubishi 3000 GT VR4 $CDN16,500 ($US15,600)
If you are interested in any of these please contact me.mailto:magicareprotect-usedparts@yahoo.ca
Heater Valves Part II
Posted by Michael on 29 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Healey Stuff, Used Parts
Does anyone recognize this heater valve. I have several of these, acquired with a pile of Smith’s stuff bought when they closed down their Toronto operation. They are brand new and I am loath to throw them out.
They look vaguely familar to me but I just cannot remember what car I’ve seen them on. Unfortunately there is no part number on them anywhere and the lettering on the body reads:”USE SPANNER AS NEAR THREAD AS POSSIBLE”.
Heater Valves
Posted by Michael on 02 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Rants, Used Parts
So Judy and I have decided that the time has come to sell the old homestead and move to the sticks. We have pretty well had it with the traffic and the way our neighborhood is changing. We are only about 150 meters from Yonge St in the middle of North York which is one of the suburbs of Toronto.
I just went out to the street and took these two photos of the signs on the first buildings I came upon. 
I must say I have a better understanding of why the French in Quebec have their “French Only” sign law although, I vehemently disagree with that. However…I digress….
As we have only ever owned one house and therefore never sold a house this is all a new experience.
The GMDS has commanded that the house has to be emptied out and all the junk disposed of so the house can be “staged” for sale. Of course by “all the junk” she really means all my stuff. Now I admit I do have a tendency to be a little bit of a “pack rat” but hey, when someone needs something I’ve probably got several, in various colours, in fact several in each colour but, if you need it, …….. I’ve got it.
This of course means I have to sort through all my “stuff” and I have a lot of pretty neat stuff.
For example I’ve got a little cannon that someone gave me which is actually a pencil sharpener; now I don’t actually use pencils any more but ….. well….it just to good to throw out.
I’ve got a tin whistle, 
I always wanted to learn to play the tin whistle, but ….well…..frankly I’ve got a tin ear and it doesn’t work with the tin whistle I guess.
I’ve got some old tobacco tins,
and a piece of Cherub MkIV log
, I’ll bet you don’t even know what a Cherub MkIV Log is… well you can find out here: I’ve got another piece of the log as well but I’m not quite sure where that is. My Dad was the commander of some mine sweepers around New Zealand during WWII and he scored this log when a Panamanian freighter tried to cut across their bows out in the Hauraki Gulf. I can’t throw that out!!
I’ve got a pivot pin from the clutch in AHX12, my good friend Ian mounted it on a block of wood and presented it to me because this little part cost us a class win on the 2003 Targa Newfoundland.
I’ve got a “KING OF THE ROAD” car lamp, in fact I have 2 of those 
and there is my Durant hub cap, 
and that phone jack adaptor that I meant to take to New Zealand this winter to give to my brother in law Ian who lives in Abingdon U.K. because I’m pretty sure it fits a U.K. phone jack…he must need it.
Did I mention the genuine NOS Wipac reverse lamp from a Mini 
or the wooden Yogi I bought on the beach for less than 1 cent on my first trip to Bali,
and then there is the spare battery for my first video camera. 
The camera is long gone so I suppose the battery should go too but …you see….. you aren’t meant to put them in the garbage so I haven’t quite figured out what you are meant to do with them.
And then of course there are the heater valves. ….. Oh yes; the heater valves…
These are genuine Smiths heater valves, I have about 3 dozen of them……but I’m not actually sure what they fit.
Fortunately I found a solution on where else…. eBay …yes, I found and bought an old Smiths catalogue which, I should mention, is so big it almost takes up more room than the heater valves, so that I can identify the heater valves, then sell them on eBay, and then sell the catalogue and be RICH!!!!
Well, one of the types of heater valves was in the catalogue and I actually sold the one I had; another was in there as well but, it only fits a Commer Cob II, if you don’t know what that is don’t worry, you aren’t alone, and there aren’t a lot of people out there restoring Commer Cobs, let alone the Mk II version which, by the way, uses a different heater valve from the MkI and the MkIII. Mind you I did find a picture of a Commer Cob in my Dumpty Book of Motors which is on my bookcase.
Whoooo …37 HP…I think I know why no one is restoring one!!!
Unfortunately the other types of heater valves, each of which I have about 30 weren’t in the book!!
Now all this stuff was just on one corner of my desk, and I’ve got the rest of my office, the store room, my workshop and the garage to clear out.
Better get on with it!!!! Fortunately it is only a single car garage…which is another reason why we are selling the house…
Tons of Used Parts …Chapter IV
Posted by Michael on 07 Dec 2007 | Tagged as: Healey Stuff, Used Parts
Well my efforts to dispose of the entire used parts inventory have not been successful. I had expressions of interest but when it came down to it they just didn’t work out.
As a result I have reluctantly decided to try to sell what I can through this blog.
As can be imagined organizing and describing the parts is very time consuming, and my storage arrangements are somewhat tenuous but, we just have to see how this works out.
One of the more difficult issues with used parts is figuring out a fair price. This is because different people have different interpretations of the value of such parts.
First you have the person who looks upon used parts the way they would view things at a garage sale or a flea market, and in some ways that is not unreasonable. The parts are used and it would be easy to imagine that I got them for very little and therefore they have little value.
At the other end of the spectrum is the true aficionado; this is someone who has seen what is available in reproduction parts and really appreciates originality. I guess I’m one of those.
For those in the first category please consider this. In order for these parts to get to where they now are all of the following had to occur.
The car from which they were removed had to be purchased and moved to our shop.
The car then had to be disassembled, this doesn’t mean ripped apart, it had to be carefully taken to pieces while being very careful to not damage the more useable parts. The people doing this work were not “casual labour”, I tried that and everything got destroyed, so the disassemblers were, for the most part, qualified mechanics.
The parts removed had to be cleaned and sorted into “keepers” and “chuckers” and we had to pay to have all the latter parts amd the carcasses dumped.
Storage trailers had to be purchased and positioned on valuable land.
Storage shelving had to be purchased and assembled inside the trailers.
Storage containers has to be purchased and then the “keepers” had to be sorted and stored in the trailers, some for as long as 20 years.
Now someone (me) has to photograph and document all the parts and put them up on the blog.
So, when I say that a used thingamajiggy is $55, it is all of the above that is being paid for and …..we tried our very best to do it on the cheap!!
So here are the rules:
1. The minimum value of an order is $CDN40. If you want something worth less think of something to add to it. To put it bluntly I’m not in this to waste my time searching out $2 parts that someone thinks are worth $0.50. I am 25 minutes drive from where the parts are stored so it is at least 1 ½ hours out of my day to search out an individual part.
2. Everything is sold as is and all sales are final. Ask me any questions you like and I will do my best to answer them. I know British parts pretty well and am usually aware of what is important but please ..ask.
3. Please try to be very specific about what you need. Include the make model and year of car and an accurate description of the part you need.
4. I will charge a packaging charge of $5.00 for articles under 2 kg and this can be as much as $150 for big things like major body panels and heavy bits, like engines.
5. I will ship all parcels of a size that they will accept via Canada Post I will get a cost for the postage and send this to you.
6. I would prefer that you make arrangements for the collection and shipping of larger items. I can arrange for this but I will charge a service charge of 20% of the shipping costs.
If you are interested in a particular part please contact me at mailto:magicareprotect-usedparts@yahoo.ca and be sure to include what you feel is a fair price for the part.
Say something like:
I’m interested in a Spitfire MkII cylinder head. The casting number on the head is 122322 and if you have one in good condition complete with valves and springs I will pay $100 for it.”
Additionally it would be VERY HELPFUL if you would use a brief description of what you need in the “Subject Line”
If you have no idea what the part should be worth let me know and I will try to figure out a fair price. I will try to make every effort to answer all enquiries but if you don’t hear back please try me again, I use a pretty aggressive spam filter and stuff gets lost.
Scott Morris has been good enough to re-arrange the list into a much easier format to search.. .. something for which I’m very grateful. You can download it here:
scott-morris-list-modified.xls
I will try to keep it up to date and add more pictures as I get the opportunity to take them. I will not be updating the list on my previous post.