“Cumulative Fatigue Failure for Dummies” I broke a crankshaft while racing my 100S and that experience always haunted me because original 100S engine blocks are extremely rare and I knew that I had been very lucky not to have destroyed mine with that “blow up”. Over the years I had encountered many cases of 100… Continue reading Austin Healey 100 Crank Failures.
Category: AHX12 A Very Special Healey
Building a 100R Race Engine
BUILDING A “100R” ENGINE When I bought AHS3903 it was always my intention to race it for at least a couple of seasons and, some 6 years after the purchase, I managed to get the car finished just in time for the 1990 Austin Healey Challenge. Some years earlier I had had the opportunity to… Continue reading Building a 100R Race Engine
Angled Springs
As the work on the conversion of AHX12’s rear suspension to coilovers proceeds I have been looking at other rear suspension systems for inspiration. One of the most interesting drawings that I have come across is that of the rear suspension used in the Lotus 33 F1 car of 1963. This state of… Continue reading Angled Springs
Revised Rear Suspension for AHX12
Any comments in the space provived below would be welcome. After fighting with the cart springs on the back of AHX12 and other Healey race cars for many years I have decided that the time has come to get this monkey off my back once and for all. The rules for the modified class for… Continue reading Revised Rear Suspension for AHX12
Wanna run a Targa Stage
If you have ever wondered what it is like to run a Targa Stage here is your chance. This is a picture of my buddy Dick Paterson’s very hot 1959 Mini “Betty” taken by Gordon Sleigh. You can see the rest of Gordons pictures at : http://pics.spoon.org/Cars/Targa2006/ The following is a video from the inside… Continue reading Wanna run a Targa Stage
Healey Handling Improvements
WHY CONSIDER IMPROVEMENTS Although I seem to have gained a reputation for being somewhat of a Healey modifier I still believe strongly that a standard Healey in good mechanical condition is a fine car to drive and preserve, and I only offer what follows in response to several enquiries that I have had on the… Continue reading Healey Handling Improvements
Maximum Useable R.P.M. (My Theory)
Those of you who have been paying attention will have noticed that in my previous post I lamented the fact that we were unable to get more than about 6000 r.p.m. out of AHX12’s engine. I’ve done a lot of reading on that subject since we did those dyno tests and now have a better… Continue reading Maximum Useable R.P.M. (My Theory)
Cam Issues
The cam we were using for the first run of AHX12 in 2002 and 2003 was designed and built especially for the engine by Dema Elgin of Elgin Cams. We had asked Dema to build us up another more aggressive cam because we felt the dyno results on the first one he supplied produced may… Continue reading Cam Issues
Why I’m Raising AHX12 and Fitting a Sump Guard
The roads in Newfoundland are somewhat rough; that is to say they are actually very rough. In the 2004 event the first turn of the Clarenville stage was a down hill right hander with a steep uphill exit. I was set up for the corner and braking hard when a huge bump, which was actually a… Continue reading Why I’m Raising AHX12 and Fitting a Sump Guard
More on Preparing AHX12 for TN ’07
I decided that I had better do some more checking on the root causes of the handling problems we experienced with AHX12 that I described in my previous post. I got out the old Alemite Portable Model 3064 Cross Sight Alignment System that I got from Aurora Cars way back in 1986. This is the front page… Continue reading More on Preparing AHX12 for TN ’07