Austin Healey 100/4 Base and clear coat prep (01)

[@EconoboxGarage]

Hello Hugh! I'm glad I found your channel as I'm just about to start the bodywork and painting process on my MK1 Sprite! Cheers, Ian.

[@ihealey458]

Hi Ian Thank you for getting in touch. I’m always interested in how others do their thing as well - I note with interest your bugeye project and will follow your progress as well. As one commentator said for these car projects its all ‘eye candy’ Stay well Hugh

[@richardwhatton1249]

Looks like you have created a great base to start the rebuild, that inner tub has to be one of the most difficult jobs to repair , well done indeed. Kind regards, Richard.

[@ihealey458]

Hi Richard - nice to hear from you. By inner tub I guess you are referring to the cockpit area. I see a number of videos where the rust is quite overwhelming but still they only cut away a little here and there. From what I've seen in a couple of actual cases is (including my original chassis) that once rust gets into the rail system the corrosion works from within where it can't be seen - this means the walls become quite thin with a reduction in wall thickness of 50-60%. So for my money it's the rail base section of the chassis that needs the most attention for the overall integrity of the car. Lifting the front and rear section from the base is not onerous if you have some skill and an angle grinder. It's only then that you can see what's really been happening. Cheers

[@richardwhatton1249]

@@ihealey458 I agree it is always those hidden areas that cause the most problem, kind regards, Richard.

[@JBFromOZ]

I would have loved to see how your chassis repairs went, the end result is awesome mate! have you considered creating a playlist so we can watch the series in order? cheers Marcus

[@ihealey458]

Hi Marcus I didn't repair the chassis - I made mine from scratch. The wheel arches, external panels & some odds and sods are the only things I kept. Also some panels came from Kilmartins. Started filming a little late in the project - hence the pics. Good idea about the play list - I'll get on to that. Take care Hugh

[@mikeholme2312]

Beautiful work Hugh! I am curious why there are no rocker panels on the car?

[@ihealey458]

Hi Mike - good question! In the early stages of putting the chassis together I had a lot of difficulty aligning the front end with the back end. I had no reference i.e. previous markers as the chassis was new and hand made plus the weighty engine which was in pieces could not be installed (in case there was a slight bending moment). My main issue here being precise door gaps etc. Knowing I still had some work to do with external panels especially doors which were in bad shape and now have been restored I felt it best to plug weld the rockers in later. It would not affect any of the internals heat wise as the are welded to the box section running fore and aft. It’ll soon be time to put these on as the car is almost ready to remove from the rotisserie. I feel quite a bit wiser now and still think 🤔 it was the right thing to do 😃. Thanks for the question Take care Hugh

[@mikeholme2312]

@@ihealey458 With your attention to detail I figured you had a good reason! I have just inherited a 1955 BN 1 which had a restoration started, so I am new to this beautiful car and enjoy your videos.

[@J917F]

Hello Hugh! I am currently building a rotisserie similar to yours for my Austin Healey 100/4 project, and I was wondering how high your axis of rotation is above the ground (or ideally what clearance is needed from that axis to the beams that connect the two sides of the rotisserie lengthwise). Thank you in advance for your help :) Kind regards, Julius

[@ihealey458]

Hi Julius The axis of rotation height I have is 950mm including wheels. My fixing points are the front and rear bumper brackets. Put a straight edge on top of and across the chassis channelling x 2 that runs front to rear then set your point of axis 40mm above this and in the centre. Hope this makes sense - and good luck Hugh