The 1959 Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite has been in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop for our restoration technicians to get the amazing little sportscar back
The restoration workshop technicians at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop based out of our Suffolk HQ have been working on diagnosing and fixing the running
The 1959 Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite has been in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop for our restoration technicians to get the amazing little sportscar back into perfect running order.
The team have worked on rebuilding and adjusting the brakes and working on the hydraulic system which not only controls the brakes but also works the clutch as well. The slave cylinder had to be replaced due to a leak from a seal which was causing an issue bleeding the system to make sure the whole circuit remained pressurised.
Along with that, the team found several issues with the suspension of the classic Austin Healey. This required some of the important substructures of the car to be carefully rewelded, as well as removing and correctly installing parts of the wishbones.
To take a look a the entire project, click here!
The restoration workshop technicians at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop based out of our Suffolk HQ have been working on diagnosing and fixing the running issue on the 1955 Austin-Healey 100.
The car came into us to look into a running issue once the car got up to temperature or if the weather itself was hot. Our technician Jon began by looking into the various systems in the engine bay such as the fuel system and intakes. He noted that the classic Healey was idling rather quickly so he rolled back the idle speeds on the carburettors to give everything a good baseline to work from. However, the carburettors are not the throttle stops so were bought down to a safe speed achieved from the screw. He did notice that the car would ”run on” after being switched off when hot but would start up near enough straight away afterwards.
Upon inspection of the points inside the distributor, Jon discovered the car fitted with electronic ignition which helps with the diagnostic as it is one system that would not need adjustment and could be relied on as a baseline.
Along with that, Jon checked and read the spark plugs on the classic Austin-Healey. After very slightly adjusting the spark plug gapping, he installed them back into the car to move on to the timing. With the timing, Jon managed to slow down the idle speed a little more. Then, he could begin road testing the car.
After numerous tests and adjustments, Jon has got the car’s engine into a good place. Although he has noted that when coming to stop at a junction it will momentarily go towards stalling, the road performance of the classic Austin-Healey is exceptional and pulls very well through each gear. The car will continue to be road tested and adjusted to get it just right for its owner.
