M AY 2 0 0 8 INSIDE:
AHCO ACTIVITIES PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE COVER STORY MORE!
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2008
OFFICERS
Club of Oregon
PRESIDENT
MEMBERSHIP
Jeff Mach 503-364-6789 mach@toast.net
Skip Monaco 503-245-0174 tomsimport@ipinc.net
VICE PRESIDENT
ACTIVITIES
Mark Schneider 503-643-7208 mandmschneider@comcast.net
Tom Monaco 503-245-0174 tomsimport@ipinc.net
SECRETARY
ADVERTISING
Cecilia Magnuson 360-834-0136 magnusons4@comcast.net
Joe Laws 503-636-5817 jflaws@att.net
TREASURER
LIBRARIAN
Linda Adams 541-416-2347 ladams1284@aol.com
John Carter 503-579-6599 jc9821@msn.com
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CLUB COORDINATOR
Jaci Koeber & Carole Trenko 503-244-3731 & 503-643-2387 koegeoja@hevanet.com
John Wilson 541-933-2016 johnhealeylane@worldnet.att.net
CLUB ADDRESS
Jan Whittlesey 503-538-8610 jwhitlc@hevanet.com
AHCO Box 875 Marcola, Or. 97454
HNW EDITOR
WEBSITE GURU
Glen Enright 503-538-8610 britcar69@hevanet.com
Bob Wallace 503-641-2810 bob_i_wallace@hotmail.com
ell, here it is late April and I awoke this morning to find snow on the ground here in the Willamette Valley, with more threatening to fall later today. I guess it’ll be a few more days before I decide to unwrap my Sprite and take it out of the garage.
Random
REGALIA
SUNSHINE PERSON
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Cover Healey 3000 from Panama spotted at Barrett Jackson in Phoenix by Yrs Trly. Get more info on page 6.
Contents
Random Mumblings • Cover Story • 500/500 • Activities Up-date • April Outing • Minutes from April Meeting • May Activity Preview • AHCO in History and much more! Thanks to Yrs Trly for photos, Mark Schneider for stories and info. And thanks to the various committee heads for updates on their areas. I forgot to thank John Carter for is Oily Warning System info in the last issue. And lastly – thanks to the www for info of interest to us all.
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Mumblings
peaking of Sprites, May 2008 marks the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Sprite. Sprite owners are likely aware of the several 50th anniversary celebration events being held around the country. The nearest one to us is the Conclave in San Diego, which will salute the annivsary. Lots of golden anniversary regalia also is available from various sources around the world. One of the nicest I’ve seen so far is a modified Sprite boot badge produced by the Austin Healey Sprite Drivers Club of Victoria, Australia.
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loser to home, our new website is up and fully working now. If you haven’t visited it yet, please do. Check out and sign up for the features, such as receiving notifications when a new item is posted. Information on our upcoming events and meetings are available there too. If you have a news or technical article or photographs of your car you’d like to have posted, please send them to me or Bob Wallace and we’ll put them up. Feedback is always appreciated.
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hope to see you at one or more of our upcoming Club events over the summer, maybe even driving your Healey. This month, we’ll hear about collector car insurance from a representative of Hagerty Insurance. Next month, we’ll be going for a steam train ride up in Washington. After that, we’ll have the Conclave and the Portland Historics Races through mid-summer. Let’s hope we’ll have the snow shovels tucked away by then. — Jeff
The May Activity - 10th
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you proceed approximately 0.5 miles west from SW Scholls Ferry road on Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy.
he May 10, 2008 meeting of the Austin Healey of Oregon will begin with a morning tour along the crest of the Forest Park, down to Sauvie's Island, back up and over Forest Park, and down to Beaverton for the meeting at the Beaverton offices of the AAA car club. The following is the schedule, addresses and directions for the day:
11:30 to12:30 PM.......Hagerty Insurance discussion, Questions & Answers. Ms Becky Lee will describe the features of collector car insurance, specifically Hagerty Insurance.
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12:30 to 01:00 PM......Charitee t Li gh St op
S Li top gh t t Li gh
01:30 PM........Adjourn 01:30 to 01:45 PM .....Lunch at the Raccoon Lodge and Brew Pub located at 7424 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy.
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irections - when we leave the AAA Office we will turn right onto Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy and travel east about half a mile, just past the Fred Myer Shopping Center. The Raccoon Lodge is on the same side of the road as the AAA Office so stay in the right hand lane. There is a very nice parking area behind the Raccoon Lodge, shaded, partially surrounded by grass. Depending on weather, it might make for some nice photo ops with the Healeys.
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— Mark
AHCO Activities 2008 Up-Date May meeting at Hagerty Insurance. The address is 8555 Appleway in Beaverton. Hagerty specializes in collector car insurance. Time and date to be announced. Mark Schneider is in command. May 31st. Jeff and Lisa Brown will do a tour. Details will be announced. June 14th. Regular meeting in Yacolt,Washington. Great antique train ride, hosted by Doug Auburg. Details will be announced June 29th-July 4th. Conclave (in San Diego). John Wilson and Jeff Mach are making caravan plans. (See page 11.)
01:00 to 01:30 PM......AHCO Business Meeting
he AAA/Hagerty Insurance Office is located at 8555 - SW Appleway in Beaverton. This location is approximately 1.5 mile east of Hwy 217 on Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy. Alternatively,
AHCO ACTIVITIES AS OF NOW:
Committee Presentations
St op
our participants will meet in the parking lot of Bale's Thriftway Cedar Mill Store located at 12675 NW Cornell Road at 09:15-09:30 AM. The store location can be reached by taking the Cedar Hills Blvd or Murray Road exits off of Sunset Highway 26. Proceed northerly to Cornell Road. There is a Starbuck's in Bales for that morning cup. The tour will depart at 9:30. Mark Schneider will lead the 45 mile tour. All roads are paved and offer some nice twisty bits, steep ups and downs, as well as some nice straights so you can check the operation of your OD. A tour map and navigator's instruction sheets will be handed out prior to departure. The tour will end up at the AAA/Hagerty office in Beaverton at about 11:15 AM. Go to the lower level for access.
Tom Monaco, Activities Chair
Please contact them directly if you would like to be included or have suggestions. See above for info on the event.
port. Send checks to: Tom Monaco, 7710 S.W. 89th, Portland Ore.97223. See you there!
Portland Historic Races will be held this year on July12-13. To get your passes at a discounted price and participate in the Collector Car corral and a parade lap around the reconfigured P.I.R. please send me a check for $ 45.00. Further details about the race can be found at www.portlandhistorics.com <http://www.portlandhistorics.com> . These fees must reach me by May31st. Our own Steve Rux will be racing his Sprite. This car has more horsepower than most six cylinder Healeys. Another AHCO member, Doug Escriva, will be bringing his "freshley sorted" 1957 100-6 out for the first time. They'll be fun to watch and would appreciate your sup-
Aug. 2nd. John and Judy Carter will host a tour to an old bordello (now a McMenamins) in Centralia, WA. This will be an overnighter. Details to be announced.
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Aug. 16th. Gary Jackson will host a meeting at his home in Redmond. This should be considered an overnighter. Details to be announced. Please note this is the 3rd Sat. of the month. Aug. 29-31st.and September 1 ABFM. Volunteers needed to count Peoples Choice Ballots and various other light tasks.
Schedule of Events: • Sunday, June 29: Arrival, Registration & Check in. Welcome Reception. • Monday, June 30: Gymkhana & Funkhana, Concours Judging, Auction. • Tuesday, July 1: Car Show at Embarcadero Park. • Wednesday, July 2: Rallye (fun & TSD.)
Honored Guests: John Sprinzel Gerry Coker and others
• Thursday, July 3: Tours & Farewell Banquet. • Friday, July 4: Farewell, PostConclave Tour, or stick around for the fireworks!
For Complete info: Go to www.sdhealey.org From the
Charity Chair Be sure to attend the May Outing. We will have representatives from the various charity recipients on hand to receive our donations and to thank us for our help.
Note the letter we recently got from the Automotive High School in Vale, Oregon to whom we donated almost $500 dollars. — Skip
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Gots & Wants: Healey Style
Cover Healey Back in January, Jan and I went to the Barret-Jackson, Russo and Steele and RM auctions with fellow AHCOers, Bob and Jean Bennett. Whilst there we had the opportunity to see some pretty spectacular cars. Though not all Healeys, we were impressed and are hoping to return, if not to next year’s, then at least very soon. The cover Healey, which I have manipulated to quite a degree, was a so so car from Panama, which, if memory serves, brought a higher than soso price. The car’s presentation was very nice, though, as it had a high polish to its paint job and was topped by a new interior. I liked the contrast of the shiny black paint and red interior, so I popped off a few shots. The cover shot is one that leant itself well to a close cropping and some posterization.
FOR SALE: Robbins Convertible Top (Tan) for Austin Healey BJ8 or BJ7. New, never been out of box – $400.00. Robbins Boot (Tan) for Austin Healey BJ8 or BJ7. New, never been out of box – $300.00. Hard Top for Austin Healey 4 seater. Needs new rubber and fasteners. Has wrap around rear Plexiglas window – $1,000.00 OBO. Contact Richard Breeden Phone:(541)923-9751 E-Mail: RSBreeden@aol.com FOR SALE: Car Dolly for BN1 - BJ8 Healeys. Four by four construction, 6 wheels (4 Castered). $85.00. Call Kent Lambert, 541-386-2310, 541-4905674 or JKL531@aol.com
— Glen
Get Your Healey on the Cover of Healey Northwest I would like to feature more members’ cars on the cover of Healey NorthWest. So, haul out your cameras, whether they be Brownie Star Flash-types or Digital-types. Use up a roll of film and send me your favorites, along with a paragraph or two about your car. Things like when you got it, what you’ve done to it, if anything, and/or what some of your fondest memories whilst “Healeying” might be. Don’t worry if you’re not Hemmingway or Sylvia Plath – Yrs Trly will help with the subject/verb agreement – the important thing is the story behind the car. We’ve all got one and next month you’re going to hear mine. You’ve been warned. If you don’t want seven months of pictures and stories about my car.....well, you get the idea. If you’re sending digital images, make them the highest res you can, right out of the camera is good, or if you are scanning images – 300 dpi in a 8 x 10 or 5 x 7 format is good. Send to: britcar69@hevanet.com — Glen
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FOR SALE: 1961 Austin Healey 3000 Red, Dayton chrome wires, overdrive. Our driver for over 20 years. Well maintained. $26,800. Tom Monaco 503-245-0174
Go West, Young Healeys Bruce and Kerry Harding laid out a very enjoyable and enthusiastic drive out for the hardy band of AHCOers who decided to brave the weather forecast and show up at milepost 57 on Saturday. Although only three cars showed, including B & K’s, and all of them BJ9s, the weather held off and we all piled into our respective vehicles and followed Bruce and Kerry’s Triumph Stag out of the parking lot. New members, Michael and Wanda Hartfield were ahead of me but just as we were leaving Chrysta Foleen and Tyler Haines, (Tyler works for Tom Monaco,) pulled in and the four cars left for the adventure. We turned right out of the parking lot and almost immediately turned left and headed west. From there it was a bit of a blur, since I was motoring solo, Jan having to make a hasty trip the day before to Phoenix, AZ. Let me just say that although the roads were new to me, they were pleasingly twisty and traffic free. Sooner than it takes to tell, we were heading south, getting ready to cross Hwy. 26 and wend our way towards beautiful downtown Roy. Then we veered right and drove into more farm country passing at least one or more nurseries on our way to the golf course just outside of Banks. More twisty roads and voila! We were in Cornelius. But not wanting to rest on his laurels (more about Laurel, later), Bruce soon had that populous burg a mere speck in the rear vision mirror. Again, we turned left, then right and another left and … you get the picture. Next thing we knew we’re turning right onto Hwy. 219 and making another right for Bald Peak Road. I thought maybe we would drive past my place and I could stop and see if I was home. We did stop at Bald Peak State Park. Bruce had it marked for a potty stop on the route. But the privies were
Story and Photos by Yrs Trly
shut, so we took a moment for a photo op and then were again on our way. So it was a bit of backtracking down Bald Peak to the picturesque store at Laurel. You know Laurel. That’s where North Laurel Rd., South Laurel Rd., West Laurel Rd. and East Laurel Rd. meet. We didn’t stop again, except for the stop sign, of course, but continued on East Laurel Rd. Right at 219 and it was more eastwarding till we came to the South Scholl’s Store and Smith Berry Barn. Then a little north another right and so on till we came
over a cliff and we all arrived in plenty of time at Tom and Skip Monaco’s so we didn’t miss out on the food.
into civilization at Roy Rogers Road. The rest of the route was less fun, because the closer we got to our destination (the Monaco’s and dinner) the more crowded with traffic it became. Suffice it to say that everyone had a good time, no one got lost or slid
What could be better than that? A rousing THANKS to Bruce and Kerry. And I, for one, am looking forward to the next drive out. Hope to see YOU there.
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— Glen
Snow Time Like the Present for FUN!
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Tech Stuff
Brake Plumbing
Off da WoildWideWeb (Still, another article adapted from an article that I don't remember where I got it from!)
FINE PRINT: The information presented here is based upon First Amendment rights to say whatever silly thing one wants to. Anything that you might do, or any actions that might result from using this information is your own blooming fault. There is no way that this information is guaranteed to be 100% correct anyhow. English cars are almost always plumbed in 3/16" tubing, which utilizes standard 3/8-24 UNF thread swivel nuts. The exception is the piping used around tandem master cylinder differential valves, which sometimes use 7/16-20 UNF swivel nuts in certain circuits to prevent incorrect routing or cross plumbing. The other exceptions are certain clutch hoses that require the high-flow capacity afforded by the 1/4" line (hence the 7/16-20 UNF thread). Brake lines should always be fabricated from Bundy tubing having a wall thickness of 0.028" minimum. Brake line pressures can and do exceed 1000 psi. On no account should copper, aluminum, or commercial fuel line be used, despite the fact that they are easily available and appear to be easy to work with. Pure copper tubing workhardens and becomes very, very brittle - especially at flare fittings. Under the cyclical loadings seen from brake applications, and in the presence of moisture (and possibly high concentrations of chlorides, if you live in a road salt area), they will almost certainly fail. They will tend to crack and fail right at the flare, generally with little or no warning. (Copper also catalyzes the auto-oxidation of fuel, the mechanism of sludge formation. Copper should never be in contact with fuel.) The British have developed what they call "copper brake pipe", which seems to be a seamless tube made of a copper alloy that bends easily, does not rust, and is in reliable use for "classic cars". It is different from pure copper. It is almost certainly not as reliable as honestto-gosh Bundy tubing, and thus shouldn't be used on a race car. Bundy brake pipes are available in various lengths at most parts stores, though they almost always have the wrong swivel nuts (no matter which one you need!). If you're doing a lot of this work, you can buy the Bundy tubing in 20 foot coils from Aircraft Spruce, Pegasus, or your local circle track store for about $8. The swivel nuts from the old lines can sometimes be re-used if they are in good shape. But chances are that you're reading this because you want to upgrade your fittings, rather than just replacing what's there. Most auto parts stores can supply the standard fittings that are on current production cars; various British parts suppliers can sell you new Girling parts, and aircraft and race suppliers will happily take your money for AN fittings. Play it safe - if you're in doubt, buy new. While you're at it, you might follow the lead of many folks doing race car prep and only use steel fittings, even though aluminum is available and a bit less expensive. Know your flares There are four (more or less) flaring styles in common use for brake systems. British cars have a bubble flare (a.k.a. Girling flare) backed up with a male swivel nut or a 45 degree double flare backed up with a female swivel nut. Metric cars have ISO bubble flares, where the pipes and threads are metric sizes rather than inch. Detroit iron has a 45 degree double flare backed up by a male threaded nut. Most (non-British) race cars are plumbed with AN (a.k.a. JIC) type single flares - a 37 degree single flare with a backup sleeve and inch threaded swivel nut (some people make a double flare here, which is useless overkill and may lead to failure; see below).
Lastly, some brake fittings use tapered pipe fittings. Take the easy one first: tapered pipe fittings are not really a positive seal under adverse conditions. They may do the job for a street car, but they certainly have no place on a race car. The bubble flare is used with a male swivel nut, and seals at the bottom of a drilled and tapped hole, with a nice angled bottom. While it can usually be resealed, it has a limited lifetime - there's no good way to get back the deformation that was crushed out for the first seal, short of remaking the flare from scratch. Making such a flare is easy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; if you are in possession of a standard 45 degree double flaring tool, the bubble flare is what results after the first half of the operation. Simply stop there, and you have the bubble flare which will seat nicely at the bottom of the hole. If you continue, inverting the form tool and finishing the job, you then have the more familiar double flare used by Girling and the US automotive industry. The SAE 45 degree double flare usually has a male-threaded tube nut that bears directly on the OD of the flared tube - so you need a double flare to help control galling that can result in stress cracking right at the flare. In short, you need "give" there. Problem is, the deformation that results is kind of irreversible, so the next cycle or two will result in your having to use astronomical torques to keep the flare from weeping. Worse is trying to use a single flare in an SAE flare nut and seat, and worse still if the seat is brass - the flared tube is squashed from both sides, even as it is deformed by the nut galling on it. The brass seat deforms and work hardens. It may seal once, with a ton of torque and some luck. It's not recommended practice - it's not even a good idea. Racers (and aircraft, which is where the system originated as the "Army-Navy" or AN standard in WWII) use the single 37 degree flare. The AN single flare is still a concave flare, but its 37deg angle seals by stretching, not squashing. The tube is supported by a separate sleeve that the female-threaded tube nut bears upon. This isolates the flare from the torques imparted by the nut. So rather than trying to get a seal despite the presence of rotating torques and the resulting galling, you press the flare between a precisely-machined (steel!) seat and a precisely-machined support sleeve. The sealing area under compression is at least double that of the SAE flare. An additional bonus is that the OD of the nut is a lot larger than the 3/8" of an SAE nut, which means you won't kill as many trying to get the proper sealing torque. (Even so, you should always use a proper flare nut wrench on any tube nut.) The SAE stuff was designed to go together once on the assembly line, and then be "immortal", as defined by Detroit. It's pretty good at it, too! The AN stuff is designed for field serviceability, long fatigue life, and a level of bullet-proofness the SAE never considered. A further, very strong, recommendation is that single flared AN fittings are the only thing that Carroll Smith will suffer to put on his race cars. The reason for harping on repeatability and multiple matedemate cycles is that, once something has been put on the car, it always needs to come off at some point (forgot, or broke, or need to swap out because it was at the end of its service life). While the double flare has that nice "squish" feeling as you tighten the flare nut the first time, the AN fitting has the same torque requirement for the sec Plumbing continued on page 13
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Tech Stuff
Timing is Everything
Off da WoildWideWeb
(Another Article adapted from an article that I don't remember where I got it from!)
FINE PRINT: Once again the information presented here is merely meant as an opinion. Anything that you might do, or any actions that might result from using this information is your own blooming fault. There is no way that this information is guaranteed to be 100% correct anyhow. To avoid lots of swearing and unnecessary damage, check the timing gears slide neatly onto their respective bosses. If tight, first check for any high spots in the gear bores and key-way slots. Clean out using fine emery cloth, medium Wet 'n' Dry paper, or some such. Remove the Woodruff keys then dress the bosses using abrasive material as mentioned previously. Re-check fitment before refitting keys. Check the key-ways and keys too before re-fitting. Get rid of unwanted stickyout bits on the keys that would inhibit a slide fit. Clean out the key-way and de-burr top edges. You may want to file a slight 'flat' across them to give plenty of clearance to the gear key slot. If the pulley is a slack fit on the key, turn it anticlockwise before nipping the bolt up. ALWAYS fit it like this. It's imperative to fit cam (and followers in the case of solid wall blocks) following manufacturers instructions precisely using a good quality cam lube. Sit the block/crank/rods/pistons/ front plate/cam and cam retaining plate assembly on something that will allow full rotation of the crank without fouling. The gearbox is ideal, but needs to be stabilized by wedging with a thin sliver of wood or some such. Fit the flywheel retaining bolt and washer to facilitate crank rotation. Use something reasonably long as a lever to turn the crank with. A jerky motion is to be avoided for accurate settings. For those confused about which end is which on an engine, the FRONT is the water pump end, thus number one piston is nearest the water pump. Worth remembering as most engines are like this. When timing cams in, two terms are continually confused - ADVANCED and RETARDED. To explain/clarify – these terms are applied to a common manufacturer recommended 106 degree setting as an example. ADVANCED cam timing means that the valve events are occurring BEFORE the recommended point. Your measurement will therefore compute a reading LESS than 106°. Generally this increases bottom and mid range outputs, but loses a little peak output. To correct this the cam will need turning counter-clockwise (anti-clockwise). RETARDED cam timing
means valve events are occurring AFTER the recommended point. Hence measurements and computations will give a value MORE than 106°. Generally this increases peak outputs, but will lose bottom and some mid-range output. To correct this the cam will need turning clockwise. In both the above, I have stated just the CAM needs turning. To achieve this, use offset keys (available in one-degree increments from 1 to 9 degrees, or use a vernier cam gear (for the big Healeys this is available from Denis Welch Motors in the UK). The reason for taking readings either
side of full lift as depicted in the methods is to get a true full lift point. A certain amount of 'dwell' exists at the cam lobe peak, so it is difficult to ascertain true maximum lift point. The points used could be anywhere between 0.020" to 0.003". The nearer 0.003" the better as some cams have asymmetric lobes. These will cause inaccurate settings to be established if points further from 0.005" are used.
Determining Cam Timing REMEMBER: 2 crankshaft degrees = 1 cam degree. Equipment required - one 0.500” minimum capacity DTI (Dial Test Indicator/dial gauge Protractor - degree wheel) with magnetic stand, 360-degree protractor and a piece of reasonably thick gauge wire to use as a pointer. ??Terminology BTDC ATDC Rotate crank so piston 1 is at the bore top (TDC-Top Dead Centre, when piston 1 is at highest point in bore). Fit timing gears 'dot-to-dot'. Set up DTI with stem resting on number one piston centre with a little preload. Rotate crank backwards slightly (anti-clockwise looking at the front), then gently forwards observing the DTI, watching where the needle
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stops before descending. This is TDC. Repeat this procedure, stopping when the needle reaches its zenith. Zero the dial scale, and repeat until satisfied the needle shows zero on the scale. Fit the protractor to the crank using the pulley bolt. Tighten so that you can just move the protractor. Fashion a pointer from the wire, held to the block by a water pump bolt and pointing at the scale round the protractor perimeter. Move the protractor to align pointer and zero, nip the bolt up to hold firm. Go back and repeat the last paragraph to ensure pointer is at zero on the protractor when the DTI indicates TDC. Not essential, but to be super-accurate, reset the DTI - piston at TDC - with around 0.300" pre-load showing.) Rotate crank backwards until needle on DTI is free of the piston then rotate forward until needle shows 0.200" BTDC (Before Top Dead Centre, before piston reaches highest point in bore.) Note the degree reading on the protractor then continue rotating crank until DTI shows 0.200" ATDC (After Top Dead Centre, after piston has reached highest point in bore.). Note the degree reading. They should be the same although obviously either side of zero (TDC). The actual figure isn't important. If not, move the pointer in the relevant direction to correct this. Re-check by doing the 0.200" BTDC and ATDC again. Do it until the readings show exactly the same. Pop a push rod down onto number one inlet lobe - second push-rod hole along from front. On small-bore engines make sure you fit the cam follower first! Reposition the DTI on top of the push rod, again with a little pre-load. Rotate the crank forwards and observe the DTI. The needle will swing round a couple of times, slow down, then reach peak reading (maximum lift) before falling away again. Zero DTI at this peak point. Rotate crank backwards and forwards a couple of times slowly until happy that maximum lift is showing with the needle at zero. Rotate crank backwards until the needle passes the 0.025” mark. Stop and rotate it forwards very slowly, stopping when the needle reaches the 0.005" mark. Note the reading of degrees indicated by the pointer on the protractor. Continue rotating the crank forwards until the needle zeros and returns to the 0.005” mark again. Note the new reading from the protractor. Add these two figures together, divide by two, the result being where your cam is timed in.
San Diego Redux Proposed Itineraries and Routes for Driving to the 2008 Healey Conclave —Jeff Mach Here are a couple proposed driving itineraries for travel to the 2008 Conclave in San Diego this summer that John Wilson and I have traded with one another. Nothing has been decided yet and there’s a bit of time to discuss alternatives. Our return could be via the same route, up I-5, or up the east side of the Sierras via I-15 and US395. Let John <johnhealeylane@worldnet.att.net> or I <mach@toast.net> know if you have any other ideas. From John: Day 1 (Thursday, June 26th): Eugene to Eureka, via the coast at Reedsport (330 miles). Day 2 : Eureka to Santa Cruz (350 miles). Day 3: Santa Cruz to Ventura via Hwy 1 through Big Sur (310 miles). Day 4 (Sunday, June 29): Ventura to San Diego via I-210 and I-15 (235 miles). An alternative would be to stop at Crescent City the 1st day (250 miles), Santa Rosa on the 2nd day (300 miles), San Luis Obispo on the 3rd day (300 miles) and then on to San Diego (370 miles). From Jeff: Day 1 (Wednesday, June 25th): Salem to Brookings (300 miles). Day 2: Brookings to Santa Rosa, CA (325 miles). Day 3: Santa Rosa to Monterey, CA (170 miles) – providing time to visit the aquarium and give your butt a break. Day 4: Monterey to Ventura (275 miles) via Big Sur coast – could meet John’s group from here South. Day 5(Sunday, June 29): Ventura to San Diego via I-210 and I-15 (235 miles).
Original Photo
slightly modifi
ed
Newest AHCO Member
Baby Zoe appeared ready and willing to go motoring on January 28, 2008. Weighing in at a trim 8lbs. 14oz. and with an overall length of 21” (no indication of wheel base) – young Zoe is the apple, er, camshaft of her mom’s and dad’s eyes. Congratulations to Doug Zents and Stephanie Hart for completing a project well done. But remember, keep a drip pan under her at all times and check her fluids regularly. After all she is of British extraction.
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The Oregon 500/500: Last Chance To Enter For postition, only. No actual trophies will be awarded. Or at least none as nice as this one.
The 500/500 is Saturday and Sunday â&#x20AC;&#x201C; May 31 and June 1. We'll drive 250 kilometers, stay the night At Salbasgeon Suites, or somewhere, you choose, and return by a slightly different route. Don't worry, we will avoid any steep mountains. (Wear and tear, you know.) There will be a route book with specific instructions. How much is the entrance fee? $10 unless you can substantiate a claim of poverty in which case it is free. Room and meals will be extra. Who/what is running this event? ie: Whom should I call for further info or an entry form?
Cam Sheahan (503) 590-4611 or camsheahan@juno.com
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REGISTER NOW
ter for the Standard, Novice, or Touring class.
The 15th running of Columbia Gorge Classic Rally will be a great gathering of pre1981 collector cars. It’s a rally, car show, light breakfast, lunch, and after-event social all rolled into one. It covers great scenic roads and includes a few en route surprises! Add to that a shirt, dash plaque, poster, goodie bag, and for some, a trophy, and you are guaranteed a most enjoyable day.
This is a TSD rally encompassing about 200 miles. It starts and ends in West Linn at Mary S. Young Park, and it wraps up about 6 p.m.
There are still spots left for June 21st running of one of the region’s largest CLASSIC rallies. All owners of pre-1981 classic/collector cars are invited to register, and all levels of rally expertise are accommodated as you may regis-
Don’t wait to register or you may miss the 75-car limit. The $75 registration fee is a bargain by any standard and, if sent in soon, will secure your spot in this great event. Go to www.ColumbiaGorgeMGAClub.org for the registration form and additional information. You are also welcome to contact Rally Master Reid Trummel at 503.753.3700 or editor_reid@hotmail.com. You may also contact Rally Registrar Lou Jaffe at 503.296.0937 or loujaffe@hotmail.com.
Plumbing continued from page 9
ond mating cycle as the first. That's where the reliability across multiple cycles comes from. Never use compression fittings for brake plumbing. There are racers that have gone so far as to purge all the SAE double flare fittings out of the plumbing of their track cars, except possibly the fittings at the master cylinder. The rationale is two-fold: first, the above-mentioned repeatability, and second, the fact that the AN parts are universally available at every race shop in every backwater in the country. Most British cars are plumbed with Girling flares. It is a happy coincidence (at least, it seems like a coincidence, perhaps it is by design) that the female Girling flare hardware will mate comfortably with a male AN-3 fitting. Thus it's possible to replace the fancy fittings on the rubber hoses with the appropriate AN-3 male-to-male bulkhead fittings, and the hoses themselves with -3 female fittings on Teflon -3 line. Most master cylinders all have machined flat surfaces, so the outlets are easy to adapt to -3 hoses as well (-4 for the clutch, typically). A few words about Teflon lines: they may not have a place on your street car. For starters, the Teflon lines you make up at home don't have DOT approval, because they haven't been through the DOT approval process and you're not a certified manufacturer. Even the Teflon lines you can buy pre-built are probably not DOT approved (though there are a few coming onto the market) for the same certification reasons. The main reason for this lack of approval is that manufacturers of racing gear don't care to spend the money -
they're building the hoses for racers. The next reason is that the DOT expected lifetime for such brake hoses is five years, and the prudent racer will replace his or her brake hoses every other season, just to be sure. (This is a good reason to make your own - then you can reuse the fittings and just buy new olives and hose.) There are some concerns about using Teflon line in cold environments, though Aircraft Spruce is willing to sell you lines custom made from Aeroquip Teflon hose and rate them to -40 degF, so it may not be a concern. It may well be that the intended application for those lines is not subject to as much repeated deflection as the flex line snaking through your front suspension out to the caliper. Other sealing methods. There is one other kind of sealing involved in braking systems, usually at caliper or cylinder entry and often when converting over from one kind of flaring system to another: a washer face at the top of a hole. This requires a crush washer of soft copper, aluminum, or in extreme cases, a Stat-O-Seal, which is a combination of O-ring and aluminum crush washer. To make this an effective seal, a precision machined surface is required around the drilling, exactly perpendicular to the axis of the threaded hole. If this is not there, you must use a bottom sealing fitting. Conversely, if the hole does not have a nicely formed drill point form at its bottom, the fitting will not reach the bottom, you must use a sealing washer (and, of course, provide the machined washer face for it to seal against). A neat trick is that copper crush washers can be reused - IF you anneal
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them. Place the washer in question on a brick and play your propane torch across it until it glows orange. Let it cool. It's now as soft as it was originally and will re-crush and seal perfectly. Vendors. Good flaring tools are easy to come by. Get the catalog from: Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Company 201 W. Truslow Avenue P.O. Box 424 Fullerton, CA 92632 (800) 824-1930 order hotline (714) 870-7551 (714) 8707315 customer service (714) 871-7289 fax They'll charge you $5 for the catalog, spend almost that much shipping it, and include a gift certificate for $5 on your first order. Well worth the trouble. This company specializes in selling stuff to aircraft homebuilders - that makes it an excellent source for weird tools, small quantities of raw materials (ever try to buy just 2 feet of 4130 chrome-moly tubing before?), GOOD hardware (meaning NAS and AN mil/aerospec fasteners) and other nifty arcane thinguses. If you are in a part of the country that doesn't have places that sell to us crazed enthusiast-types, you need this catalog. They have the Rol-Aire Imperial, which is the flaring tool of choice for 37deg AN single flares, and several SAE and ISO flaring tools as well. Other sources of interesting tools for the home mechanic is Eastwood Company 580 Lancaster Avenue Box 296 Malvern, PA 19355 (800) 345-1178. Dave Bean Engineering should be on the vendor list of anyone dealing with a car that was built in England: 636 E. St. Charles Street, Star Route 3 San Andreas, CA 95249-9564 (209) 754-5802. Good hunting.
AHCO Meeting April 19, 2008 Bob got this little Ford for a song
AHCO President, Jeff Mach, called the April meeting to order at 4:35 PM with recognition of Bruce and Kerry Harding for organizing and leading this month’s pre-meeting tour along the hills of the Coast Range. March Meeting Minutes - A motion was made, seconded and passed to accept the minutes as read. Treasurer’s Report - (for complete information on the treasurer’s report, go to the club website and register. Step by step info is available. President Mach reported on Treasurer Linda Adams efforts ending bank records are out of date and in need of attention. Activities - Tom Monaco reported on plans for the June meeting, scheduled for the third Saturday of June. The club will ride the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad near Yacolt, WA. The possibility of a tour/caravan being organized from Portland to Yacolt was discussed. Tom also reported on slow registration of members’ cars, only four at this time, for the Historic Races in July. He also discussed a club trip to Centralia, WA being organized by John Carter for the August meeting. Mark Schnieder outlined the plans for the May12th meeting. These include a short tour in the morning starting from Bale’s Thriftway store in the Cedar Mill area and ending at the AAA Auto Club offices on Beaverton Hillsdale Highway where a discussion of Hagerty's Collector Car Insurance will be held. Newsletter Editor - Glen Enright requested an early response for submittals to the May newsletter. Website Editor - Bob Wallace outlined the need for mem-
bers to register to gain full access to the club’s new website which is now up and running. This action is necessary to protect the website as well as the members. As of the meeting date only eleven members were registered. The website has not been accessed by many “hits” but Bob expects this will increase with time. Regalia - Carol Trenko distributed the 2008 officers’ identification badge strips and reported on a new shipment of polo shirts.
Membership - Skip Monaco observed a number of returned newsletters due to member’s absence from their mail addresses. Editor Enright joined the discussion explaining the costs to the club treasurery and requests were made to notify Membership if members will be absent for extended periods so as to avoid the unnecessary costs. Charity - The charity committee has a new recipient of club generosity, the Vail, OR high school automotive program. Found by Judy Carter, the high school automotive class will receive a new diagnostic instrument. Skip also pointed to new bedding for the Ronald McDonald House and a new sewing machine for 14
Mark Scneider, acting Scribe and real Vice President
the Albertina Center. All British Field Meet - The President described developing plans for the 2008 ABFM, August 30 September 1st. Jaguar will be the featured marque. AHCO will again count ballots and there will be a new procedure for awarding “Best of Show”. The 2008 ABFM posters have arrived and the officers would appreciate assistance in getting them distributed. New Business - Mark Schneider reported on his activities exploring potential sites for the 2010 Rendezvous. To date Mark has talked to the event coordinators at Kah Nee Tah, Columbia Gorge, Seaside Convention Center and Seaside Best Western, Skamania Lodge, and Eagle Crest near Redmond, OR. Each contact has discussed lodging costs, meeting room availability, banquet facilities, car show areas, and potential tours. Both Skamania and the Columbia Gorge Hotel are deemed too expensive. Other possible locations discussed included Eugene, OR. Mark will explore this site further. President Mach requested that members offer additional suggestions for Rendezvous sites. John Carter reported on the importance of an oil additive, zinc diakyl dithiophosphate (ZDDP), no longer in many commercial engine oils. This additive is critically important for tappet type engines like in our Healeys. John brought a list of recommended motor oils for use in our cars. Note: There is a discussion of “Lubricant Selection For Austin Healeys” in the April “Healey Marque” magazine of Austin Healey club of America Meeting adjourned at 5:15 — Mark
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Healey Northwest 21150 Ornduff Road Hillsboro, OR 97123
Return Service Requested
This Month in AHCO History Thirty Years Ago Club members met at the parking lot under the Interstate Bridge at the Jantzen Beach Thunderbird, then toured through Clark County, Washington. The Club stopped at Beaver Bay on Yale Reservoir to picnic, held a meeting, and then proceeded on to Woodland and the Ape Caves, the world’s longest lava tubes. Also worthy of mention from 30 years ago: Richard Mayor joined the Club. And, he’s still a member. Congratulations!
Twenty Years Ago
by Jeff Mach
participating in a parade of some sort in Scio. Sixteen Healeys participated. After lunch, Boyd and Judi Spiker led everyone on a tour of covered bridges in the area, finishing up at the Spiker’s house in Scio for a barbeque and Club meeting.
Ten Years Ago The Wilson’s hosted an overnight back roads tour from Junction City to Yachats and the Central Coast. The tour featured 50 miles of single-lane, paved, wilderness roads in the Coast Range.
AHCO members began their monthly get together by
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