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1974 Jensen Healey
Frame Off Restoration
This is an interesting project. While it's a frame-off restoration, it's not what I would consider to be
a normal project. I acquired the chassis and suspension from one fellow Jensenite and a rusted out chassis with
a good engine and transmission from another. So, what we're really doing here it taking an amalgam of parts,
choosing the best ones, and using the two to create a single automobile. Now, admittedly this isn't unheard of,
it is a bit outside of the box for the average frame up restoration.
Now, the restoration began before the web site's creation. Rather than try to go back and recreate the history
of the project, I've opted to summarize the current state and carry on from the present state. Generally speaking,
the chassis I recieved was in excellent shape and much of the body work had already been done. Because of time
crunches on my end, I had a local body and paint shop finish off the work and do the paint while I tore apart the
spare parts car. For this project, since the car won't be a matching numbers one, and the overall value of the
Jensen Healey is such that I can justify modifying the car, I'm going ahead and building the car so that it's
somewhere between a resto-mod and a custom vehicle.
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The final outcome of this car is a period looking car with some visual changes (custom paint, roll bar, front
end modifications to improve cooling and a high powered custom stereo). Under the bonnet we are taking the existing
powerplant (a lotus 907 motor, later used in many lotus cars) and upgrading the internals/externals to provide
significant increases in horsepower. Finally, the suspension will be upgraded to manage the additional horsepower
and improve overall handling.
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The project to date:
As I mentioned previously the car has had it's body work completed and been painted. I chose to have it painted
in Jaguar Racing green with a pair of racing stripes in white. Since then the chassis has had a liberal amount of
Dynamat installed to shield against heat and road noise. The interior carpet (short of two pieces) has been installed.
The wiring harness that came with the car has been tested, repaired and re-wrapped in period harness wrap. Much of
the bright work has been polished and reinstalled (there's not a lot on this particular car). The door hardware
for the locks and windows has been refreshed and reinstalled. The rubber bumpers were disassembled, the metal pieces
sandblasted and painted with POR-15 and the rubber pieces refreshed. Those were put back together and put back on
to the car. The tail light assemblies were also refreshed and reinstalled. I've added a custom aluminum gas tank.
Image Galleries that represent work to date
Photo Gallery 1 - Jensen Healey Parts Car
Photo Gallery 2 - Jensen Healey Engine Teardown
Photo Gallery 3 - Jensen Healey Home from Body & Paint
Photo Gallery 4 - Jensen Healey Trunk Installation
Photo Gallery 5 - Jensen Healey Carpet Kit installation
Next steps
The rest of the car needs parts refreshing and reinstallation. In addition the engine and transmission will
need rebuilding / modification. These are the segments that I will be covering online during the remaining segments
of the restoration.
Project Status Note
I would say that this project is presently 60% complete. All the body work has been done and the car is painted. Now
I'm at the stage of restoring and bolting on assemblies.
Restoration Articles
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