Richard Wright's Chevy 327 V8 powered 1960 Austin Healey 3000
as published in BritishV8 Magazine, Volume XX Issue 1, July 2012Owner: Richard Wright
City: Rowlett, Texas
Model: 1960 Austin Healey 3000 (BN7 MkI)
Engine: Chevrolet 327 V8
Conversion performed by: see below.
Features and Specifications
| Engine: | 1968 Chevrolet 327 V8 engine, with large journals and four bolt mains.
Approximately 10:1 static compression ratio.
Crane roller camshaft (with the mildest profile available.)
Stewart Components water pump.
Trick Flow Specialties aluminum cylinder heads.
Four Dell'Orto DRLA 48D carburetors.
Specially modified K&N gauze air filters.
Holley adjustable fuel pressure regulator with Marshall liquid-filled fuel pressure gauge.
Dual Jaz Products polyethylene fuel tanks.
Accel distributor.
Pertronix Flame-Thrower II ignition coil.
Taylor Spiro Pro 8mm silicone spark plug wires.
Delco-Remy alternator. |
| Cooling: | Griffin Scirocco-style aluminum radiator, front-mounted.
Griffin aluminum radiator, rear mounted, with three electric fans (one pushing and two pulling).
Boat exhaust hose carries coolant to the rear through the Healey frame tubes.
Tefba coolant filter. |
| Exhaust: | custom four-into-one headers.
Dual Dynomax mufflers.
|
| Transmission: | Tremec TKO600 5-speed.
Steeda Tri-Ax shifter.
Corvette 16# steel flywheel.
Centerforce pressure plate and clutch disc.
Hayes scattershield, modified for installation of a Tilton clutch master cylinder.
|
| Rear Axle: | Ford 9" housing.
Ford helical-gear limited slip differential.
3.64:1 gears (secondhand from a NASCAR racecar.)
Moser Engineering axles. |
| Front Suspension: | converted to rack-and-pinion steering, with Spridget (front steer) rack mounted on aluminum pillow blocks.
Stock Austin Healey Armstrong lever shock absorbers.
Custom, adjustable anti-sway bar. |
| Rear Suspension: | 4-link rear suspension plus Mumford linkage.
Jaguar XJS springs (~95#/inch springs).
Spax shock absorbers. |
| Brakes: | (master) Wilwood single circuit master cylinder. Remotely mounted Sunbeam Tiger power assist servo. (front) stock Austin Healey disc brakes updated with Porterfield carbon-Kevlar brake pads. (rear) Wilwood four piston calipers and vented rotors. |
| Wheels/Tires: | Weld Racing Rodlite 15" aluminum wheels.
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 205/50R15 front tires.
Yokohama ES100 215/50R15 rear tires. |
| Instruments: | (left to right)
Smiths fuel level gauge (E-F),
AutoMeter electronic speedometer (0-160mph),
Sun Super Tach II tachometer (0-8000rpm),
Stewart Warner oil pressure (5-80psi),
Smiths voltmeter (10-16V),
Sunpro vacuum gauge (0-30"Hg),
Sunpro water temperature gauge (100-280F). |
| Interior Mods: | custom aluminum trim panels and transmission cover.
Grant cushioned grip steering wheel.
Toyota Celica Supra seats.
Racer Components Inc. five point latch-and-link safety harnesses. |
| Comments: | This Austin Healey was first converted to Chevy V8 power by Art Eatman of Austin Texas way back in 1966.
Art Eatman built multiple Healey V8's, both for his own personal use and also for a diverse customer base.
This particular car's original owner was a doctor, whose son kept blowing-up stock Healey engines.
Richard Wright bought this car from its first owner in 1971.
At that time, it had a Chevy 283 V8 with an Isky cam and a Muncie four speed.
He updated it with a free-revving DZ302 Z28 engine. (These engines delivered power right through 7000rpm.)
Richard owned and enjoyed the V8 Healey until sometime in 1978, when he sold it and purchased his first Jaguar E-type.
The eighteen year old who bought the car just about drove the wheels off of it. Since he regretted letting it go, Richard Wright contacted the young college student yearly to inquire if he might be ready to sell it back. Eventually worn out, abused, and badly wrecked, the old Healey V8 was left for dead on the University of Texas campus. One of Richard's friends spotted it there and contacted him. He managed to beat the junkyard to it, purchased the wreck, and towed it home. That was about 1984. The whole front end of the car was mangled, but Richard performed an extensive restoration as time permitted. The car was finally painted and back on the road by May 2000, with a new 355cid small block Chevy engine breathing through a Holley four barrel carburetor. In 2005, Richard replaced the Holley carburetor with four Dell'Orto carburetors. With the 355 engine the Healey was furiously fast, but Richard feels he really has the ideal combination now. With its current 327 engine and its compliant custom four link rear suspension, the car is both very comfortable and very fast. |
Engine Installation
Small block Chevrolet V8, with iron engine block and Trick Flow aluminum cylinder heads.
Four Dell'Orto DRLA 48D carburetors. Anti-competitive business practices aren't a modern invention.
The Weber carburetor company purchased Dell'Orto just so they could close Dell'Orto's factory and
proceed on their own. Richard strongly prefers the old Dell'Orto design to the rival Weber IDA model.
He feels that the transition circuit from primary to main circuit is superior; Dell'Orto carbs don't
have the IDA's characteristic bog that's so hard to tune out.
Pertronix Flame-Thrower II ignition coil. Taylor Spiro Pro 8mm silicone spark plug wires.
Wilwood brake master cylinder. Tilton clutch master cylinder.
Custom four-into-one exhaust headers, driver's side.
K&N gauze air filters were specially modified: holes were cut in their top plates and
additional filter media was added for increased airflow. Previously, Richard had clear Lexan
plastic installed in the top holes. They looked really cool... until one of them shattered.
Dell'Orto DRLA 48D carburetor, tag number R6254. Richard anticipated that swapping from a
four barrel to an independent runner system would help high RPM performance. He discovered
that low RPM performance was even more dramatically improved.
Vacuum blocks - two of them in series - provide a steady vacuum for the power brake booster.
Cooling system filler cap on the thermostat housing.
Coolant reservoir. Background: Spridget steering rack mounted on aluminum pillow blocks.
(The big Healeys weren't offered with rack and pinion steering.)
Delco Remy alternator, chassis mounted and spinning backwards. Alternators produce voltage whether
they're spinning forward or backward. Generators, on the other hand, are direction sensitive.
(If you try this at home, be mindful that your alternator's cooling fan will be less effective.)
Custom four-into-one exhaust headers, passenger's side.
Holley adjustable fuel pressure regulator with Marshall liquid-filled fuel pressure gauge.
Remotely mounted Sunbeam Tiger brake booster.
The car's main radiator is mounted in the floor of the truck, so it requires a vented trunk lid.
This vent location works exceptionally well. When Richard initially installed the rear-mounted
radiator, he had it drawing air from the passenger component. He quickly found out that at road
speed the airflow direction reversed, and air coming up through the radiator heated the cockpit.
Dual electric fans pull air through a boot mounted aluminum radiator.
Foreground: electric fan, pushing. Background: Tefba coolant filter.
Jaz Products polyethylene fuel tank.
Supplemental Jaz Products polyethylene fuel tank is selected via a dashboard mounted switch.
Richard uses it like a motorcycle's reserve tank, switching to it only when needed. Originally,
he kept race gas in this smaller tank and he could switch fuels on a whim.
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Front Suspension
Conversion to rack and pinion steering included installation of these
swaged aluminum steering links and high misalignment Heim joints.
Adjustable anti-sway bar.
Armstrong lever shock absorber.
Rear Suspension
Ford 9" rear axle.
Four link rear suspension, plus Mumford linkage. Coilover shock absorbers.
Interior
Custom aluminum trim panels and transmission cover.
Smiths fuel level gauge, modern AutoMeter speedometer (0-160mph), classic
Sun Super Tach II, and vintage Stewart Warner oil pressure gauge.
Smiths voltmeter, Sunpro vacuum gauge, and Sunpro water temperature gauge.
Steeda Tri-Ax shifter connected to a Tremec TKO600 5-speed. This is a very heavy duty box!
The car's seventh and hopefully last transmission, its torque rating is 600 foot pounds!
Footbox and fusebox details.
Toyota Celica Supra seats.
Exterior
Between July 1959 and April 1961, Austin Healey produced 2825 BN7 (MkI) two-seaters plus
10825 BT7 (MkI) four-seaters. These cars were issued chassis numbers from 101 to 13750.
AUSTIN - Made in England
When ordering replacements quote: car number HBN7L/10640, engine number (see engine).
First generation 3000s came with 2912cc engines (83.36mm bore 89mm stroke). When the MkII
version was introduced, displacement was reduced to 2639cc by reducing cylinder bore to
79.4mm. Compression ratio stayed about the same, but horsepower and torque output were
increased by means of a more aggressive camshaft grind. Early 3000 MkIIs featured
triple S.U. carbs, but production reverted to dual carbs due to service issues.
Wire mesh grille and extra vent holes in the bodywork below. Very lightweight custom bumper.
This particular MkI windscreen has been rakishly chopped, and re-glazed with lightweight Lexan
polycarbonate. (Fifteen years have passed, and it's still not noticeably scratched or pitted!) From the
MkII model on, Austin Healeys came with wrap-around windscreens and roll-up door windows. Side
view mirrors weren't installed by the factory so there's great variation in type and placement.
Vented boot lid.
LeMans style fuel filler cap.
Richard and Charlie
Zora!
Autocrossing on NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility weather balloon launch pad
near Palestine Texas during BritishV8 2012.
Weld Racing Rodlite 15" aluminum wheels. Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 205/50R15 front tires.
Yokohama ES100 215/50R15 rear tires.
Autocross action shots are by Jim Watson for exclusive use by BritishV8 Magazine. All other photos shown here are by Curtis Jacobson for exclusive use by BritishV8 Magazine. Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
