Healey Spares For The Road
While working on an article for the Local Austin Healey Club Newsletter, I asked the Healey Internet Mailing List Users "What spare parts would you include in your spares kit?".
The attached list consists of input of many highly experienced owners and we thank them for their input and cooperation.
Spare parts are vital and the attached list may seem a bit too much. Nothing beats good preventative maintenance before leaving. But as you review the list you will find that most of these items are replaced at service intervals rather than because of failure so a good serviceable used part of known value can easily be carried at no cost.
I'm often asked "where is there room to carry all this stuff?"
You have to be creative. I have two Healeys so I keep it all in a soft sided lunch bag that was a give away item. That way it can go from car to car.
Marion Brantley uses a Tupperware pie holder. Painted flat black it is the perfect size to fit under the spare tire. I have seen spare fuel pumps under the battery, hoses and belts behind the cover for the fuel filler pipe (attach the cover with Velcro for fast removal). Don't carry a tub of wheel bearing grease, just put enough in a zip lock bag to get the job done. Correctly done you can open the trunk on a Healey and never know all those items are in there.
So often we travel in groups to Healey Events. Don't carry spares just for yourself, think of other Healey owners you may travel with who may need one of your parts, we all have to work together.
One other note, courtesy of Hendrix Wire Wheel:
If you are driving on 165 or 175 tires (Dunlop Sp20s or Michelin XZXs, be
sure to request that the tube be "an undersized 15-inch tube." They note
that the normal tube provided for a 15-inch wheel is designed to fit anything
from 165 to 215 and in the smaller tires is prone to wrinkling.
