Austin Healey 3000 Restoration – James Kirchner’s Hands-On Rebuild

Finding the Car

I purchased my Austin Healey 3000 in 2023 from an elderly gentleman in northern New Jersey. The car hadn’t been used for a few years, so I trailered it home.

The interior was in bad shape. The body and frame were rust free, but the brakes were sketchy. The wheels were so dirty I didn’t even realise the car had chrome wheels until I washed it at home.

While the seats and console were out of the car, I carried out the following work:

Spring 2024 Issues and Improvements

In spring 2024, the fuel pump failed while I was driving. I made the mistake of using a tow rope on the bumper, which bent it. That is why there is no bumper on the front now, which I actually like.

I installed a new negative earth fuel pump.

To add to the look and give me more lighting, I made brackets and installed driving lights that come on with a relay tied into the high beams.

Also in the spring, I had a local body shop repaint the hood and the fenders because there was an ugly black stripe down the centre of the hood.

Engine Concerns and Initial Work

The engine in the car was running pretty well but was getting tired and leaking oil. I also thought I had an oil pressure issue, which ultimately turned out to be a bad gauge that has since been replaced.

Before replacing the gauge, I installed:

• New engine bearings
• New oil pump
• New rocker arm assembly
• New oil pump relief valve and spring

A friend brought over a spare gauge, and when I tried it the engine showed around 40 lbs of oil pressure at idle.

Building a Replacement Engine

While all of this was going on, I purchased a rebuildable engine from another friend in the Positive Earth Car Club and have been working on rebuilding it over the last two years.

The new engine has the following specifications:

1. New 84.5 mm forged pistons
2. The crankshaft was cut .01". There was an issue with the crankshaft that came with the engine I purchased, as one of the journals needed to be sized more than I wanted to go.
   
   I put the word out on social media and a gentleman two hours from my house had a standard crankshaft he would sell me for $50, and he wouldn’t take the money until I was sure the crank was usable.
   
   We drove the crank another hour to a crank grinder recommended by a friend. When we arrived, it was an old building behind what looked like an abandoned house, but when we went inside it was a beautiful, neat and organised machine shop.

We talked for a while and he told me he would hot tank the crankshaft, magnaflux it and then machine it. I tried to give him a deposit but he told me he would invoice me when the crank was delivered. He later called and said he was travelling close to my house and offered to meet me. The work was outstanding.

Winter 2025–2026 Engine Bay Work

In late October 2025, I pulled the engine. The engine compartment and underside of the car were very oily.

At some point in the past someone had undercoated the car and the inside of the engine compartment all the way up to the top of the radiator support.

I scraped and cleaned the engine compartment. It was a mess inside the garage after cleaning it multiple times.

I painted the engine compartment black, even though I know it should be the body colour. I installed all new heat shields and cleaned up the wiring.

I also found bare spots on the main lead from the battery to the starting solenoid. I installed a new wire and used the old wire as an engine ground running back to the negative terminal on the battery.